Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 68.djvu/147

 Rh Margules, Sprung, Bjerknes, Bigelow, Wild, Pernter, Ekholm and many others. It appears, however, that not very much has been added to dynamic or theoretical meteorology since the publication of the works of Ferrel, Mohn and Oberbeck. The present status of the science being such in the professed countries of science, Japan can not be criticized if she has not done very much towards developing theoretical meteorology. She may, however, be proud of Professor Diro Kitao, a profound mathematician, and of his work, comparable with the elegant analysis of Oberbeck and Helmholtz, in fact, reminding us remarkably of the work of Kirchhoff. While Japan was still in the national turmoil of forty years ago, Diro Kitao was sent by the government to Germany for study. He went through the gymnasium at Berlin and studied mathematical physics at Berlin and Göttingen. After an absence of about sixteen years, he returned to his native land and in 1886 was appointed as professor of physics at the College of Agriculture of the Tokyo Imperial University. Professor Kitao has published many important memoirs, the most noteworthy of which is his 'Beiträge zur Theorie der Erdatmosphäre und der Wirbelstürme.' This work was published in three volumes, volume I. in 1887, volume II. in 1889 and volume III. in 1895, in the Journal of the College of Science of the Tokyo Imperial University. This most elaborate memoir covers some four hundred pages. On account of its great length and of its highly mathematical nature, it is impossible to reproduce here all its important results; but it may be worth while to give here the title of each part. The first volume contains the introduction and the discussions of hydrodynamic equations with consideration of the earth's rotation; the general differential equations for the motion of the atmosphere; the general relations between isodynamic lines, wind-directions and vortex-axes; space integration; the equations of atmospheric motions under special assumptions; vorticular motions of the atmosphere; circular cyclones and anticyclones (§I.—VI.). The second volume, including §VIII.—XI., treats of a vortex field of rectilinear isobars; the formation of complex vortices in the atmosphere; special motions in a vortex-field; the change of wind-direction, strength and pressure for a given external point in the case of a double vortex formation. The third volume treats of the condition for a stationary vortex when two vortices exist; vertical atmospheric circulation; variable vortex formation in the atmosphere (§ XII.—XIV.).

Several important meteorological memoirs have been published, mostly by the members of the Central Meteorological Observatory. Among these we note 'Sur la marche diurne de la température de l'air,' by Nakamura; 'Studies on Atmospheric Electricity,' by Homma; 'Earth Temperature at Tokyo,' by Oishi; 'Température moyenne annuelle de la température de la mer dans l'Océan Pacifique Occidental,' by Wada. Okada has published several papers on the evaporation in