OBITUARY NOTICES. 5g 



of pounds in rectifying a blunder in the calculation of the water available 

 from a selected area, the mistake being due to the fact that a rod had been 

 left projecting over the single gauge which formed the basis of the calculations, 

 and that the rain dripping from the rod into the gauge was responsible for 

 the district being credited with an absurdly exaggerated capacity for supplying 

 water. 



The rainfall was not, however, the only branch of meteorology in which 

 Mr. Symons interested himself. To the kindred subjects of evaporation and 

 percolation he also devoted his attention so far as they affected the under- 

 ground stores of water. The use of lightning conductors was another matter 

 in which he took interest, and, as a member of the Lightning-Rod Committee 

 of the Royal Meteorological Society, he had much to do with the valuable 

 report of the Committee which was the product of four years' labours. The 

 existence of the " thunderbolt" was another subject of Mr. Symon's charac- 

 teristically persistent attention. Whenever and wherever such a phenomenon 

 was said to have been seen, Mr. Symons, if it was at all possible, himself 

 visited the spot and investigated the evidence, with the invariable result that 

 he could get no proof of an electric meteor having existed. 



Throughout the 40 years of his work, Mr. Symons, whenever possible, 

 adhered to his custom of giving in The Times a summary of his data respecting 

 the year's rainfall. These observations became especially valuable during 

 a cycle of dry years, such as 1890-99. He allowed few atmospheric 

 phenomena of anj^ interest to pass without some useful comment. A remark- 

 able sunset, an abnormal barometric pressure, or a prolonged drought, were a 

 few among many such subjects. He was for some years a member of the 

 Council of the Royal Botanic Society. He also served on the Council of the 

 Sanitary Institute. 



Mr. Symons was a great authority on bibliography. He collected the 

 titles of all books and pamphlets bearing on meteorology of which he could 

 gain intelligence, and at the time of his death these titles amounted to about 

 60,000. In 1882 he furnished about 20,000 to the Chief Signal Office, 

 Washington, U.S., with a view to their being printed, but this was not fully 

 carried out. It is to be hoped that this bibliography may come into the 

 possession of the Meteorological Society. 



He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1878, and was chosen as 

 Chairman of the Committee appointed by the Society to report upon the 

 eruption of Krakatoa. In 1899 he was appointed a member of the Committee 

 in connexion with the scheme for the establishment of a national physical 

 laboratory at Kew. He was President of the Royal Meteorological Society in 

 1880, and he filled the office of secretary for many years up to the close of 

 1899. In view of the approaching commemoration by the Society early in 

 April next of its 50th year, it sought to honour him by re-electing him Presi- 

 dent. The attack of paralysis, which intervened between his election and 

 the subsequent meeting of the Society, prevented him from retaining the 

 position. 



For the last 30 years he has been assisted in the compilation of rainfall 

 values by Mr. H. Sowerby Wallis, who, it is understood, will carry on the 

 work according to the wish e.xpressed by Mr. Symons. The Council of the 



