SOMETIME STRENGTH OF THE NORTHEAST MONSOON In his book, "From Midshipman to Rear Admiral,"1 Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske, U. S. N. Retired, tells of a meeting with the north- east monsoon in 1898, while navigating officer of the gunboat "Petrel'' r "October 5 was very fine, and so was the early morning of the 6th; and we said to ourselves that 'Petrel luck' was keeping up, and that if the weather would only keep good until we reached the China coast, we could get protection after that. But later in the morning of the 6th, the wind began to freshen, and it freshened rapidly: so rapidly, indeed, that in an hour and a half we were in a howling gale. "We watched the weather signs carefully, and soon determined that this; was not a typhoon, but the opening of the northeast monsoon. This relieved our minds a good deal; but still we knew we were to have a very disagreeable time, because in the Formosa channel, where we were, the northeast monsoon raises a tremendous sea. "By nightfall, the little Petrel seemed to be struggling for life, pitch- ing and squirming in a frightful sea, while waves broke over her and ran along her decks, and the rain came down in sheets, and the wind made a great noise as it struck the masts and rigging . . . "•—C. J. R.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED FROM OUR EXCHANGES "The Climate of the Netherlands Indies," Vol. II, Pt. 2, Java and Madoera, by Dr. C. BRAAK, (Verhandl. No. 8, 1928), has just been received from the Koninklijk Magnetisch en Meteorologisch Observa- torium at Batavia, Java. The 397 pages in Dutch have been summar- ized in 181 pages of English. The book contains numerous maps, dia- grams, and fine cloud photographs, including some series taken to show the sequence of cloud formations. Such cloud photographs provide a visual aspect of climatology that is seldom presented. There are special remarks at the close of the volume on "Islands in the Java Sea," "The general monsoon current above Java," and "Observations with the kata- thermometer." The Monthly Meteorological Bulletin of the Royal Observatory, Hong Kong, T. F. CLAXTON, F.R.A.S., Director, continues to be received regularly and in good season. That for July, 1928, arrived in the United States in early November. The daily observations of the several meteor- ological elements are presented in their hourly detail on 9 large pages. Then follows the daily weather report from 47 Far Eastern stations, two days to a page, including a few special notes and the 24-hourly forecasts for four forecast districts. The monthly "Bulletin Meteorologique et Hydrographique," of Poland, for April, 1928, has recently arrived. The contents (Polish text, French resume) of this number are the usual weather summary, detailed cli- matologieal tables for the numerous stations of Poland, maps, and bibliography. There is also a particularly interesting article: "The dust

1 The Century Co., 1919.

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