1865.] on the Meteorological Department. 311 



" There is another point in connexion with forecasting in which Admiral 

 FitzRoy took great interest, namely, the frequency with which important 

 atmospheric disturbances have been preceded by disturbances on electric 

 wires above ground, and also on submarine wires. 



" No argument, or opinion, with regard to the advisability or otherwise 

 of the continuance of the present system of forecasting is offered here, 

 because none was asked for. I may mention, however, that the system, 

 though at first objected to at the Paris Observatory, has since been adopted 

 at that place, but that nevertheless the London forecasts are still sent 

 daily to the French Ministry of Marine at the request of that department. 



" T. H. B." 

 From General Sabine to Mr. Farrer. 



" Royal Society, Burlington House, 

 " June 15, 1865. 



"Sin, In replying to your Letter of the 26th of May, the President 

 and Council think it may be desirable to advert in the first instance to that 

 which has constituted the chief occupation of Admiral FitzRoy' s Depart- 

 ment in the last four or five years, viz., the systematic forecasting of the 

 weather by means of telegrams received from stations comprised within a 

 certain limited area, and, on occasions of anticipated storms, the giving 

 special warnings conveyed by telegraph to the different ports in the United 

 Kingdom, and there made known by hoisting certain signals. 



" The system of forecasting which Admiral FitzRoy instituted and pur- 

 sued has been expressly described by himself as ' an experimental process,' 

 based on the knowledge conveyed by telegraph of the actual state of the 

 winds and weather and other meteorological phenomena within a specified 

 area, and on a comparison of these with the telegrams of the preceding 

 days, so as to obtain inferences as to the probable changes in the succeeding 

 days. The proper test of the efficiency and usefulness of such a system of 

 cautionary signals at the different ports is to be sought in the measure of 

 success which it appears to have attained always remembering that the 

 system under consideration can only be regarded as in its infancy, and that, 

 if continued, its improvement, and consequently its importance, may be 

 expected to be progressive from year to year. In Admiral FitzRoy's 

 Report to the Board of Trade in May 1862, the opinions of the ship- 

 masters at several ports in regard to the practical value which they attached 

 to the storm-signals were given at length. Of the 56 replies published in 

 the Appendix of that Report, 46 were decidedly favourable, 3 decidedly 

 unfavourable, and 7 expressing no decided opinion. A statement so favour- 

 able on the whole, obtained so very shortly after the system had been first 

 brought into operation, must surely be considered to have fully justified 

 the Board of Trade in directing its further prosecution. 



" The return to the House of Commons, dated April 13th, 1864, a copy 

 of which accompanied your letter, presents a comparison of the probable 

 force of the wind as indicated by the signals in the year commencing 



