KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 87 



governments of the earth have established weather bureaus, and provided a 

 regular system for collecting the facts and arranging them in such a form 

 that scientific deductions and discussions become possible. 



Owing to geographical and topographical conditions, as well as to the en- 

 terprise of our meteorologists, it has been reserved for the United States to 

 develop the most complete and accurate system of weather observation the 

 world has yet seen. The system, however, is in its infancy, and splendid as 

 have been the achievements of Reed, Maury, Meyer and others, much yet 

 remains to be done to bring it to full development. 



There are always to be found in every community willing observers of the 

 weather. It is a subject which concerns everybody; it is the grsiud piece de 

 resistance on which we fall back when other topics of conversation fail. It 

 affords endless opportunities for guessing and infinite variety in treatment. 

 It is by no means certain that scientific knowledge will in any wise improve 

 the weather as a social theme, for by the methods of science we have nothing 

 to conjecture which can be ascertained by actual observation, and the wise 

 man will remain discreetly silent where knowledge fails. We can, however, 

 afford to sacrifice the poetry of weather and its myths for the sake of truth, 

 and there is a way of utilizing the universal interest in the subject so as to 

 obtain a multitude of willing observers of weather phenomena, each of whom 

 will help in establishing the basis of fact out of which all valuable theories 

 grow and on which they rest. 



This organization of volunteer work has been most successfully shown to 

 be possible, by the labors of Hinrichs in Iowa and Nipher in Missouri, while 

 the New York Herald Weather Department has shown what a great metro- 

 politan newspaper can accomplish. 



Here in Kansas, we have quite a number of points where meteorological 

 notes have been accurately and systematically kept for quite a number of 

 years. Foremost among these are Professor Snow's valuable observations at 

 the State University, and the Signal Service observations at Leavenworth 

 and Fort Dodge. There are many other points in the State where observa- 

 tions are taken occasionally, with commendable accuracy, but their value is 

 lost from lack of continuity and system. Most observers grow tired of the 

 monotonous record of daily weather changes, and do not perceive the value 

 and interest of such records when long continued and systematically ar- 

 ranged. Even then it requires the comparison and compilation of many 

 such records, taken at points suitably distributed throughout the State, to be 

 able to understand their real significance and importance. 



Last winter, it was resolved by the Topeka Scientific Club to try to sys- 

 tematize and utilize the volunteer weather observations heretofore taken in 

 Kansas, and at the same time to establish observations in every county of 

 the State. For this purpose they organized the Kansas Weather Service. 

 It was thought best, if possible, to enlist the combined talent of the State in 

 the enterprise, and secure at least the sympathy, if not the active cooperation, 



