340 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



then propose as their model the Astronomische Naclirichten of Prof. 

 Schumacher, and state that " the plan of the proposed journal con- 

 templates, not only researches in every department of physical, theo- 

 retical, and practical astronomy, but also investigations on all sub- 

 jects directly connected with these, such as pure mathematics, geod- 

 esy, the theory of instruments, &c." The numbers are to appear at 

 irregular intervals, as matter accumulates, or important information is 

 received, and, when necessary, circulars will be issued. A volume 

 will contain 24 sheets in quarto, and the subscription is $5.00 the 

 volume. Mr. B. A. Gould, Jr., is the editor, and expects no remuner- 

 ation. 



Within a few weeks after the issue of the prospectus, the requisite 

 funds were procured, and numbers were published on November 2d, 

 December 13th, and January 7th. This is one of the most important 

 steps that has been taken in science in this country for a long while, 

 and as the Journal starts under so prosperous auspices, there can be 

 little doubt that it will accomplish much good. Editors. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



AMONG the most important investigations of our own time, we must 

 assign a prominent place to those connected with meteorology. We 

 may reasonably expect, within a comparatively short period, to ascer- 

 tain the laws by which atmospheric phenomena, hitherto regarded as 

 the emblem of inconstancy, are regulated. Observations of the most 

 accurate kind are now made at all the magnetic and astronomical ob- 

 servatories in every part of the world. Among the most celebrated 

 observers is Prof. Dove, of Berlin, Prussia, who has undertaken a 

 reduction and full examination of all the meteorological observations 

 that have been published heretofore in the different countries of Eu- 

 rope, and other parts of the civilized world. In a series of memoirs 

 presented to the Academy of Sciences at Berlin, this investigator has 

 most industriously determined the progression of atmospheric temper- 

 ature during an interval of 115 years. from 1729 to 1843. It is 

 impossible for us to give any idea of the amount of labor of the most 

 severe description which is bestowed on this examination, of the 

 great variety of interesting facts embraced in these memoirs. It must 

 suffice to state, that the gradual passage of the isothermal lines of Jan- 

 uary and July into one another exhibits ofer the century the utmost 

 regularity. 



In the United States, a plan has been formed by the officers of the 

 Smithsonian Institute for carrying out a grand series of meteorologi- 

 cal observations, extending over the whole country, from the Atlantic 

 to the Pacific, with a view of elucidating the phenomena of American 

 storms. It is proposed to establish three classes of observers: one 

 class, without instruments, to observe the face of the sky, as to its 

 clearness, the extent of cloud, the direction and force of w r ind, the 

 beginning and end of rain, snow, &c. ; a second class, furnished 

 with thermometers, who, besides making the observations above men- 

 tioned, will record variations of temperature ; the third class, fur- 



