222 REVIEWS

Quellentexte zur Witterunsgeschichte Europas von der Zeitwende bis zum Jahre 1850. Hydrographie : Teil 4 (1701-1750). Berlin (Akademie-Verlag), 1963. Pp. 381, 58 D.M.

The appearance of the fourth volume of this monumental work will be welcomed by many who value this encyclopaedic assemblage of extracts from a wide range of sources, mostly Central European, with regard to the effects of the weather on the rivers, lakes and coastal waters. Earlier volumes have been reviewed in this Quarterly Journal; this fourth volume continues in the same style. For each year a large number of extracts is given; the years with severe winters are outstanding. In 340 pages of actual text, 27 pages are devoted to events in the famous winter of 1708-09, and 45 pages are given to the even more remarkable winter of 1740. Reports of ice on the Flanders coast and at Genoa, Marseilles and Cette in 1709 make for interesting discussion and comparison : Dieppe Harbour was frozen over in February 1740. References to events in Britain are almost entirely based on Lowe and Short and there is only a single extract relating to Scotland. Hence the work is of limited utility for British readers; the many German references, together with a fair number in France, will, however, prove useful in the interpretation of meteorological events.

G.M.

World maps ofclimatology. By H. E. Landsberg, H. Lippmann, K. H. Paffen and C. Troll, Berlin-Gottingen- Heidelberg (Springer-Verlag), 1963. Pp. vi, 28; 28 Figures, 6 Loose-leaf maps. &?. 13s. 7d.

This set of climatological maps is a continuation of those previously published in the World Atlas of Epidemic Diseases. It is primarily devoted to solar radiation, the only climatic element, writes H. E. Landsberg, for which both direct and indirect effects on health have been directly proven. The radiation maps, prepared by the Climatology Department of the US. Weather Bureau under Landsberg’s direction, show the distri- bution over the earth on an equal-area projection of scale 1 : 45 x 106 of mean hours of sunshine in January, July and the year, and generalized isolines of the annual global radiation on a horizontal surface in kilocalories per cm*. A descriptive article by Landsberg, which includes pillar diagrams for sixteen well-distributed stations of the number of sunshine hours per month and the monthly averages of global radiation, accom- panies the maps. The periods of observations differed greatly in both radiation and sunshine and in any case values over the sea were estimated from mean cloudiness. The maps are well-coloured and vivid and considering the differences in periods and methods of observation the isopleths seem smooth and reasonable except for a few curious points of ‘ convergence ’ in the annual sunshine map, for which an explanation in the text would have been welcome.

Secondarily to the radiation maps there is a world map of seasonal climates in thirty-nine types prepared by Troll and Paffen. This is accompanied by a descriptive article by Troll containing diagrams of isopleths of the seasonal and diurnal variation of temperature at eight stations distributed in the main climatic zones from Antarctica and Siberia through the temperate and subtropical regions to the tropics. These bring out a point made by Troll that the ‘ tropics ’ should really be termed the ‘ winter-free ’ zone.

The text and legends are in both English and German. The printing and binding are very good.

G.A.B.

Forest injuences. F.A.O. Forestry and Forest Products Studies No. 15. Rome, 1962. Pp. xix, 307; 56 Figures and illustrations; 58 Tables. 15s.

This compendium of six chapters by different authors has been prepared following recommendations of the Eighth Session of the F.A.O. Conference, and undertaken “ to aid land administrators in their assess- ment of forest and land-use policies and to direct attention to the urgent need for more research on forest influences.”

Printed on glossy paper, the volume is easy to read; the reproduction of about 40 photographs is good. There is no index, but each chapter is subdivided into some half-dozen sections; a bibliography of over 330 references, classified alphabetically by chapters, completes the work. The limp paper binding will need some ad hoc reinforcement if the book is handled frequently.

There is some, but not necessarily undesirable, overlapping of subject matter, particularly in chapters 2 and 3 and chapters 2 and 5.

The introductory chapter (pp. 1-30) by A. Pavari provides a rapid survey of the field, but is marred by some apparent misprints and awkward phraseology. Chief amongst the former is either the introduction of decimal points in Fig. 1A on p. 8 or their omission in the supporting text on the top of p. 9, and there is further confusion from a statement on p. 11 that a difference of less than 1‘C. “ is very small.” O n p. 22 (line 24) for “ minima ” read “ maxima.” His reminder that the (forest) climax is reached by a succession of phases each providing plant material and a micro-environment suitable for the development of the succeeding phase has profound importance for the management of our natural resources.

M. D. Hoover (Chapter 2 pp. 51-80) contributes a brisk and informative summary of both the above and below ground components of the forest on ‘ Water action and water movement in the Forest,’ which, with the following chapter by Kittredge, ‘ The influence of the forest on the weather and other environmental