110 REPORT—1843. 
Report of a Series of Observations on the Tides of the Frith of Forth 
and the East Coast of Scotland. By J. 8. Russewu, Esq. 
THESE observations extended over several seasons, and no compiete report 
had been yet presented, as the observations of each former season had only 
shown the necessity of further extending the observations. The observations 
of the first season had shown the existence of certain anomalous tides, which 
had not formerly been accurately examined, and proved that these anomalies 
were more extensive than was at first conceived. Next season the observa- 
tions were more widely extended, so as to include many adjacent places, to 
which the same anomalies were traced, and thus the general nature and extent 
of the phanomena were determined with accuracy and precision, and reported 
to the last meeting. But it was found that great differences of opinion existed 
with reference to the cause of these ascertained phzenomena, which rendered 
it obvious that the observations required to be extended still further in time 
and extent, in order conclusively to settle the questions which had arisen out 
of the former inquiries, ‘This last series, from its extent and completeness, 
had now been so fully examined and discussed, as to afford ample means 
of deciding on the nature of the phenomena, and determining their origin. 
Simultaneous observations had been made at nearly twenty stations on the 
eastern coast, from Newcastle and Shields to Inverness ; and as many as 2000 
observations in a day registered and discussed. The results of these were ex- 
hibited in the tables and diagrams accompanying the report. And the result 
of the whole had been to elucidate in a remarkable manner, the mechanism 
which propagates along our shores and rivers the great ocean-wave which 
carries from one place to another the successive phenomena of the tides, in 
such a manner as could not have been attained by any system of cbservation 
less extensive than that which had been adopted. 
It is pretty generally known that the phenomena of the tides, with re- 
ference to their generating cause, the influence of the mass of the sun and 
of the moon, in the various relations of distance and direction of these lumi- 
naries, have recently been examined with great success, in a series of re- 
searches carried on first by Mr. Lubbock, and then by Mr. Whewell, partly 
with the co-operation of this Association. By means of their labours we are 
now enabled to predict with unlooked-for accuracy, the time of high water and 
the height of the tide in many of the harbours of Great Britain. But many of 
the local phenomena of tides remained unaccounted for, and these had been 
the object of a special series of researches, of which the present formed a 
part, the object being to determine in what way the conformation of the 
shores, and of the bottom of the sea, and the forms of the channels of rivers 
and friths affect the pheenomena of the tidal-wave. The rivers Dee and Clyde 
had been formerly examined with this view. To these were now added the 
Forth, the Tay, and the Tyne, and the northern shores of the German 
Ocean. [The author then described the general character of the coast, and 
pointed out the peculiarities of peers and form which render the Frith of 
Forth so remarkable a feature of it. ] 
The manner in which these observations were conducted is not the usual 
one, of noting down simply the hour at which high water oceurs, and then 
the hour of low water, along with the height at which the water stands at 
these times ; such a method had been found quite inadequate to the purposes 
for which such observations are required; and indeed Mr. Russell thought 
it of importance that all tide observations should, if possible, be made in the 
manner he was now about to describe, especially all tide observations made 
for scientific purposes. He had adopted this method in all his observations, __ 

