152 CYCLONES. 
coming. With us we have nothing but sea from whence the 
Cyclone comes. If it were only possible to have floating 
meteorological stations some hundreds of miles out in the oeean 
to’the west and south-west of Ireland, these stations being in 
telegraphic communication with this country, our weather fore- 
casters would have a much easier task. At present we are always 
liable to be taken by surprise by some extra fast-moving and 
destructive Cyclone. To us living far from the sea this may not 
appear a matter of much importance, but to our sailors and 
fishermen it is only too serious a matter, which may and has 
caused much loss of life. 
I spoke before of Cyclones frequently travelling very long 
distances indeed ; I now show you the track of one marked on 
this map. It originated near the Philippine Islands, crossed the 
Pacific Ocean, then passed over the northern part of North 
America, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, passed over France, and 
finally died away near Stockholm, in Sweden, after having run 
a course of 14,000 nautical miles. This Cyclone has, I believe, 
the longest course of any one yet satisfactorily traced ; but it is 
by no means uncommon for a Cyclone from the continent of 
North America to reach us; the majority, however, of our 
Cyclones are born in the Atlantic Ocean, somewhere about 
latitude 40°. So it is hardly fair to put all our bad weather down 
to our American friends. 
I have described to you already how the wind always circulates 
round a Cyclone in one particular direction ; that direction being 
opposite to the movement of the hands of a watch. I will now 
try to explain why this movement is always in this one particular 
direction. The circumference of the earth, as you know, is about 
24,900 miles at the equator. Now, as the earth turns completely 
round once in twenty-four hours, it follows, of course, that 
anything apparently at rest on the equator is really moving through 
the distance of 24,900 miles in twenty-four hours, that is to say, 
it is moving at the rate of 1,036 miles an hour. If we move now 
up to latitude 60°, to the Shetland Islands, say, we shall find on 
measuring round the earth on that latitude, that the circumference 
