26 WRITINGS OF JOSEPH HENRY. [1855- 



direction of the wind and the position of each station. This 

 volume, the computations for which were made by Dr. 

 FrankUn B. Hough, is also a valuable contribution to me- 

 teorology, and does much credit to the intelligence and per- 

 severance of those who introduced and have advocated the- 

 continuance of this system, and to the liberality of the State 

 which has so long and so generously supported it. 



A system of State observations in Pennsylvania was estab- 

 lished in 1837. For this purpose the Legislature appropri- 

 ated $4,000, which sum was placed at the joint disposal of 

 a committee of the American Philosophical Society and the 

 Franklin Institute. The results of this system have not yet 

 been presented to the world in a digested form. 



Another State system was established in Massachusetts in 

 1849, the records of which have been presented to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, and will be published, in considerable 

 detail, either at the expense of the State or of the Smithson- 

 ian fund. 



A system of meteorological observations was established 

 by the Smithsonian Institution in 1849, the principal object 

 of which was to study the storms that visit the United States, 

 particularly during the winter months. This system, which 

 has been continued up to the present time, was afterward 

 extended, with a view to collect the statistics necessary to 

 ascertain the character of the climate of North America, to 

 determine the average temperature of various portions of the 

 country, and the variations from this at different periods of 

 the year. It was intended to reduce, as far as possible, the 

 several systems of observations to one general plan which 

 had previously been established, and to induce others to 

 engage in the same enterprise. But in order that the results 

 might be comparable with those obtained in other countries, 

 it was regarded as of primary importance that the instruments 

 should be more accurate than those which might be requi- 

 site for the mere determination of the phenomena of storms. 

 The Institution therefore procured standard barometers and 

 thermometers from London and Paris, and with the aid of 

 Professor Guyot, a distinguished meteorologist, copies of 



