40 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



obtained for its advocate his distinction in this branch of physical sci- 

 ence. He planted a germ which, under his own assiduous care, grew 

 and overspread the globe : its seed fell in every maritime nation, and 

 to-day they are producing meteorological charts of the ocean — all 

 modifications or elaborations of his useful idea. It is therefore but 

 proper that I should here give a short sketch of both himself and his 

 great work. 



Matthew Fontaine Mauet was born in Virginia, January 4, 1806. 

 He entered the navy as midshipman in 1825, and was promoted to the 

 grade of lieutenant in 1836, having in the interval been attached to 

 various cruising-vessels, on which he performed the customary duties 

 of a sea officer. It was during one of these cruises that the outline of 

 his future work acquired form and shape in his brain. 



In 18.39 an accident permanently incapacitated him for further 

 service at sea, and he was therefore given charge of the depot of 

 charts and instruments in Washington : this was soon afterward 

 united to the Naval Observatory, and he became superintendent of 

 both, retaining the position uninterruptedly until 1861 — a period of 

 more than twenty years. Later still, the scope, character, and impor- 

 tance of the chart department grew to such dimensions as to necessitate 

 its separation from the observatory : this was done, and it became the 

 Hydrographic Ofiice, which it continues to this day, under the man- 

 agement of a naval ofiicer. At present, it has no closer intimacy with 

 the observatory than being under the guidance of officers of the same 

 branch of the Government — the navy. 



Maury was promoted to the grade of commander in 1855, and it 

 was then also that he attained the height of his scientific fame : he 

 had written his "Physical Geography of the Sea"; he had been chiefly 

 instrumental in bringing about the Brussels Conference, whereby the 

 civilized nations of the world entered into his plan of " ocean meteor- 

 ology " .; he had prepared his ponderous volumes of " Sailing Du-ec- 

 tions " ; he had received the encomiums of numerous scientific bodies 

 both native and foreign ; and, with the constant aid of a large number 

 of naval officers, he had compiled, with incredible labor and pains, that 

 series of charts that has made his name so familiar to sailors, whatever 

 the flag they sail under. 



On the 1st of February, 18T3, after having done more than any 

 other man that preceded him toward tracing the wind in its circuits, 

 and showing the navigator how to take advantage thereof, he died at 

 Lexington, Virginia, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. 



I will now give an outline of the charts compiled under Maury's 

 direction. A full description would necessitate the reproduction of 

 specimen-sheets, and that is impracticable here. 



First and most important are the Pilot Charts. These give for 

 small areas of ocean — every five degrees square — the relative frequen- 

 cy of different winds during each month. The following figure is a 



