INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS DURING THE YEAR 1873. xxvii 



be given to the great work of Sabine, on the magnetic cliart 

 for the northern hemisphere, constituting his thirteenth con- 

 tribution to this science. The cliart drawn by him represents 

 the magnetic condition of the northern hemisphere for the 

 year 1845, and is based upon all the observations made be- 

 tween 1805 and 1872. As to the exhaustive nature of the la- 

 bors accomplished by him, this work ranks with that of 

 Plansteen (whose recent death is fresh in our memory), while 

 in accuracy, of course, surpassing that, because of the vastly 

 increased number of accurate observations. 



The subject of ground currents on electric telegraph wires 

 has received considerable attention both in America and En- 

 gland, and has been discussed in the most lucid manner at 

 the meetings of the London Society of Telegraph Engineers; 

 from which it seems evident that the subject requires for 

 further elucidation a greatly increased number of carefully 

 made observations, such as those of Airy, at Greenwich, and 

 of Graves, at Yalentia. 



METEOROLOGY. 



In regard to Meteorological matters, the year 1873 will 

 probably long be signalized especially as the year of the 

 meeting of the International Congress at Vienna. This body 

 continued in session during the first half of the month of Sep- 

 tember, and its deliberations were greatly facilitated by the 

 very general consideration that had during the previous year 

 been given to the subjects which it was intended should be 

 brought up for the decision of the Congress. Although in 

 most matters the Congress declined to give at once a decisive 

 vote with regard to the details of the meteorological work 

 recommended by the various nations of Europe there assem- 

 bled, yet the matters brought before it were referred to ap- 

 propriate committees, and the entire influence of the mete- 

 orologists there present were so decidedly given in favor of 

 a nearer approach to uniformity in all meteorological obser- 

 vations and publications, that it is probable that there will 

 therefore be brought about a very marked improvement in 

 this respect during the coming few years. While recogniz- 

 ing the importance of many matters of scientific detail com- 

 ing before the attention of the Congress, we will probably not 

 be far wrong in attributing the greatest importance to the 



