14 



causes at work. Cyclones travel, in a general way, from west to 

 east. Anticyclones travel less rapidly than cyclones do ; they 

 usually hang about, and stay for days and weeks together. They 

 are the cause of our persistent weather : the long frost of winter 

 and the hot spells of July and August are anticyclonic. 



The Lecturer exhibited several diagrams, and one of these 

 indicated, in an admirable manner, the conditions of weather which 

 usually prevail in the different regions of a cyclone moving eastwards. 

 The more easterly portion shows the edge of an advancing bank of 

 cuTO-stratus ; behind this is the great cloud mass of nimbus, which 

 extends as far as the centre of the depression. Posterior to the 

 depression, in a north-westerly direction, there is an •• overcast " 

 condition ; beyond this is hazy stratus ; and beyond this again there 

 is diy and hazy weather. Posteriorly, in a south-west direction, 

 there are, respectively, showers, cumuli and shower-clouds, and 

 cirrus and cirro-stratus : and in the south the clouds appear to be 

 clearing away. With the advance of the cyclone there is heavy 

 rain-cloud with falling barometer. At the south portion of the 

 region indicating lowest pressure, the sky clears and the barometer 

 rises ; and the coldness and dryness of the south-west wind which is 

 here found is due possibly to the descent from the upper strata 

 of air which is dragged downwards into the vacuum formed by the 

 advancing whirl. 



When a cyclone comes on the coast of Ireland, its position is 

 carefully watched, and the direction noted. Earlier information, if 

 we could only get it, would be most valuable. St. Kilda would be 

 a desirable position for a meteorological station, if there were a 

 tclegi-aph there. 



With regard to the American warnings of the "'New York 

 Herald," it is commonly believed that they are derived from observa- 

 tions of the weather on the American continent. This, however, is 

 an eiTor, Stonns do not travel in unbroken continuity across the 

 Atlantic, and there is no instance on record of a stonn having done 

 so. Loomis states that stonns from the American coast change in two 

 or three days, and are seldom to be identified, because they usually 

 merge into others. Of the waniings sent by the "New York Herald " 

 only 17 per cent, turned out true, and 42 per cent, were utterly 



