468 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. AUGUST, 1990
ATLAS OF TYPHOON TRACKS.
There has recent,ly been issued from the Zi-Ira-wei Observatory, by the director, Louis Froc, S. J., a valuable work on t-yphoon tracks> It appears in the form of an atlas, containing 21 major and 12 niinor charts, wit,h a
brief introductory and explanatory discussion. The author states that his first purpose was to issue the charts as an appendis to a more general and detailed st,udy on the oceanic storms of the Far East., but that the publica- tion of such an essay ran the risk of considerable delay, and it, was decided to publish the charts a t once for the benefit of those interested. The compilation for t.lie ablas covers a period of 26
gears, lS93-191S, during wliirh bime a t.otd of W20 storms occurred manifesting typhoon c.harac.teristics a t some period of their existence. Of t,he 31 principal charts there is one each for January, February, March, April, May, June, and Deceniber, which a.re t,he less act,ive ty- phoon rnont*hs; three each for July, August, September,
and October, when the typhoon season is at. it,s height, and two for November, when activity is decreasing. On
the 12 lesser charts the c1at.a. are summarized in condensed form. In tlie int,rocluction the aut.hor discussos t,he following subjects: The meaning of  typhoon, disturbrd areas, how to read the charts, the classification of t.yphoons, nnil rate of progression on the t.rucks. Three t,ables tire in- cluded-mean speed, estreme speed, and point,s of re- curving on the tra.cks. There is also an explanatory note accompanying each of the major charts. The author pays a graccful tribut,e to those who aided him in the preparat.ion of t.he Atlas, as follows:
We beg to present this work to all tliose who. By their kind and con- &ant cooperation, for many years now, have made possible and easy the study of so numerous storms, and chiefly to t.he sailor@. who very often in t.he midst of hard Rtruggle Kith the elements. have found time to collect observations for t.he sake of thwe xlio \t-ould run the eanie risks after them. To establish each track of t.he maps t,liere have been made w e of at least 10. sometimes 20 or more, reports received from stations on land and ships at sea: ancl we are glad t.o show our benevo- lent cooperators, while offering them our 1ieart.y t.lianh, that t,he task spontaneously undertaken by them has not been without reaching a very important and useful aim.
The charts for January and February are reproduced in the present issue of tlie REVIEW. See Chart,s SI and
XII. The revival of shipping since the war, taking niany new vessels into the typhoon area, makes t>he appearance of
this work most timely.--F. Q. T.
Charles W. Hendel.
Mr. Charles m7. Hendel, of La Porte, Plumns County, Calif., for the past 56 petirs mountain snowfall ohserver for the Weather Bureau, was found dead in his btvl re- cently. Though his esact age was not known, he wtw
more than 100 years of age at the time of his death. Mr. Hendel was born near Dresden, German?, and re- ceived his technical education in that country. He mi- grated to California during the gold rush in the clays of 49, and for the past 67 years has niacle his home in La Porte, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains overlookinv the scenic Feather River region. He had the C. E. an8 M. E. degrees, and pract>iced the profession of civil and mining engineer for over a half century.
1 Atlasofthe Tracks of620 Typhoons, lS93-191S, by Lonis Froc, 5. J., director Zi-ka-rei Obclervatory, Zi-ka-wci-Cbmg-hai, 1920.
Mr. Hendels vigor and good health remained with him until the very end. La Porte is many miles distant from the nearest railroad station, and in a region of extremely heavy snowfall. Mr. Hendcl was as agile on snowshoes
as many a man 50 years his junior. His last weather re- ort., that for August, 1920, was received on taime at the gan Francisco office of the Bureau. He w w n careful and conscientious observer, of the type so eagerly sou ht as
Bwreau O#co, &an Fra.ncisco, Calif. special ineteorologicnl observers.-A. H. Palmer, 1 $ eather
COLOR OF THE NIGHT SKY.
By LORD RATLEIGH.
[Excerpt from Naturc (London), &pt. 2, 1920, p. S.1
Eye observations on t.he relat.ire brilghtness of a yellow and a hlue gelat,ine film aflord  c1efinit.e evidence that t.he night sky is yellowrr or less hlue than the day sky.
 This conclusion has heen confirmed photographically. A yellow ancl a dense blue filter were selected, and an Ilfortl panchromatic plate was exposed to t.he sky under
t,liese. I t wits scen at a glance bhat the density under the hlue filter was t,hc greutrr for t.he twili4it sky, while for
tlio night sky this relation was revers&L oint to the conclusion that. the light of t.lw night sky, wiat.ever r the cause of it may be, is not due to t,lie scattering of sunlight by rarefied gas situated be- yond the eart.lis shadow. The comparative absence of polarization, fornicrly found, point,s to the sanie con- clusion.!
The rcsults
HOT WINDS AND NORTHERS AT TAMPICO, MEXICO
The Tumyi.co Tribww of ,4pril lfl and 24, 3.920, con- tains notes by Mr. S. A. Grov:tn, the meteorological ob- stwer for t>he Ahxican G.uI&l Co. on the norther of April 3, 1950, and tho hot winds of April 16-1s. The first
three iiiont,hs of t.he >-ear had brought t,o Tam ico 13
scivere. The wind, which came suddenly, at.t,ained a force of 60 niiles wr hour, a i d for two hours uvernged 50 miles pcr hour. !Lliis wind was accompnnied by a marked rise
i n t.hc bti.roniet,cr of 0.64 inch in 37 hours. Mr. Grogan litis . reviously discussed these northers.
These arc q~pnrenbly caused by dynamic heating as the dry winds clcscend from thc Mexican plateau. The masi- mum tempera.t ures on the three clays were successively
98.8 F., 103.5 F., and 106.4O F. The relative humidity at, times of observat.ion was 30 er cent, 15 per cent, and
ii nort,hers, but. the one of April 3 was decidedly t g e most
T F io hot sout.liwest winds linve also been discussed.?
er cent, respect.ively, whic f i was sufficient to warp an( e split woodwork and furnit,ure.--C. L. M.
VARIABILITY OF TEMPERATURE AND DEPARTURE FROM THE MONTHLY MEAN.
By H. FICKER-GRAZ.
[Abstracted from Mctroroiogiackc ZeitschriJt, Jan.-Feb., 193, 001.31, pp. 4S43.1
The day to day vnriahi1it.y of temperature undergoes froin year to year such large variations that a consider- able number of years record is necessary in order to
1 Northers on the roast of Mlexiro. their effects, and forecsst by local observations.
2 H o t winds at Tahpico: Meiico, Apr. i-7, 1919. MO. WEATHER REV., April, 1919,
110 WEATHER REV. July 1919 47:.46W71
*-..,.,a 91.W.l.