538 



METEOROLOGY. 



weather predictions, and in the development 

 of a systematic philosophical or deductive sci- 

 ence. " The general treatise on this subject in 

 the "American Cyclopaedia," Vol. XL, pp. 

 432-448, may be supplemented by the follow- 

 ing account of what has been accomplished of 

 late years, and of the present state and pros- 

 pects of this science. Eational and theoretical 

 views that were then held by a few, but were 

 not generally accepted, and were therefore not 

 prominently brought forward in that article 

 (written in 1875), are now rapidly replacing 

 the unsatisfactory explanations that were for- 

 merly prevalent. Such instances are: 1. The 

 abandonment of Tyndall's theory of the opaci- 

 ty of aqueous vapor to radiant heat ; 2. The 

 abandonment of the theory that aqueous vapor 

 is disseminated through the atmosphere accord- 

 ing to the laws of the diffusion of gases ; 3. 

 The correct appreciation of the influence of 

 the earth's diurnal rotation upon the motions 

 of its atmosphere; 4. The substitution of the 

 dynamical cooling of expanding masses of at- 

 mosphere for all the old, unsatisfactory expla- 

 nations of the diminution of temperature and 

 the formation of cloud, rain, and hail. 



The present sketch of recent progress is 

 confined to a section on meteorological institu- 

 tions. Observational, inductive, and deductive 

 meteorology will probably be noticed in the 

 next annual. 



METEOKOLOGICAL INSTITUTIONS AND OBSERV- 

 EKS. The present organization of meteorologi- 

 cal work in each country is about as follows: 



Africa. Besides the stations in the large 

 colonies, there are minor stations as follows: 

 In the Transvaal, published by the Geographi- 

 cal Society of Brussels ; Zanzibar, Natal, etc., 

 published by the British Meteorological Soci- 

 ety ; Goree, published by the Societe Meteoro- 

 logique de France. 



Algeria. In this province observations are 

 made under the direction of the military au- 

 thorities directly reporting to the comman- 

 dant superieur. A daily weather bulletin and 

 chart is published at Algiers, which includes 

 observations taken throughout Europe and 

 northern Africa. The development of this 

 service is largely due to the persistent exertions 

 of Harold Tarry. About twenty observing 

 stations are maintained in Algeria. A "Bulle- 

 tin Mensuel " has been published for a part of 

 1877 and 1878. 



Argentine Republic. The meteorological of- 

 fice is attached to the astronomical observa- 

 tory, and is in charge of Dr. B. A. Gould. Dai- 

 ly telegraphic reports and bulletins are con- 

 templated, but we have not learned that they 

 have as yet been instituted. Vol. I. of the 

 annals of this office, published in 1878, gives 

 an elaborate discussion of the climatology of 

 the city of Buenos Ayres. About thirty ob- 

 servers report to the central office, all of whom 

 are voluntary. 



Austria and Hungary. The Central Mete- 

 orological Institution at Vienna, now under 



Professor Julius Hann, has general charge of 

 all meteorological observations made in this 

 empire, and receives reports from about 275 

 stations (26 by telegraph daily); it publishes 

 a daily bulletin, storm- warning signals," and 

 annual volumes of observations. The Austrian 

 Meteorological Association publishes at Vienna 

 its very important " Zeitschrift." In Bohe- 

 mia there are about 50 rainfall stations, which 

 are under the special supervision of Professor 

 Studnicka of Vienna. A similar system is or- 

 ganized for Styria (Steyermark), having its 

 central office at Gratz. Marine meteorology is 

 in charge of the Hydrographic Office, whose 

 school is at Trieste and observatory at Pola. 

 The independent observatories at Cracow (un- 

 der Karlinski), Prague (under Hornstein and 

 Bohm), and Vienna (under Littro*W and Weiss) 

 publish each their own observations. The Cen- 

 tral Magnetic and Meteorological Institution for 

 Hungary is at Buda-Pesth (Dr. Guido Schenzl) ; 

 it was founded in 1870, and now publishes 

 annually the reports from about 100 stations, 

 mostly well equipped. A summary for 32 sta- 

 tions in Carinthia is published monthly in the 

 "Bulletin " of the Meteorological and Magnetic 

 Observatory at Klagenf urth. 



Australia. The several provincial govern- 

 ments have maintained the following systems : 

 Queensland, 5 telegraphic stations, under E. 

 Macdonnell, at Brisbane; New South Wales, 

 190 stations (35 telegraphic), under II. C. Rus- 

 sell, at Sydney; South Australia, 110 stations 

 (5 telegraphic), under Charles Todd, at Ade- 

 laide; Victoria, about 40 stations (27 tele- 

 graphic), under R. L. J. Ellery, at Melbourne. 

 All these provincial organizations interchange 

 their observations by telegraph, and publish 

 daily weather bulletins and maps based on about 

 40 principal stations. The individual stations 

 at Melbourne, Windsor, and Hobart Town also 

 publish their own observations in monthly and 

 annual summaries. 



Belgium,. The Royal Observatory at Brus- 

 sels, under J. C. Houzeau, continues its long 

 and valuable series of physical observations, 

 and also receives reports by telegraph from 

 four other stations. It publishes daily weather 

 maps and predictions, annual volumes of its 

 own detailed observations and of four Belgic and 

 four Dutch international and of 35 Belgic cli- 

 matologic stations ; also an " Ajmuaire," which 

 generally contains excellent historical articles. 



Canada and Newfoundland. The Canadian 

 Meteorological Office, Professor G. T. King- 

 ston, Superintendent, is under the Minister of 

 the Marine, to which there report about 20 

 first-class (14 by telegraph) and about 140 mi- 

 nor stations, distributed throughout the British 

 possessions. It issues daily weather predictions 

 and storm-warnings, and displays storm-sig- 

 nals ; also monthly reviews and full annual 

 reports. It has received charge of the system 

 of observations formerly maintained by the 

 Canadian School Board. 



Cape Colony. The Meteorological Commis- 



