B. TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS AND METEOROLOGY. 91 



THE CALCUTTA CYCLONE OF 1872. 



In Juno, 1872, there passed over the Bay of Bengal one of 

 the most memorable cyclones that ever occurred in that re- 

 gion. The importance of predicting such storms had long 

 since attracted the attention of the government of Bengal, 

 and it was considered the duty of the meteorological re- 

 porter to give prompt information of the approach of de- 

 structive cyclones to the harbor of Calcutta. But the unsat- 

 isfactory nature of his relations to other officials seems to 

 have prevented the successful prediction of the storm in ques- 

 tion, which was very destructive, and especially so by reason 

 of the tremendous sea. The officiating meteorologist to the 



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government of Bengal was, after this, directed to prepare a 

 special report upon this storm, with such suggestions as he 

 deemed necessary for perfecting a system of storm signals in 

 that region. From this report, which is now before us, and 

 which has been very widely distributed throughout the world, 

 we see that the storm was one of very small compass, appar- 

 ently generated in the Bay of Bengal. For some time after 

 its formation it seems to have been almost stationary, and 

 subsequently moved with a velocity of about ten miles an 

 hour. Subsidiary vortices appear to have been formed, and 

 afterward broken up. The report states that storms generat- 

 ing in the north of the bay so late in the season seldom pos- 

 sess sufficient energy to travel inland, and generally burst up 

 or disperse Avhen they come in contact with the land. The 

 comparatively limited sea-room seems to have prevented the 

 carrying out of those rules which have been laid down by 

 Colonel Reid and other writers on revolving storms; and in 

 this connection one is surprised to notice the statement made 

 by the committee of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce to 

 the effect that most pilot vessels sailing out of Calcutta do 

 not possess chronometers, and generally have to trust to any 

 stray ship that they may come across to give them their lati- 

 tude and lono-itude. 



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Among the valuable results of the publication of this re- 

 port, we notice the excellent rules given in it for the naviga- 

 tion of vessels, and the general indications of the probable 

 formation of a cyclone. American vessels sailing to this re- 

 gion will find it well to bear in mind the following: "Ships 



