<72 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



very heavy gale from the direction indicated by the cone. 

 These signals will be hoisted, during daylight only, until 

 forty-eight hours have elapsed from the time the telegram 

 was dispatched. At night, lanterns may be used wherever 

 the local authorities deem it advisable. 12 A, March 19, 

 1S74, 390. . 



CHINESE METEOROLOGICAL SYSTEM. 



At the recent meeting at Vienna of the International 

 Meteorological Congress there was present Mr. Campbell, 

 representing Mr. Hart, General Inspector of Marine Revenue 

 for China. Mr. Hart presented documents showing that the 

 Chinese government had determined to establish a system of 

 meteorological stations, and to institute the telegraphic meth- 

 od of storm warnings, placing the whole in charge of Mr. 

 Campbell himself. Mr. Campbell solicited the suggestions 

 of the members present at the Congress as to the points to 

 be kept in view in establishing the Chinese meteorological 

 stations; and among these suggestions, besides urging the 

 importance of uniformity in comparison with other national 

 systems, the Congress expressed its opinion that the execu- 

 tion of all the duties resting upon such a system could only 

 be secured by the employment of special officers as contrasted 

 with the voluntary system in use in Europe. The Chinese 

 meteorological system will be entirely separate from the 

 Professorship of Astronomy at the College of Pekin. Four 

 stations of the first order are sn^ested namely, Shanghai, 

 Pekin, Hankow, and Amoy. Bericht Meteor. Congr.^Wien, 

 28,64. 



CONNECTION BETWEEN COLLIERY EXPLOSIONS AND THE 



WEATHER. 



Messrs. Scott and Galloway have made a careful compari- 

 son of the weather records, for the year 1871, with the records 

 of fire-damp in the coal-mines of Great Britain. From near- 

 ly 300 such explosions during that year they have derived 

 the following o-eneral conclusions: 



They find that out of 207 explosions, 113 were due to the 

 state of the barometer, 39 to the temperature, and 55 not ac- 

 counted for by either of these agencies. If the barometric 

 pressure, after having remained about the same height for sev- 



