INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS DURING THE YEAR 1875. xxxv 



of investigation, which it is believed have, ere this, been au- 

 thorized by the Indian government. 



One of the most valuable contributions to the literature of 

 the subject of auroras consists in the new general catalogue 

 of auroras compiled by Fritz, of Zurich, and published by the 

 Vienna Academy of Sciences. This author has added even 

 to the great catalogue of Lovering, in that he had access to 

 documents now for the first time rendered accessible. He 

 has employed the great mass of data collected by him in a 

 minute investigation into the geographical distribution of 

 the aurora, and concludes that auroral frequency has to do 

 with the distribution of ice in the arctic regions. 



Highly interesting auroral observations have been made on 

 the auroras by Tromholdt, who concludes that there is a 

 connection between auroras and halos; but the most valua- 

 ble contribution on this subject is from Weyprecht, in the 

 preliminary reports on the results of the Austro-Hungarian 

 North Pole Expedition of 1872 and 1873. According to him, 

 very intense auroras were invariably followed by storms. 

 Quite regular arches, without color or radiation, exercised no 

 apparent influence on the needle. 



METEOROLOGY. 



Observers, Institutions, Instruments, etc. Of government 

 establishments, the most important change has been that at 

 the Hamburg Seewarte, which has been purchased by the 

 German government. The " German Seewarte " at Hamburg 

 is now organized as an office of the Royal Hydrographic Bu- 

 reau. To it are assigned the duties, first, of caring for ocean 

 meteorology and the interests of navigation ; second, of show- 

 ing storm warnings on the German coast ; and, third, the in- 

 vestigation of the meteorological conditions on which storms 



CD CD 



depend. It seems to be intended to abandon all studies of 

 climatology, and to restrict its field of activity quite exclu- 

 sively to simultaneous observations of the atmosphere, or to 

 meteorology proper. 



The meteorological service of Bengal, under Mr. Blandford, 

 lias begun the publication of daily weather maps for the In- 

 dian provinces. Reports are published daily, in addition to 

 the bulletins, showing the weather. The reports of 145 rain- 

 gauges, in addition to six first-class and ten second-class sta- 

 tions, have been published. 



