506 INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE. 



before 8 o'clock are subject to an additional charge of 1 shilling 

 which may be claimed by the postmaster, the claim being possibly 

 increase to 2 shillings when the postmaster and telegraphist are 

 different persons. This is j^rohibitive, but it does not exhaust the 

 inconvenience of the additional charge. For the purpose of weather 

 forecasting it is clearly necessary that telegrams should be received 

 as early as possible by the meteorological office. But the 8 o'clock 

 rule delays telegrams from some Irish stations, because 8 o'clock 

 by Dublin time is 8.25 by Greenwich time, and therefore Irish tele- 

 grams may have to wait until nearly half past 8 if they are to be 

 transmitted without extra charge. 



While the international organization of meteorology is well on its 

 way, though difficulties such as those I have mentioned may tempo- 

 rarily retard it, another question not altogether disconnected with it 

 has been raised by Sir John Eliot. This is the establishment of an 

 institution devoted to the collective study of meteorological problems 

 affecting all parts of the British Dominions. It is true, not only in 

 this but also in other matters, that in order to take our proper position 

 in international work it is necessary that we should set our own house 

 in order, and we must give Sir John Eliot's proposals our hearty 

 support. If I do not enter further into this question, it is because I 

 am now" dealing more especially with problems which go beyond the 

 limits of the Empire. I assume the existence of a national organiza- 

 tion, but lay stress on the insufficiency of this limitation. 



The importance of the subject, however, may be my justification, 

 if I direct attention for a moment to the meteorological question as 

 it presents itself in India. We all know and realize the vital impor- 

 tance of the rainy season, and the benefit which the native population 

 would derive if it were possible to predict, even if only imperfectly, 

 the setting in of the monsoon. It appears that Doctor Walker, the 

 present director of observatories in India, recently obtained very en- 

 couraging results in this respect. According to his investigations, a 

 forecast of the monsoon may be derived from a knowledge of the 

 weather during preceding months in different parts of the world. 

 Thus a heavy rainfall in Zanzibar in May is followed by a weak 

 monsoon, while a pressure deficiency in Siberia during the month of 

 March indicates a probable deficiency of rain in India during the 

 following August. I need not insist on the importance of these 

 results, which at present are purely empirical and require further 

 confirmation, but it is quite clear that for the successful prosecution of 

 these inquiries political boundaries must be disregarded and a system 

 of intercommunication organized between the countries chiefly con- 

 cerned. Doctor Walker informs me that he has successfully arranged 

 for telegraphic reports to be sent to liim at the beginning of ,iune 

 from six different stations in Siberia. It is hoped that this cooi^era- 



