Scenic Aspects of the Weather

Abstract

WE are indebted to Mr. L. C. W. Bonacina for an illuminating essay upon a difficult subject written at a time wfren researches in pure knowledge are of necessity few (“The Place of Scenery in the Study of the Weather and Climate”. By L. C. W. Bonacina. Q. J. Roy. Met. Soc., 64, No. 287, October 1940). It must not, however, be supposed that this class of work—and especially examples which have to do with feeling as well as thought—are unimportant at the present moment. On the contrary, it is very desirable that contemplative intercourse with Nature should be cultivated during the exasperating experiences of war. Moreover, when we look ahead to the years that will follow the cessation of the present conflict, we see with certainty that the financial restrictions of the times to come can be countered to a considerable extent by concentration on those refined pleasures of the mind and senses which the aesthetics of scenery provide. The present paper is important for its treatment of scenery as a subject in which all the senses (not only the sense of sight) are concerned; and also for the detailed description of particular incidents in which the author observed those charms which landscape owes to certain transient, but recurrent, aspects of the weather.