ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON METEOROLOGY 77 



been especially developed bj'^ Mr. Rotch at Blue Hill and Professor 

 Marvin at the Weather Bureau, so that, finally, in 1899, Professor 

 V/illis L- Moore, as Chief of the Weather Bureau, was able to organ- 

 ize a system of seventeen kite stations and lay the foundation 

 for compiling charts of temperature, pressure, and wind at an altitude 

 of one mile above sea level. In 1897 Monsieur Leon Teisserenc de 

 Bort began at Trappes, near Paris, to systematically send up small 

 balloons filled with hydrogen , carrying self-registering apparatus to 

 gi'eat heights, and this work is now carried on at ten or twelve sta- 

 tions in Europe, so that b},* means of simultaneous ascensions we 

 are able to make maps of the condition of the atmosphere at an alti- 

 tude of 10,000 or 15,000 meters above that portion of the world. 



With regard to the ocean we understand that at the present time 

 the Hydrographic Office of the U. S. Navy, the Seewarte at Ham- 

 burg, and the Meteorological Office at London are compiling not 

 only monthly and annual summaries for each square degree of the 

 ocean surface, but also daily maps of the atmospheric condition 

 over those special parts of the ocean from which a sufficient num- 

 ber of observations can be obtained. Daily maps of the Atlantic 

 Ocean have been published by the British and Danish meteorologi- 

 cal offices, and similar maps of the monsoon area by the Indian 

 Government. 



Although there maybe approximately 25,000 meteorological sta- 

 tions on land at the present time, and as many more good observers 

 at sea, yet a large part of both the land and water surfaces are 

 still unrepresented by charts or obser^^ers. Consequently our 

 knowledge of local climates is very unsatisfactory, and our knowl- 

 edge of the local movements or the so-called physics of the atmos- 

 phere has only just begun to be developed. 



Of course meteorological research must cover an extensive field, 

 including all lands and seas and extending upward to an elevation 

 in the atmosphere as yet undetermined, but beyond which we may 

 speak of cosmic physics or the physics of the ether. It also in- 

 cludes the applications to the atmosphere of our knowledge of 

 hydro-dynamics, thermo-dyuamics, kinetic theories of difi'usion, 

 optics, electricity, all of which are generally included in the term 

 physics of the atmosphere. The stud}' of local and general clima- 

 tology affi^rds also a practical illtistration of the mathematical laws 

 of probability. 



The applications of meteorology to the practical needs of mankind 

 and the relations of meteorology to biology, geology and other 



