26 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



Hall, " to know where to find a fair wind, and where to fall in with a fa- 

 vorable current ; " but with the means at present accessible, the knowledge 

 of such matters can only be acquired by years of toil and actual experi- 

 ence, excepting only in the greater thoroughfares of the oceans, which are 

 well known. Wind and current charts have been published of late years, 

 chiefly based on the great work of the United States Government, at the 

 suggestion of, and superintended by, Lieutenant Maury ; and by study- 

 ing such charts and directions, navigators have been enabled to shorten 

 their passages materially ; in many cases as much as one-fourth, in some 

 one- third of the distance or time previously employed. Much had been 

 collected and written about the winds and currents by E,ennell, Capper, 

 Heid, Redneld, Thorn, Piddington, and others ; but general attention was 

 not attracted to the subject, however important to a maritime country, till 

 the publication of Lieutenant Maury's admirable observations. Encour- 

 aged by the practical results obtained, and induced by the just arguments 

 of that officer, the principal maritime powers sent duly qualified persons 

 to assist at a conference held at Brussels, last year, on the subject of me- 

 teorology at sea. The report of that conference was laid before Parliament, 

 and the first direct result of it was a vote of money for the purchase of 

 instruments and the discussion of observations. All the valuable meteoro- 

 logical data which have been collected at the Admiralty, and all that can 

 be obtained elsewhere, will be tabulated and discussed in this new depart- 

 ment of the Board of Trade, in addition to the continually accruing and 

 more exact data to be furnished in future. 



A very large number of ships, chiefly American, are now engaged in 

 observations, stimulated by the advice, and aided by the documents so 

 liberally furnished by the United States government, at the instance of 

 Lieutenant Maury, whose labors have been incessant. 



Not only does that government offer directions and charts, gratis, to 

 American ships, but also to those of our nation, in accordance with certain 

 easy and just conditions. 



In this country, the government, through the Board of Trade, will sup- 

 ply a certain number of ships which are going on distant voyages with 

 "abstract logs," (or meteorological registers) and instruments, gratis, in 

 order to assist effectively in carrying out this important national under- 

 taking. 



In the preface to a late edition of Johnston's Wind and Current Charts, 

 published last June, at Edinburgh, Dr. Buist says: "It has been shown 

 that Lieutenant Maury's charts and sailing directions have shortened the 

 voyages of American ships by about a third. If the voyages of those to 

 and from India were shortened by 110 more than a tenth, it would se- 

 cure a saving, in freightage alone, of 250,OOOJ annually. Estimating the 

 freights of vessels trading from Europe with distant ports at 20,000,OOOJ 

 a year, a saving of a tenth would be about 2,000,000^; and every day 

 that is lost in bringing the arrangements for the accomplishment of this 

 into operation occasions a sacrifice to the shipping interest of about 6,000^, 



