822 REPORT — 1851. 



of New York is thirty-eighl, including those which have been furnished with 

 instruments by the Smithsonian Institution, and the Adirondac station by 

 the liberality of Archibald M'Intyre Esq. of Albany. This number gives 

 one station to 1270 square miles, or about one in each square of about 35y 

 miles on a side. These stations are at very different heights from the level 

 of the sea, up to 2000 feet. They were selected in conference with Dr. Beck, 

 Professor Guyot, and myself. The State is naturally divided into the follow- 

 ing topographical regions, namely : — 



" 1. Southern, or maritime region. 



" 2. Eastern, or region of the Highlands, and Catskill mountains, with the 

 valleys of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers. 



" 3. The northern, or region of the Adirondac mountains, isolated by the 

 deep valleys of the Mohawk, Lake Charaplain, St. Lawrence, and Lake 

 Ontario. 



" 4. The western, or region of the western plateau, with the small lakes, 

 and sources of the rivers. 



" 5. The regions of the great Lakes Erie and Ontario. 



" We regret to state tliat no efficient steps have as yet been taken to organize 

 the system of Massachusetts, for which an appropriation was made by the 

 legislature at its last session. I have lately written to Governor Briggs 

 urging immediate action, and offering on the part of the Institution to render 

 any assistance in our power towards furthering so laudable an enterprise. 

 No answer has yet been received *. 



" The observations made at the different military stations, under the direc- 

 tion of the Medical department of the U.S. Army, have been partially re- 

 organized, and a number of new stations, and several of the old ones, 

 furnished with the improved instruments made under the direction of this 

 institution. 



" The head of the Medical department of the Army, Dr. Lawson, has 

 assigned the general direction of the system of observations to Dr. Morrer 

 of New York, to whom we are indebted for the valuable aid which this ex- 

 tended set of observations will furnish the general system. The immediate 

 superintendence of the reduction of these observations is in charge of Dr. 

 A. S. Wotherspoon, U.S.A., to whose zeal and scientific abilities the cause 

 of meteorology bids fair to be much indebted. 



" The most important service the Smithsonian Institution has rendered to 

 meteorology during the past year, has been the general introduction into 

 the country of a more accurate set of instruments at a reasonable price. It 

 has been enabled to effect this through the aid of Professor Guyot. The set 

 consists of a barometer, thermometer, hygrometer, wind-vane, and siiow and 

 rain-gauge. 



" The barometer is made by James Green, No. 422 Broadway, New York, 

 under the direction of the Institution. It has a glass cistern, with an ad- 

 justable bottom enclosed in a brass cylinder. The barometer tube is also 

 enclosed in a brass cylinder which carries the Vernier ; the whole is suspended 

 freely from a ring at the top, so as to adjust itself to the vertical position. 

 The bulb of the attached thermometer is inclosed in a brass envelope, com- 

 municating with the interior of the brass tube, so as to be in the same condition 

 with the mercury, and to indicate truly its temperature. Each instrument made 

 accordingto this pattern is numbered and accurately compared with a standard. 

 In the comparisons made by Professor Guyot, a standard Fortin barometer, 



* Since the above was •written, a communication has been received from the Governor of 

 Massachusetts, placing tlie organization of its system of meteorology under the direction of 

 the Smithsonian Institution. 



