XXI 



twice a day, and connected by pencil mark, 

 elbowing curves of depressions. The names 

 of disturbances are written down as soon 

 as advertised, and, as I estimate tbeir 

 speed a' 300 to 400 miles a day. they 'are 

 often entered five to seven days in ad- 

 vance, and form a very reliable forecast 

 of the weather. They always come as fore- 

 told, but sometimes go north or south of 

 T^.'smania. It depends on what part of the 

 depression passes over heie whether we 

 get more wind or rain, and this can be 

 known by the steepness of the waves. You 

 will notice bj^ the records that a wave is 

 mostly followed by a smaller or half-wave, 

 and it is during this small wave that most 

 of the rain falls. By carefully watching 

 the progress of the waves, in conjunction 

 with the forecasts, a fairly r^eliable esti- 

 mate of coming weather can be mads for 

 three or four and sometimes six or seven 

 days, in advance. I need not say how 

 important this is for all farming opera- 

 tions, and in scores of instances ws have 

 planned our work in reliance on these re- 

 cords, and have very seldom been disap- 

 painted. Tne most; disturbing element is 

 easterly or south-easterly weather. The 

 rain from that quarter mostly coming 

 wirh a high barometer. The black marks 

 at bottom lines indicate the rainfall, each 

 line being the tenth of an inch. If these 

 shee's coiilcl be povided, aiiyoue with a 

 barometer and rain gauge could record the 

 readings and rainfall, and, in conjunction 

 with Mr. Wragg'i^s forecasts, could form a 

 fairly reliable estimate of coming weather. 

 Much more might be clone b^- giving more 

 detailed information as to the cotiise and 

 velocity of the distarbances. I can only 

 hope thrt, instead of lessening the infor- 

 mation given, it will be increased, to the 

 great benefit of Fgriculturists. — Tours, 

 etc., W. E. Shoobridgp-. 



"Launceston Hotel, June 16, 1802. Dear 

 Morton, — I am sorry that I shall not be 

 at the deputation to-morrow re the 

 meteorological service. I am heartily in 

 accord with the objects in view; not only 

 as absolute necessity from a national point 

 of vievr, but as a matter of great interest 

 and use to the general public. A great na- 

 tion should not exist without a great 

 meteorolc^ical service. — Yours, etc., W. 

 V. Legge.^' 



Professor McAulay, M.A. (Tasmania 

 University) spoke strongly of the neces- 

 sity of keeping accurate time in Hobart, 

 so that mariners would be able to regulate 

 their chronometers. Hobart was at the 

 present day an important shipping 

 port, and promises toon to be still 

 more important ; also it is a port 

 of call for large 'ships two days out from 

 la port (Sydney) where they have accurate 

 time indicated. These ships subsequent- 

 ly have a voyage of many days_ before 

 again reaching a port where time is accn- 

 rately kept. Chronometer rates are 



different when at sea from what ttey are 

 on board. Navigators require in Hobart 

 to have Greenwich time to be given to 

 them just as accurately as it can be ob- 

 tained. Thus a tenth of second error in 

 Hobart may mean several seconds error at 

 a time when a large ship is reaching a 

 dangerous coast, and this may m'ean all 

 the difference between safety and danger. 

 The matter is, therefore, clearly one of 

 Federal interest. The equipment in Tas- 

 mania for keeping time is altogether in- 

 adequate to fulfil the requirenients above 

 indicated. There is not even (1) a modern 

 transit instrument, nor (2) a reliable 

 clock. Two citizens are practically sup- 

 plying (the one by electric connection with 

 the Observatory, and the other by the 

 loan of a ship's chronometer) the de- 

 ficiency in the matter of clocks. 

 Ajlso for utilising the proper equip- 

 ment for obtaining time accurately 

 it is essential that, at least, one observer 

 should be paid, whose first duty should 

 be to thus make time observations. The 

 State Government ought to provide for 

 two matters recommended by Commander 

 Purey-Cust. E.N., in the paper referred 

 to by the Hon. N. J. Brown. The one is 

 to make permanent, by a suitable inscrip- 

 tion, the standard of longitude, left usi 

 by the American astronomers, who ob- 

 served the transit of Venus. The second 

 is to provide for the Observatory a per- 

 manent meridian mark. 



■ Mr. H. C. Kingsmill, M.A., Meteoro- 

 logical Observer, said that the' Royal So- 

 ciety of Tasmania had brcught into no- 

 tice two forgotten reports, one of which 

 dealt with the meteorological work of 

 the Observatory by Mr. Wragge, the 

 other by Captain Purey-Cust on the a?- 

 tronomical work. The authors of these 

 reports were admittedly experts of the 

 highest class, they were specially invit- 

 ed by the Tasmanian Government to 

 supply the information which they 

 gave, and they spared no pains in mak- 

 ing themselves acquainted with local 

 conditions. Mr. Wragge spent two 



months in Tasmania, visiting every 

 observing station, and suggesting 

 and making improvements at each. 

 Captain Cust spent a month ab 

 the Hobart Observatory, testing all 

 the astronomical instruments, tak- 

 ing obsjervations, and checking the cal- 

 culations of the Government Meteoro- 

 logist. It would be intere;^ti]3/g, said Mr. 

 Kingsmill, to know what has b(>e3i 

 recommended by these experrs, and 

 Low far their recommendations have 

 been carried out. Such infjrma- 

 tion is espiecially necessary _ p^z- the 

 present time, when the question of a 



