252 PROGRESS OF METEOROLOGY IN 1889. 



(1) In the north of the Bay of Bengal, standing ^svith the back to the 

 wind, the center of the cyclone bears about five points on the left hand 

 or three points before the beam, 



(2) In the south of the Bay it bears about four points to the left hand 

 or four points before the beam. 



(3) These rules hold good for all positions within the influence of the 

 storm up to 500 miles from the storm center. 



The author concludes by pointing out that these facts are fatal to the 

 cyclone theories of M. Faye. {Nature, xxxviii, p. 181.) 



Mr. S. R. Elson, an experienced East Indian pilot, comments on Mr. 

 Blanford's rules for avoiding cyclones, and shows that a numberof modi- 

 fications must be introduced in applying these rules in special localities 

 and under special circumstances. One of these is the strong currents 

 setting in in advance of cyclones that drift the vessel far out of its course 

 and towards the " eye of the storm." In and off the Hooghly River, 

 whatever be the direction and motion of the cyclone, the first wind in- 

 variably blows from the northeast, and the regular rules are inapplica- 

 ble without taking account of this peculiarity. Mr. Elson thinks Mr. 

 Blanford's rules for finding the storm's center are perplexing and liable 

 to misconstruction. {Natiire, xxxix, p. 69.) 



In vol. IV, part v, of the Indian Meteorological Memoirs, Mr. F. Cham- 

 bers, has presented a study of the cyclone of the 25th of May to the 2d 

 of June, 1881, in the Arabian Sea. After a painstaking preparation of 

 the data, it is classified with respect to the gradient, with respect to 

 the distance from the center, and with respect to the octant of the 

 cyclone. And many relations of the pressure, the force and directions 

 and incurvature of the wind in different parts are derived. The re- 

 sults show no regular increase of the angle between the radius and the 

 wind in approaching the center, though no doubt this angle is greater 

 near the center than farther away from it, but the observations are too 

 few to give averages showing a regular progression. As an observa- 

 tional fact it was found tliat the cyclone moved from that side where 

 the wind was strongest to that side where it was weakest, and Mr. 

 Chambers explains this by showing that the first effect of the approach 

 of a tropical cyclone is to neutralize the normal wind, and so to cause less 

 than the normal amount of air motion. As one i)ractical outcome of 

 the study, rules are formulated for the guidance of the navigator when 

 caught in a cyclone in the Arabian Sea, aud some interesting relations 

 are suggested between the direction of the swell and the direction of 

 the wind as throwing additional light on the position of the cyclone 

 center. 



Paths of cyclones.-~ln vo], ix of Aus dem ArcMv der Deutschen See- 

 warte Dr. van Bebber investigates typical Meather conditions and 

 traces the influen ce of cyclonic areas upon the weather with a view to the' 

 discovery of the laws governing the changes iji direction of their tracks 

 and of their rates of progression. It is shown that the depressions move 

 along certain tracks with greater than average velocity. 



