CORRESPONDENCE ANT, NOTES 303

The last five hundred pages are devoted to a climatic suminaiq for each of the States and territories, with extensive precipitation and tem- perature data, maps, and inforniation regarding the incidence of killing frost in each state. In addition there arc a large number ot climatic maps for thc whole country, and a brief review of the climates of other parts of the world.

I t uill readily be seen that this Year Book is a remarkable mine of authoritative, useful arid stimulating information, on which one could coin- nient indefinitely; to mention one point only, there is a brief but \\elcome summary of the effect of forests on local climate \\ith, again, further iefer- ences for those interested. Exemplary illustrations, maps and diagrams abound.

No doubt readers ni th specialiscd kno\cledge a i l 1 each find here and there points where their o n n opinions or experience may lead them to differ from that OF the author, who is, in general, writing primarily from an American background for .\merican readers with limitations of ,pace ; and there are a few omissions of 14 hich one of the most surprising to this writer is that throughout the tables no indication is given of the height of station5 above sea-level. (‘l’hesc can be found if desired in “ Climato- logical Data for the U.S. by Sections,” published by the Weather Bureau.) It would also have interestrd many readers to see one or more tables pre- senting the recorded nionthlj and annual inems of temperature since instrumental rccording began in the IJnited States, for example at New Haven. The standing of the writers and the variety of subjects discussed, hon ever, is sufficient guarantee that this admirable production nil1 re- main for some time a remarkably useful work of reference.

\\lhcther this small but varied country of ours, or the larger I ealm of expel ience to be found i n the Empire tvil l ever give rise to a n y similar compilation of such comprehensive scope LL e cannot say. British readers, however, I\ i l l undoubtedly find this .\mcrican digest welcome, and many tvill envy the provision by an enterprising Department of Agriculture of such a nide and practical-minded conspectus of nieteoroloj.$cal and climatological kno\bledgr. Moreover, a t the present time man! of the chapters are likely to provide ;I useful starting-point for those rontrm- plating further work ; hence this reniintler for the benefit of Fellon s \\Tho are on the lookout for such material.

G.11.

551.524.36 55 1.52-1.37 Severe frost and exceptional heat in England in May, 1944

Oncc again \\e are remintled of the extreme variability of the English climate in May. O n thp 4th tcmperature in the scrren fell belot\ treez- ing point a t a number of places, and on thc 7th screen froit nidely reported, very low temperatures for thr time of the year beinq reached in some localities. In parts of southern England these severe conditions persisted on the 8th and 9th, and fruit crops 2nd early veget,ibles ncre badly damaged, the fruit area o f Kent suffering severely. Another cold spell occurred from the 14th-2 3rd. and lo\\ night temperature- nere again registered at times u ithin this period, for example, on the morn- ings of the Igth, 19th and aznd. 4t numerous stations screen niiriimuni temperatures of 30’ F. or below were registered on a- many as four to six mornings in the month. Grass minimum temperatures nere also very loxv, a notable reading being 9 O I?. a t Goudhurst, Kent, on the 8th.

May

4th

M

ay

7th

"F.

OF

.

Sant

on D

own-

D

urha

m

. 27

h

am.

. .

24

Hou

ghal

l '.

27

Sant

on

Dow

nham

2

5

Lut

on.

. .

zh

Wob

urn

. 2-

j K

ings

L

angl

ey

27

St. A

lban

s .

26

Sut

ton

Bon

ingt

on

27

Rau

nds.

.

27

Cov

entr

y .

27

Str

atfo

rd-,

Xyl

esbu

ry

. 26

D

roit

wic

h .

25

Wor

cest

er

(Per

disw

ell)

27

F

arnh

am

. 27

M

ilfor

d.

. 23

G

oudh

urst

.

27

Hor

sham

.

26

Rea

ding

.

(See

d T

rial

G

roun

ds)

27

Bra

mle

y 26

M

arlb

orou

gh

26

W.L

avin

gton

26

R

haya

der

. 27

On

-Avo

n

27

May

8th

"F.

Nor

wic

h .

27

Spro

wst

on .

27

Ipsw

ich

. 27

Sa

nton

D

ownh

arn

22

St

. Alb

atis

.

27

Ear

ls C

olne

. 26

H

alst

ead

. 26

M

aldo

n.

. 27

W

ritt

le .

. 2j

Enf

ield

. .

27

Farn

ham

.

27

Mil

ford

. .

24

Pres

ton (K

ent)

26

E

. hl

alli

ng .

24

G

oudh

urst

.

24

Tun

brid

ge

Wel

ls

27

Wye

.

. 27

H

orsh

am

. 26

R

odia

ni

. 26

Ma

y 9t

h

Mil

ford

. .

Can

terb

ury.

Pr

esto

n (Ken

t)

E.

Mal

ling

. G

oudh

urst

. W

ye

. .

Hor

sham

.

Bod

iam

. .

Tot

nes

. .

.Way

15

th

"F.

26

Saii

ton

27

Dow

nham

\ M

ilfo

rd.

. 24

H

orsh

am

. 26

B

rain

ley

. 25

M

arlb

orou

gh

26

27

25

27

". 25

27

26

27

26

c :

121 a

y 22

nd

gg

"F.

2 0

Dro

itwic

h .

2j

g

Wor

cest

er

(Per

disw

ell)

27

' 9

Mar

lbor

ough

27

uo

u

~.~

av

ing

ton

27

7

o?

" h

t5

0

P

OBITUARY 305

this article other cold May spells are mentioned, for example those in the first parts of May, 1876 and 1877, May 1gth-18th, 1891, the first seven or eight days of 18y, May ~gth--r;th, 1915, and May 24tl1, 1923. Some exceptionally low minimum temperatures mere registered in Eng- land also on Sth, 6th and 8th (particularl) the 8th) of May, 1938.

A feature of the frost in May, 1944, was the large number of days of ground frost, that is a temperature on the grass of 3 0 . 4 ~ F. or less, reported a t nuinerous stations in (he southern half of England and Wales ; for example, 20 a t Totnes, 18 at Wisley, 17 a t Prestwood, and 16 at Whipsnade, Goudhurst, Rhayader and Killerton.

The hot spell a t the end of the month, May Ath-30th \\as excep- tional. At ccrtain stations with long records, some of them going as far back as 1871, the maximum temperature recorded on one of the days, 28th-30th, mainly the q t h , was the highest ever recorded in May. The following are examples :-

Station Period Max. temp, “F. Date Oxford . . . . 1871-1()44 87 29th Cheltenham. . . 1881-1~44 8Q

Tunbridge Wells . { ~~~~~~~~ t 9I Worthing . . . Portsmouth . . . Southampton . . Ventnor Hospital . Totland Bay . . Cullompton . Plymouth (The i h e j Falmouth . . .

81 30th 85 29th

80 82 29th’& 30th 88 29th 80 28th 80 29th

89 (1

OBITUARY COLONEL SIR HENRY LYONS, F.R.S.

Colonel Sir Henry Lyons, who died on .4ugust 10, 1944, was the son of (;enera1 T. C’. Lyons and was born in London on October 11, 1864. Educated a t Wellington and Woolwich, he entered the Rojal Engineers i n 1884. In 1896 he became Director-General of the Geological Survey, Eg:\pt, and from 1898 to 1909 was Director of the Survey Department, Egypt, a department u hich under his administration made great progress with the survcys of that country. This department included the Egyptian \Ieteorological Service. For txbo or three years from 1909 he lectured in Geography a t Glasgow Lniversity, and afterwards for a time he w a s Honorarj becretary to the Royal Geogi aphical Society.

Llons’s work in connection xbith Exjp t contained much of economic Most of his personal

Ycientific nork was done in Egypt. I t included his book on “ The Phjsiogr,iphq of the Nile,” the “ Report on the Island and Temples of Philae ” (partially submerged b j the building of the .I\s\van Dam), * ‘ Rains and Flood of the Nile Basin, 190j-08.” In 1906 Oxford conferred on him the degree of honorary D.Sc.; in 1909 Dublin conferred the

‘ and historical as well as geographical interest,