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phere and the nature of cyclones. When leaving; out of consideration 

 the mountain-stations, whose importance for the purpose in question 

 is rather limited, the facts observed referred on the wiiole to tlie 

 lower layers of air. Tiiis is tlie reason, why o})inions about the 

 movement of the air in its higlier layers, and therefore about the entire 

 mechanism of circulation. oj)inions long ago defended by Dove, Maury, 

 Fkkrel, James Thomson a. o. on the ground of their more or less 

 inconijilete theories, could hold tlieir own by the side of each other, 

 tliough in some respects not in keei)ing with each otlier. For the 

 same cause incorrect ideas about tlie distribution of temperature in 

 the atmosphere, closely connected with the circulation, could remain 

 in existence, and important inferences respecting this distribution, 

 deri\ed from tlieoretical considerations — the Committee are in the 

 first place thinking of the interesting thermodynamic investigations 

 of VON Bezold — could not yet be put to the test by direct observations. 



As an extremely important step in the right direction, therefore, 

 may be considered the extension of the meteorological investigations 

 to higher layers of the atmosphere. And so much the more, with 

 a view to the remark made in connection with Prof. Schuster's 

 opinion, should this step be applauded, because it was taken with 

 the utmost care and with a sharply outlined purpose. This investiga- 

 tion, entered upon in a former decennary, has in the last ten years 

 been systematicall}^ set about and organized in an efTicient way. 



If there were one iinestigatoi-, who could be considered as the 

 on\y proper founder and promoter of this new branch of meteoro- 

 logical investigation, the Committee would not hesitate to design 

 him for the Buys-Ballot Medal. This, however, being not the case, 

 but there being many explorers, who in the higher ranks have 

 contributed to its development, it seems advisable to award the medal 

 to him among so maiiy, who distinguished himself most by his work. 

 Here, again, it was not easy to choose, the conditions, under which 

 the labour was done, showing large differences and a decisive rate 

 of comparison being wanting. 



On one side the attention was inmcdiately drawn to A. Lawrence 

 RoTCH, the energetic director of Blue-Hill Observatory, founded and 

 maintained through private means. He was the first to make use, 

 on a large scale and systematically, of kites, jn-ovided with registering 

 instruments, to become acquainted with the values of meteorological 

 elements several kilometers high in the air and to put beyond all 

 doubt the practical usefulness and a[)|U'o|)riateness of tiiis method. 

 Moreover he set the example of using sleamshi[)s in the observations 

 with kites, to overcome the difficulty of too great or too slight a force 



6 



Proceedings Royal Acad. Amsterdam. Vol. Vi. 



