INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS DURING THE YEAR 1873. xxxiii 



westward between the Bermudas and the coasts of the United 

 States; it turned, as cyclones usually do, northeastward, and 

 although its centre, advancing nearly parallel to the coast of 

 Nova Scotia, was at a distance of several hundred miles there- 

 from, yet were the winds experienced in that province so se- 

 vere as to utterly destroy all the shipping in its harbors, and 

 cause an immense destruction of life and property on land. 

 When last heard from, this cyclone was some distance east 

 of Newfoundland, and it appears possible that it preserved 

 its integrity until reaching the coast of Norway, some two 

 weeks after its first appearance. Professor Abbe suggests 

 that probably an important class of cyclones originate on the 

 coast of Senegambia. 



Baron Maydell has studied the connection between the 

 direction of the movement of storm centres and the direction 

 of the line joining the position of the storm centre at any 

 moment, and the region of anomalous high temperature. 



One of the most thorough and therefore valuable investi- 

 irations that has ever been made into the connection between 

 meteorological phenomena and agricultural statistics has 

 been lately published by General Rawson, Governor of Bar- 

 badoes, wdio has in a most exhaustive manner shown the 

 influence of the rain-fall on the sugar cro]) of that island, 

 and has even prepared tables by which one can predict, 

 Avith a certain degree of accuracy, the crop that may be ex- 

 pected to follow the season in w^hich a given amount of rain 

 falls. 



The investigation of the atmosphere by means of the bal- 

 loon has been steadily prosecuted in Europe, especially in 

 France by Janssen ; while in America a great deal of interest 

 Avas excited upon the subject by the announcement that the 

 Graphic newspaper company of New York would furnish 

 the well-known aeronaut. Professor Wise, with unlimited 

 funds, in order to enable him to make a voyage from Amer- 

 ica to Europe. Notwithstanding the utter failure of this at- 

 tempt which is to be lamented in a scientific point of view, 

 since, had the balloon made a voyage of above twenty-four 

 hours' duration, the observations connected therewith could 

 not have failed io have been of ojreat advantasfe there has 

 still been derived much benefit from the discussions which 

 took place in relation to the subject of a westerly current of 



2* 



