OCEAN METEOROLOGY. 



37 



already obtained, and probably entitle the whole to be regarded as 

 among the most splendid achievements of the age. With this system 

 established, and conducted as it ought to be, no ship need ever put to 

 sea from any of our seaports in ignorance of the approaching storm. 

 A like system for the British Islands and the Continent would lead to 

 like results there ; many storms, after visiting our shores, travel across 

 the ocean and carry devastation there. Should the sub-Atlantic tele- 

 graph be laid, and, when laid, should it answer its ends, warnings of 

 all such storms may be sent across the ocean several days La advance." 

 — (" Sailing Directions," by Lieutenant M. F. Maury, U. S. N., vol. i., 

 p. viii. of Introduction.) 



To recur to the problem of the meteorologist) of to-day, it assumes 

 three distinct phases : first, from a number of observations extending 

 through many years and over a large expanse of land or sea, to dis- 

 cover the laws of atmospheric phenomena ; second, from an unbroken 

 series of observations at any one place, through a sufficiently long pe- 

 riod to eliminate all merely adventitious changes, to determine the 

 climate of that place ; and third, from a number of simultaneous ob- 

 servations at different points of any circumscribed area, to predict 

 what the weather will be over that area for any short time. 



The solution of the first phase is all but complete : the great gov- 

 erning principles of our atmosphere are now quite well known — it is 

 only the details that need defining. That of the second phase can 

 scarcely be said to be more than begun : in only a few places on the 

 globe have accurate observations been continued for a long enough 

 period to reliably define their climates ; but of late years, especially 

 during the last twenty, such an interest has been awakened in this 

 subject, that ere the century closes very many cities will possess the 

 data for thoroughly describing the atmospheric changes to which they 

 are subject, not according to the recollection of the oldest inhabitant, 

 but by accurate records — figures that never deceive. 



The effect of the weather upon mankind is only too well known : 

 with the invalid or convalescent it is often a matter of life or death ; 

 with us all, how different our feelings on a fresh, genial day, when the 

 air is dry and bracing, and a bright sun illumines an azure sky — ^how 

 elastic, how full of vigor are we, compared with the lethargy that 

 seizes us in somber, bleak weather, when dense, misty clouds hang in 

 heavy folds around us, and shade even our very sensations with their 

 gloom ! 



In Boston, the east wind of spring and autumn is a source of an- 

 noyance to its inhabitants; it comes laden with moisture and — coughs. 

 In California, it is an equally unwelcome visitor, but for a very differ- 

 ent reason : it parches and all but cracks the skin. In both places, 

 the relative prevalence of this wind is a fact important to know. In 

 Buffalo, the storms that sweep in from the lakes are disagreeable in 

 the extreme ; in Texas, the fierce blast of the norther is often very 



