448 Chronicles of Science. [July, 



Verrier announces that the Observatoire will continue to perform all 

 its functions as heretofore. 



The Norddeutsche Seewarte, in Hamburg, has published its 

 first Annual Eoport, and Herr Von Freeden, the Director, promises 

 two other publications within a brief space. These will be an 

 account of the German North Polar Expedition of last year, under 

 Captain Koldewey,* and a weather calender for north-west Germany, 

 the latter being the discussion of his own observations made at 

 Bremen during the past ten years. The Eeport is to a great 

 extent taken up with the account of the preliminary negotiations 

 which led to the establishment of the Seewarte by the shipowners 

 of Hamburg and Bremen. Marine meteorology has been the chief 

 object of the institution, and the director has set to work very 

 vigorously in this line. In order to induce the shipping interest 

 of the towns to co-operate warmly in the work of the office by 

 making observations at sea, the direction has proceeded to frame 

 minute sailing directions for the several voyages, and the Eeport 

 contains a practical proof of the value of scientific meteorology to 

 trade, in the form of a tabular statement of the total amount of 

 gain in time exhibited by the runs made by vessels furnished with 

 these directions, as compared with passages made by other ships 

 between the same ports at the same time. The sailing directions 

 are very definite in their character, for one of the objects of their 

 issue has been to supply information more thoroughly digested, and 

 in fact more practical than Maury's works can afford. 



The Eeport is professedly only the account of the activity of one 

 department of the office, but hopes are held out that at some future 

 time its operations may be extended to land meteorology also. The 

 only work of this nature whir-h is carried on is the publication of 

 daily observations made at Hamburg, and of occasional storm 

 telegrams received from our own Meteorological Office. It is inte- 

 resting to see that these messages have been of practical use, 

 notwithstanding the great distance of Hamburg from London, for 

 out of thirty-seven messages sent, more than half were followed 

 by storms, while in only three instances did the storm precede 

 the warning. 



The long promised charts of surface temperature for the South 

 Atlantic Ocean have now been published by the Meteorological 

 Committee. They contain the mean monthly surface temperatures 

 for five-degree squares, calculated from the data collected by 

 Admiral Fitz Eoy out of Board of Trade registers, and in addition 

 the mean temperatures for strips of 5° of longitude, but for each 

 degree of latitude published in 1861 by the Meteorological Institute 



* This work has akeady been publibhcd, but a uolicc of it must be reserved 

 for the next Chronicle. 



