316 METEOROLOGY. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE 0BSER7AT0EY, BY DR. SMALLWOOD. 



The observatory is placed in the magnetic meridian, is constructed 

 of wood, and has an opening in the roof, furnished with sliding shut- 

 ters, for the observations, by means of a transit instrument, of the 

 passage of a star across the meridian for the correction of the clock 

 time. It is also connected by the Montreal telegraph with the prin- 

 cipal places in the United States ; the wires being led into the observ- 

 atory. It has also a seven-inch achromatic telescope, the object glass 

 by Frauenhofer, of Munich, and observations are taken on the heavenly 

 bodies as often as there are favorable nights. 



Observations are taken on the usual instruments used by meteorolo- 

 gists at G and 7 a. m. and at 2, 9, and 10 p. m., daily ; also on the 

 temperature of springs and rivers, and the opening and closing thereof; 

 also on the foliation and flowering of plants and trees, and the periodic 

 appearanceof animals, birds, fishes and insects beside the usual obser- 

 vations on auroras, haloes,, meteors, and any remarkable atmospheric 

 disturbances. Constant tri-daily observations on the amount and kind 

 of atmospheric electricity, ozone and thunder storms, are all recorded. 

 Many of the instruments are self-registering, and to some the photo- 

 graphic process has been adopted. 



The observatory is furnished with four barometers. 1. A Newman 

 standard, 0.60 of an inch bore; the brass scale extends from the 

 cistern to the top of the tube, and is adapted for registration by the 

 photographic process. 2. ANigrettianclZambra'stube, 0.30 of an inch 

 bore ; another of a small bore, and also an aneroid. The cisterns 

 are all placed at the same height (118 feet,) and are read at each 

 observation. 



Thermometers of Sixes, Eutherford, Nigretti, &c., &c. 



The psychrometer consists of two thermometers whose readings are 

 coincident. There is also a Saussure's hygrometer. 



For solar radiation a maximum Rutherford thermometer is used, 

 with the bulb kept blackened with Indian ink ; the tube is shaded by 

 a piece of glass blackened also with Indian ink, which prevents the 

 index from adhering to either the tube or the mercury, which is often 

 the case when not shaded. 



Terrestrial radiation is indicated by a spirit thermometer of Ruther- 

 ford, which is placed in the focus of a parabolic mirror 6 inches in 

 diameter and of 100 inches focus. 



Drosometer or dew measurer. — One is of copper, like a funnel, the 

 inside of which has been exposed to the flame of a lamp and has 

 become coated with lamp black; the other is a shallow tin dish, 

 painted black, and ten inches in diameter. 



Bain-gage. — The reservoir is thirteen inches in diameter, and is 

 placed 20 feet above the soil. It is self-registering, and is attached to 

 the anemometer. 



The snoio-gage presents 200 inches of surface. A tin tube, 3 inches 

 in diameter and 10 inches long, is used for obtaining snow for the 

 purpose of reducing the amount to the relative amount of water. 

 The tin tube fits in another vessel of tin of the same diameter, and 

 the snow is easilv reduced and measured. 



