244 



METEOROLOGY AND ALLIED SUBJECTS. 



The old chronicle says "the winds that blow on the Sea of Fgrmosa are 

 very different from those of other seas. A very strong wind is called 

 'ku'; such a wind of greater violence is called t'ai. The 'kii' rises 

 and falls suddenly, while the t'ai blows continually day and night. 

 Storms that blow from February to May are 'ku'5 those that blow 

 from June to September are called ' t'ai.' In October the north wiud 

 begins. 



" When one speaks of a wind that blows from every direction of the 

 compass it is called 't'ai.' We know no 't'ai,' no matter how severe, 

 that does not follow the rule of blowing from all directions. If, for 

 example, it blows from the north, then from the north it will turn to the 

 east, and from east to south, and from south to west." {Z. 0. G. M., XVI, 

 1881, p. 431.) 



Hildebrandsson has published a summary of the observations made 

 on the coast of Siberia by ISTordenskiold during the Yega expedition 

 from North Cape to Yokohama. The following table gives some of his 

 results : 



As opposed to the prevailing WW. wind the observations of clouds 

 show that a steady SE. current prevailed overhead. {Z. 0. G. M., XY, 

 pp. 369-378.) 



ni.— METHODS, APPARATUS, &C. 



Sohncke has made an investigation into the gradual change in the 

 correction for instrumental error of barometers, especially those of the 

 meteorological stations in the principality of Baden. These station 

 barometers are all mercurial-cistern barometers, manufactured by Her- 

 mann & Pfister, and were all originally compared with the central barom- 

 eter at Carlsruhe by means of a portable barometer made by Fortin. In 

 1874, a new tube, apparently in perfect condition, was introduced into 

 the barometer at Carlsruhe, on account of an accident to the original 

 tube, which had preserved its condition satisfactorily during the pre- 

 ceding six years. 



The new barometer tube, in the course of the first three years after its 

 introduction, experienced a large change, as is shown by two entirely 

 independent methods: namely, first, by the direct comparison with the 

 portable barometer, and second, by its comparison with all the station 



