METEOROLOGY. 



543 



where excited by Professor Espy's views, and' 

 by the no less important works of Redfield. 



The establishments prosecuting the study of 

 meteorology in the United States are at pres- 

 ent the following: 1. The independent ob- 

 servatories at Cambridge, Washington, Albany, 

 and New York Central Park. 2. The State 

 weather services of Iowa (G. Hinrichs, at Iowa 

 City, receives reports from 80 observers), Mis- 

 souri (F. Nipher, at St. Louis, receives reports 

 from 100 observers), and Nebraska (Professor 

 Bailey, at Lincoln). All these publish month- 

 ly reviews and annual reports. 3. The State 

 Boards of Health for Michigan, New Jersey, 

 etc. 4. The State Boards of Agriculture for Il- 

 linois, Ohio, etc. 5. The State Schools of Ag- 

 riculture at Lansing, Mich., and Boston and 

 Amherst, Mass. 6. The Central Pacific Rail- 

 road Company Land Office (receives reports 

 from 120 stations). 7. The Army Engineer Bu- 

 reau Lake Survey has maintained 8 or 10 impor- 

 tant stations on the lakes. 8. The Geological 

 and Geographical Surveys of Western Terri- 

 tories (Wheeler's, Hayden's, Powell's, etc.), and 

 the United States Coast Survey. 9. The Hydro- 

 graphic Office of the Navy Department which 

 maintains an hourly series of observations on 

 every vessel in commission, and at all naval sta- 

 tions, and publishes important charts relating to 

 ocean meteorology. 10. The Army Surgeon- 

 General's office, the Smithsonian Institution, 

 and the Agricultural Department. Of these 

 three the first continues its observations and the 

 second its publications, although most of the 

 data are transferred to the Army Signal Office. 

 11. The Army Signal Office, division of Reports 

 and Telegrams for the Benefit of Commerce and 

 Agriculture. 



This last-named organization, whose meteor- 

 ological work began by order of Congress in 

 February, 1870, so far exceeds all other simi- 

 lar organizations in the world that it demands 

 more than a brief notice; but here we can 

 merely specify the extent of its work. It main- 

 tains 166 regular, 28 sunset, 30 river, and about 

 10 temporary West India stations. It also re- 

 ceives reports from 95 army-post surgeons, 300 

 voluntary civilian or Smithsonian observers, 120 

 railroad employees (mostly in California), about 

 150 observers through the State organizations in 

 Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas, about 40 vessels and 

 stations of the navy, about 20 merchant vessels 

 through their respective owners, and about 390 

 foreign stations through the central offices of 

 their respective countries. Rainfall reports are 

 thus obtained from about 870 stations within 

 the United States. It publishes a tri-daily 

 weather bulletin and map, with predictions 

 based on tri-daily telegraphic reports from 

 about 185 stations, and daily reports from 35 

 additional stations ; displays cautionary storm- 

 signals at about 80 coast stations ; bulletins the 

 state of the rivers and coming floods ; distrib- 

 utes farmers' bulletins or predictions to over 

 6,000 post offices ; furnishes special predictions 

 to several hundred railroad telegraph offices ; 



and publishes a weekly weather chronicle, a 

 monthly weather review with charts of Ameri- 

 can storms, temperature, rain, and ocean storms, 

 and an annual report. It also prints for ex- 

 change a daily bulletin of international simul- 

 taneous observations, with daily chart of the 

 win Is, temperature, and pressure throughout 

 the northern hemisphere. This is based on about 

 700 reports from land and sea contributed by 

 all nations and made simultaneously with those 

 that are made at 7h. 35m. A. M. at Washington, 

 or 12 h.43m. p. M. at Greenwich. In the prose- 

 cution of its meteorological work and in order 

 to carry out the system of frontier defenses, 

 and in cooperation with the Life-Saving ser- 

 vice on the United States coast, the Signal Ser- 

 vice also builds and maintains lines of telegraph, 

 of which it now controls about 3,000 miles on 

 the Atlantic coast and in the Southwest and 

 Northwest Territories. The Service employs 

 the whole time of about 15 officers and 475 men, 

 and a portion of the time of about 150 others. 



West Indies. Numerous stations are sup- 

 ported in these islands by the respective home 

 governments. The United States Signal Ser- 

 vice maintains about 10 stations during the 

 hurricane season. The principal independent 

 stations are: Cuba Havana, Observatory of 

 the " Collegio de Belen." Barladoes mi- 

 nutely detailed system of 235 rainfall stations 

 established by Governor R. W. Rawson, main- 

 tained by the local government. Porto Rico 

 the Observatory of the Board of Public 

 Works, with numerous rainfall stations. Ja- 

 maica Kingston. A scheme is now being de- 

 veloped by Mr. Maxwell Hall, looking to the 

 establishment of a central office at Kingston, 

 with a general system of reports and storm- 

 warnings for the whole West Indies. 



INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS. The Brus- 

 sels Maritime Conference of 1853, the Leipsic 

 Conference of August, 1872, and the Bordeaux 

 meeting of September, 1872, responded to the 

 growing desire everywhere felt for a unity of 

 plan in prosecuting meteorological investiga- 

 tions. The cordial unanimity shown to exist 

 at these conferences gave assurance of the suc- 

 cess of the First International Meteorological 

 Congress, held at Vienna in September, 1873, 

 the official members of which were heads of 

 bureaus, or otherwise specially deputed by 

 their respective governments. Eighteen gov- 

 ernments were thus represented, and a "Per- 

 manent Committee" was appointed to repre- 

 sent the Congress until the next meeting should 

 occur. This permanent committee has met 

 annually and published its proceedings, and 

 has been the means of further promoting the 

 interests of meteorology in very many ways. 

 The Second International Congress will be 

 held at Rome, in April, 1879. To the reports 

 of these congresses and committees, reference 

 may be made for further information as to the 

 instruments and methods now in use by observ- 

 ers throughout the world. 



OCEAN METEOROLOGY. The interest in Mari- 



