M F.TEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 301 



FIGURES TO DENOTE THE FORCE OF TILE WIND. 



denotes Calm. 



1 ,, Light ail Just sufficient to give Steerage way. 



2 i, Light breeze with which a weU conditioned man- 1 to 2 knots. 



.-* ,.*i„ i . I of-war, under all Bail, and clean ! n , . -, 



3 » ' "" l1 "' breeze ••• I full, would go in smooth water, j - 5 '" 4 knots. 



1 „ Moderate breeze J lmm [5 to 6 knots. 



5 „ Fresh breeze 



G „ Strong breei e . 



7 „ Moderate galo... 



8 „ Fresh gale 



9 ,. Strong "ale 



Royals, &c. 



Single reefs and topgallant sails. 



in which the same ship could just v* i 1 r "i c 



" carry close hauled i i >ou WO-teetS, Jin, eV'C. 



Triple-reefs, courses, &c. 

 Close-reefs, and courses. 



10 ,, Whole gale with which she could only bear Close-reefed niaintopsail and reefed foresail. 



11 ,, Storm with which she would be reduced to Storm staysails. 



12 „ Hurricane to which she could show No canvas. 



Note. — Exception has been taken by seamen to the numbers denoting the force of the wind in this scale, as represented by 



modern types of ships. They were, however, found to be well adapted to H.M.S. Challenger. 



LETTERS TO DENOTE THE STATE OF THE WEATHER. 



b denotes Blue sky, whether with clear or hazy atmosphere. 

 Cloudy — i.e., Detached opening clouds. 

 Drizzling rain. 

 Fog— f Thick fog. 

 Gloomy dark weather. 

 Hail 



Lightning. 



Misty or hazy — so as to interrupt the view. 



Overcast — i.e., The whole sky covered with one impervious cloud. 

 Passing showers. 

 Squally. 



Rain — i.e., Continuous rain. 

 Snow. 

 Thunder. 



Ugly threatening appearance of the weather. 

 Visibility of distant objects — whether the sky be cloudy or not. 

 Wet dew. 

 Under any letter denotes an extraordinary degree. 



By the combination of these letters all the ordinary phenomena of the weather may be recorded with 

 certainty and brevity. 



Examples. 



b c m Blue sky, with detached opening clouds, but hazy round the horizon. 



gv Gloomy dark weather, but distant objects remarkably visible. 



q p d 1 t Very hard squalls, and showers of drizzle, accompanied by lightning, with very heavy thunder. 



