FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, 1857. 495 



on each. Observation alone can furnish the data from which the 

 effects of these agencies may he calculated ; and we can therefore 

 probably make no great advance in the knowledge of the meteoro- 

 logy of the globe, without a concurrent investigation of its two 

 leading departments. Land observations exist in great numbers. 

 In Prussia, in Eussia, in Austria, and in Belgium, such ob- 

 servations are organized under Government direction, or at least 

 with Government support. In other parts of Europe, as in Britain, 

 the labour is left to individuals or scientific societies. "What is 

 needed is to give unity to these isolated labours to connect them 

 with one another, and with the results obtained at sea ; and the 

 first step to this seems to be, to give them, in each country, that 

 permanence and uniformity of system which can only be insured 

 in measures adopted by the State. 



Here, however, we encounter an objection, upon which it is ne- 

 cessary to say a few words. 



It has been objected to the Science of Meteorology, as it is 

 usually studied, that it proceeds upon a false method ; and that, 

 consequently, it has led and can lead to no results. I feel 

 myself in a manner compelled to notice this grave objection, in 

 the first place because it proceeds from men whose opinions on 

 this (or almost any other scientific question) are entitled to the 

 highest deference; and secondly, because this Association must 

 bear no inconsiderable measure of the reproach, if it be well 

 founded. 



First, then, as to results. I am free to admit that the number 

 of those engaged in the discussion of meteorological observations is 

 /f ^proportionately small, and that the results obtained probably fall 

 far short of what may be expected from the data already accumu- 

 lated. But that the methods have led, and can lead, to no results, 

 is, I think, sufficiently disproved by the labours of a single man 

 Professor Dove of Berlin. And if it be true that the course pur- 

 sued in the science has yielded much fruit, in proportion to the 

 labour bestowed on the discussion, it will hardly be deemed widely 

 erroneous. Still, as it is possible that the methods pursued 

 though not fruitless may be inadequate, it seems necessary to 

 notice the objection somewhat more minutely. 



It is asserted, hen, that the capital vice of the Science of 

 Meteorology, as at present pursued, is that it has no definite aim ; 

 that it ought to embrace an inquiry into the physical constitution of 



