756 A MEMOIR OF ELIAS LOOMIS. 



trodiice uniformity throughout and to render some of the registers more 

 complete. Is not such an enterprise worthy of the American Philo- 

 sophical Society ? The General Government has for more than 20 years 

 done something and has lately manifested a disposition to do more for 

 this object. If i)rivate zeal could be more generally enlisted the war 

 might soon be ended and men would cease to ridicule the idea of our 

 being able to predict an approaching storm."' 



This plan of a systematic meteorological campaign was cordially 

 seconded by Professors Bache and Peirce. At a somewhat later date 

 the American Academy of Sciences, of Boston, appointed a committee, 

 of which Professor Loomis was chairman, to urge upon the proper au- 

 thorities the execution of the plan. The American Philosophical So- 

 ciety, of Philadelphia, united its voice with that of the Academy. About 

 this time Professor Henry was made Secretary of the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution. He determined to make American meteorology one of the 

 leading subjects of investigation to be aided by the Institution. At 

 Professor Henry's request, Professor Loomis prepared a report upon 

 the meteorology of the United States, in which he showed what ad- 

 vantages society might expect from the study of the phenomena of 

 storms; what had been done in this country toward making the neces- 

 sary observations and toward deducing from them general laws; and 

 finally, what encouragement there was to a further prosecution of the 

 same researches. He then presented in detail a practicable plan for 

 securing the hoped-for advantages in their fullest extent. 



This plan looked to a unifying of all the work done by existing ob- 

 servers, a systematic supervision, a supplementing of it by new ob- 

 servers at needed points, a securing of the cooperation of the British 

 Government and the Hudson's Bay Company in the n^gions to the north 

 of us, and finally a thorough discussion of the observations collected. 

 A siege of 3 years was contemplated. In the history of the several 

 steps that finally led to the establishment of the United States Signal 

 Service this report has an important place. 



The scheme laid down by Professor Loomis was in part followed out 

 by the Institution, but the fragmentary character of the observations, 

 the want of systematic distribution of the places of the observers, and 

 the imperfections of the barometers made the material collected difticult 

 of discussion. Professor Loomis waited in hopes of some better system. 



In 1854, Professor Loomis undertook a re-discussion of the storm of 

 1836, using the new methods introduced for treating the storms of 1842. 

 A visit to Europe shortly after enabled him to collect a large number 

 of observations upon a storm or series of storms that occurred in Eu- 

 rope about a week later than that American storm. He had long been 

 anxious to connect, if possible, these two storms, as he said, " stepping 

 across the Atlantic." The European and the American storms how- 

 ever not only proved to be distinct one from the other, but the discus- 

 sion showed clearly that many of the laws of American storms were 



