Deutsche Seewarte Research Articles

Grundlinien der maritimen Meteorologie

THIS little work serves two purposes; it is practically a concise elementary meteorology, and a guide for the use of sailors, showing the best routes in the different oceans, with directions for the management of vessels in storms, especially the dangerous West India hurricanes and the typhoons of the China seas. Dr. Köppen has been known for many years as one of the most prominent meteorologists, and having access to the large amount of materials collected by the Deutsche Seewarte, we might expect to find the result of his long experience embodied in a useful and an attractive form. The work meets our expectations in every way; all details which are unnecessary for the object in view have been carefully excluded, while all technical and nautical expressions are fully explained, so that the work, which is specially written for seamen, may be read with interest and advantage by all who are desirous of obtaining a knowledge of maritime meteorology. His treatment of the subject includes the general circulation of the atmosphere, as well as the movements of waves, tides and ocean currents, and the value of the treatise is much enhanced by explanatory figures in the text and by separate charts and diagrams.

The Dover Meeting of the British Association

IT is hardly yet possible to give anything like an accurate estimate of the number of members likely to be present at the meeting of the Association, but it is probable that there will be at least 1500 visitors. The foreign members of the Association will be well represented. Prof. Chappuis, of Paris, will discuss Thermometry in Section A. It is likely that Prof. Remsen will pay a flying visit to the meeting. Amongst other Americans who have promised to attend are Prof. Rotch, of the Blue Hill Observatory, Prof. Bauer, of the Magnetic and Geodetic Survey, Profs. Barker, Carl Barus, Campbell, Thurston and Scott. Prof. Calmette, of the Pasteur Institute, may possibly attend, but he is at present engaged on the Plague Commission at Oporto; Prof. Kossel, of Marburg, is with him, but hopes to come to Dover if possible. Prof. Kronecker, of Berne, will be also present, so that the foreign physiologists are well represented. Of foreign chemists, besides those mentioned, are Profs. Ladenburg and Fittig and Georges Lemoine. Geography will be represented by Prof. Hjort, of Christiania; Dr. Gerhard Schott, of the Deutsche Seewarte, who will speak on the results of the' Valdivia Deep Sea Exploration; H. Arctowski, who will read a paper on Arctic Exploration; Admiral MarkarofT, of the Russian Navy, will also attend. Abbe Renard, of Ghent, Dr. van Rijckevosel, Prof. Julin, of Liége, Prof Cyon are a few of the other celebrated foreign men of science who are expected.

Scientific Serials

Meteorologische Zeitschrift, June.—On the amount of cloud in Europe during cyclonic and anticyclonic days, by Dr. C. Kassner. In this important discussion the author has investigated the cloud observations at five principal stations in Europe for twenty years (1871–90), and has followed a plan adopted by Dr. Leyst in another discussion by selecting the days in each month when the readings of the barometer were lowest or highest. These days, including the days preceding and following that on which the extreme reading occurred, are those called respectively cyclonic or anticyclonic periods. He finds that in cyclonic periods the maximum amount of cloud only occurs on the principal day in summer and autumn, while in winter and spring a large amount of cloud occurs in the evening of the preceding day as well as on the morning of the principal day. The preceding day has generally somewhat less cloud than the principal day, and almost always more than the following day. This result agrees with that deduced by the late Mr. Ley, and by the Deutsche Seewarte with respect to the distribution of cloud in cyclones. In anticyclonic periods the least cloud frequently occurs, not on the principal day, but on the preceding or following day; this is especially the case at Christiania and Pavlovsk, where the least cloud occurs before the passage of the highest barometric pressure, and then gradually increases. Generally speaking, however, the principal day is clearest, and next to this the preceding day, but not always, for at Buda-Pesth and Tiflis the day following that of the maximum barometric pressure has less cloud than the day preceding.

Drift-Bottles and Surface Currents

THE rather anomalous results arrived at by some recent investigators who have employed the float or bottle method of ascertaining the surface movements of the waters of the sea, make the discussion of a large number of these observations of special value at the present time. Such is to be found in Dr. Schott's able and elaborate paper on the “Flaschenposten” in the possession of the Deutsche Seewarte, published a short time ago in the Archiv.

Scientific Serials

American Meteorological Journal, December.—The winds of the Indian Ocean, by W. M. Davis. The facts for this discussion are drawn from the “Atlas of the Indian Ocean,” published by the Deutsche Seewarte, and the author reproduces two charts (1) for January and February, when the heat equator and the belt of low barometric pressure have advanced to about latitude 10° south in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and (2) for July and August, showing the position of the high pressure belt about 5° more northward than before, in consequence of the increased velocity of the circumpolar whirl. The most striking feature of this second chart is the extension of the south-east trade wind across the equator, as the south-west or summer monsoon. The author clearly points out the sufficiency of the rotation of the earth to influence the course of the winds, and explains the causes of the monsoons. He shows that it is not only true that continents are unessential to their development, but that they may even destroy their normal conditions.—South American meteorology, by W. H. Pickering. This paper chiefly deals with the climate of Arequipa, Peru; altitude 8,060 feet. The temperature seldom falls below 40° or rises above 75°. The winds blow with great regularity, except in the rainy season, a sea-breeze prevailing during the day, and a land-breeze for some hours before sunrise. The mean annual rainfall doesnot exceed four inches, while on the sea-coast rain is a great rarity; the rainy season occupies the first three months of the year; rain in the morning is practically unknown. (This and the previous paper were read before the New England Meteorological Society on October 21 last).—A South American Tornado, by W. G. Davis. This tornado occurred on November 13, 1891, and devastated the village of Arroyo Seco, near Rosario. An illustration, taken from a photograph, shows a number of heavily laden railway carriages which were upset or carried to a distance by the violence of the wind. The cause appears to have been the differences of temperature and humidity in adjacent strata of the atmosphere.—Errors of the psychrometer, by H. A. Hazen. This is a summary of a paper recently read by Mr. W. W. Midgley before the Royal Meteorological Society. The important point is that Prof. Hazen entirely confirms a statement made by Mr. F. Gaster at that meeting, that the temperature of the dry bulb thermometer is not affected by the proximity of the water cup of the wet bulb thermometer, a statement which was contrary to the general opinion of the meeting. We believe that a further confirmation of this fact will be brought forward by Mr. Gaster later on, from recent careful experiments.

Deutsche Seewarte Segelhandbuch für den Atlantischen Ozean

THE Atlas of the Atlantic which was published by the “Deutsche Seewarte” in 1882, has at length, after a term of three years, been joined by the text, which was intended, in the first instance, to have accompanied it and of which it was described as an appendix. But though separated in their publication by this wide interval, in spirit and in sense, at least, the two are indissolubly linked together, and either one without the other is but an imperfect and mutilated fragment. Of their excellence, now that they are united, it is unnecessary to speak. When Dr. Köppen, with his able coadjutors, writes, and Dr. Neumayer edits such a work as this physical and meteorological survey of the Atlantic Basin it would be waste of words to say more than that the result of their co-operation must at once take rank as a standard book of reference on this subject. More especially valuable is it in those sections which are descriptive of ascertained facts, and are based to a very great extent on recent, frequently on original observations. The detail of these occupies the largest proportion of the space, leaving but little room for theorising or doubtful matter, and absolutely none for the repetition of those many myths and false statements which have been so often presented to us by successive writers, one blindly copying from another, that we had almost begun—like the poor Hindoo with the mangy cur—to believe in their truth. It is scarcely credible, but is nevertheless a fact, that in this large volume, of nearly 600 closely-printed pages in royal 8vo, there is not a word about ships bound to the West Indies throwing cargoes of horses overboard in the horse-latitudes, which are, however, mentioned as “Rossbreiten”; and the reader will look in vain for the time-honoured allegation that the winter storms on our own coasts are extensions of the West India hurricanes. Deutsche Seewarte. Segelhandbuch für den Atlantischen Ozean. Mit einem Atlas von 36 Karten. Herausgegeben von der Direktion. Mit zahlreichen in den Text gedruckten Holzschnitten und neun Steindruck-Tafeln. (Hamburg, 1885.)