SCIENTIFIC PAPERS AND ABSTRACTS. 



PART II.— Continued. 



METEOEOLOGY: NOTES ON RAIN-GAGES.* 



(From the Smithsonian Annual Report for 1855, pp. 229-231.) 



- - - Observations have been made at the Smithsonian 

 Institution with rain-gages of different sizes and various 

 forms, the result of which has been to induce a preference 

 for the smaller gages. The one which was first distributed 

 to the observers by the Institution and the Patent Office 

 consists of a funnel terminated above by a cylindrical brass 

 ring, bevelled into a sharp edge at the top, turned perfectly 

 round in a lathe, and of precisely five inches diameter. The 

 rain which falls within this ring is conducted into a two- 

 quart bottle placed below to receive it. To prevent any 

 water which may run down on the outside of the funnel 

 from entering the bottle, a short tube for enclosing its neck 

 is soldered on the lower part of the funnel. The funnel and 

 bottle are placed in a box or small cask sunk in the ground 

 to the level of its surface and provided with a covering board 

 having a circular hole in its centre to receive and support 



* [Extract from a Circular of Directions to the meteorological observers 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, prepared by Professors Guyot and Henry 

 (the larger portion by the former), and published in 1850. The circular 

 comprised detailed instructions for the placing, management, and observa- 

 tion of thermometers (free and registering), psychrometers (or wet-bulb 

 thermometers), barometers, rain and snow-gages, wind-vanes, and anemom- 

 eters, besides suggestions as to personal accounts of the slcy, clouds, fo"-s, &c. 

 as well as of thunder-storms, tornadoes, auroras, and other occasional phe- 

 nomena.] 



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