KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



of the U. S. Signal Service, Correspondence was accordingly entered into with 

 the authorities at Washington, which resulted in the loan of necessary instru- 

 ments for the central station. This was located at Washburn College, and 

 the President and other officers of this institution have given very material 

 assistance in carrying out these plans. A commodious observatory has been 

 secured in the college building, and the college laboratory and cabinets sup- 

 plement the instrumental appliances. 



The writer undertook to act as director of this weather service, and with 

 aid of Mr. Chase and Mr. Hilton, of the Topeka Scientific Club, observers 

 were engaged in different parts of the State, instructions and blanks were 

 issued, and arrangements made for supplying thermometers and rain-gauges. 



This preliminary work was completed last July, and since then a careful 

 record has been kept at the central station, and reports published. About 

 twenty -five other stations are now established, and from some of these the 

 reports have been sent in with considerable regularity and accuracy. There 

 is evidence that much patience and labor are requisite to secure observa- 

 tions at desirable points that will be satisfactory. There exists, however, 

 much reason for encouragement, and the work will be steadily pushed as fast 

 as the resources at our command will allow. It must be remembered that all 

 the labor is done without remuneration, and in time snatched from the inter- 

 vals of other occupations. This is true of the director as well as all the ob- 

 servers, and not only must time be given freely, but expenses for printing, 

 paper and postage must be provided. These have thus far been met by the 

 liberality of the Scientific Club and by Washburn College. The ends to be 

 gained are worthy all the efibrt, since we shall secure data for a more accu- 

 rate study of the ordinary weather phenomena than has hitherto been possible. 

 We shall also have a trained body of observers to note the facts in any occa- 

 sional phenomena, like tornados, earthquakes, remarkable temperatures and 

 rainfalls. There will be valuable notes on the phenomena relating to vege- 

 tation, rainfall and temperature, which cannot fail to be more accurate than 

 any yet published, and they will be useful in determining the exact resources 

 and advantages of different parts of the State. The question whether our 

 rainfall increases with the cultivation of the soil, interesting alike in its scien- 

 tific and economic aspects, can only be settled by such observations as we 

 propose to publish. 



Finally, when these reports are taken in connection with similar reports of 

 the two great contiguous States of Missouri and Iowa, their combined value 

 will be greatly enhanced for purely scientific purposes. We shall have a 

 larger consecutive area of the earth's surface under minute and systematic 

 observation than exists elsewhere to my knowledge. We can trace storms 

 in their track over a level country, from western Kansas to the Mississippi 

 river, many hundred miles in any direction, and can thus determine their 

 laws and the ways of avoiding them, if this be possible. At the next annual 

 meeting of the Academy it is hoped that the organization of the Kansas 



