XXVIII SEVENTH REPORT—1837. 
but unexplored, mine of facts. The voice of our petition has been 
heard—the work has been auspiciously begun—and 500/. have been 
assigned by the Treasury for the commencement of this great national 
work. 
The subject of the Tides, so strangely neglected in this great mari- 
time country, from the period of the promulgation of the Newtonian 
Theory to our own times, has engaged the attention of the Association 
from its commencement. The advances which have recently been made 
on this subject, and which have greatly altered the aspect of that branch 
of science, had chiefly for their original basis the very valuable tide ob- 
servations made in this port, many years ago, by Mr. Hutchinson, a 
dock-master, embracing an interval of above thirty years. The ori- 
ginals are preserved in the Lyceum Library of Liverpool ; and, by the 
liberality of the proprietors, have been confided to the hands of Mr. 
Lubbock, under whose direction the discussion of them, ordered by the 
Association, has thrown a new light on the laws of Tidal phenomena. 
Since that time, the earnest representations of a distinguished Asso- 
ciate, whom this county claims as a native, have given rise to a most 
important set of observations on the tides. Mr. Whewell, by personal 
application to the chief of the coast-guard service, and solicitation to 
the Admiralty, has procured the completion of a continuous series of 
observations, at upwards of 500 stations, along the coasts of Great 
Britain and Ireland. They were continued for a fortnight in June 
1834, and again in June 1835, when they were extended from the 
mouths of the Mississippi to the northern extremity of Europe. These 
observations have been discussed at the expense of the Admiralty ; but, 
as I shall presently mention, the Association has voted a large sum to 
be applied by Mr. Lubbock to the same object. 
These discussions have, within the last few years, led to very curious 
results ; for instance, to the fact of the rise of the mean level of the tides, 
in proportion to the fall of the barometer, and the existence of a diurnal 
tude—i. e. the difference between the morning and evening tides of the 
same day. This diurnal tide, it may be interesting for the inhabitants 
of Liverpool to know, was first marked in the tide tables constructed 
by a young ingenious townsman, Mr. Bywater, jun., who has, unfor- 
tunately for science, died since the last Meeting of the Association. 
The importance of the subject, and the success already obtained, have 
encouraged the Association to direct the discussion of the Tidal obser- 
vations recorded at the port of Bristol, and at the London Docks; and 
to supply the means of defraying the necessary expense. 
The influence of researches on tidal waters to navigation and to com- 
