REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 27 
rain in the monthly report on the state of the crops and the weather, 
issued by the Agricultural Department, between which and this In- 
stitution the relations mentioned in the last report have been main- 
tained through the past year. To save postage, the blank forms 
have been sent out and the registers returned through the frank of 
the office of the Commissioner of Agriculture. The monthly bulletin 
above referred to, which is printed at the expense of the same de- 
partment, continues to be received by the public with much favor ; 
and, by means of its extensive distribution, presents the meteorolo- 
gical tables to a much larger circle of readers than is comprised in 
the list of our observers, awakening, to a corresponding extent, an 
interest in the subject of meteorology. This branch of science is 
receiving increased attention from year to year, and a larger number 
of individuals are devoting time and talent to efforts for unfolding 
the laws which control the formation and movement of vapor, winds, 
and change of temperature in all parts of the world. Meteorology 
has ceased to be a mere record of isolated facts. The special 
characteristic of modern efforts in this line consists in extended co- 
operation, and in determining the simultaneous condition of the 
atmosphere over extended regions of country. It is only by this 
means that the laws which govern the occurrence, motion, direction, 
and propagation of the disturbances of the atmosphere can be ascer- 
tained. By comparisons of this kind isolated observations of other- 
‘wise little value become important, and afford an ample field in the 
cultivation of which any person who will take the trouble to record 
the direction of the wind, the beginning and ending of rain, snow, 
hail, the time of blossoming of trees, appearance of birds, insects, 
&c., may render valuable service. 
The daily record of meteorological observations telegraphed to the 
Imperial Observatory at Paris, and published in a lithographed sheet, 
continues to increase in interest and importance under the active 
and enlightened superintendence of M. Le Verrier, director of the 
observatory. From being the medium simply for the circulation of 
telegraphic notices of the weather, it has become, in addition, a 
repository of valuable meteorological summaries, communications, 
criticisms, and announcements. The outline chart of Europe, with 
the curves of equal barometric pressure and direction of the wind at 
the different stations on the day of publication, and also a table of 
the estimated weather for the following day, continue to be inserted 
inevery number. The title of the publication is now ‘‘ International 
Bulletin of the Imperial Observatory of Paris.’’ It occupies more than 
