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once became a useful book of reference for Indian observers, and 

 was practically the first treatise which placed the ideas of the modern 

 school of dynamical meteorology in an easily accessible form before 

 ordinary readers. It was for many years the best treatise on modern 

 meteorology, and was the forerunner of the numerous treatises on 

 the science which have been published in the United States, 

 Germany, and England. 



Mr. Blariford was Meteorological Reporter to the Government of 

 India from 1874 to 1889, but during the last two years he was on 

 furlough. During this period he wrote a number of short and 

 valuable papers for the Asiatic Society's Journal, of which the 

 following were the most important : " On the High Atmospheric 

 Pressure of 1876-78 in Asia and Australia, in relation to the Sun Spot 

 Cycle " (' Jour. As. Soc. Bengal,' vol. 49, Part 2, p. 70 ; 1880) ; " On 

 the Relations of Cloud and Rainfall to Temperature in India, and 

 on the opposite Variations of Density in the Higher and Lower At- 

 mospheric Strata" (' J.A.S.B.,' vol. 50, Part 2, p. 69; 1881) ; "The 

 Theory of the Winter Rains of Northern India " (' J.A.S.B.,' vol. 53, 

 Part 2, p. 1 ; 1884), and a series of papers on the " Diurnal Oscilla- 

 tion of the Barometer." 



During the same period he wrote a very important short paper for 

 the Royal Society " On the Connection of the Himalaya Snowfall 

 with Dry Winds and Seasons of Drought in India" (' Roy. Soc. Proc.,' 

 vol. 37, 1884, p. 3). In this he dealt with a remarkable feature of 

 Indian meteorology, viz., the effect of abnormally heavy snowfall in 

 the Himalayan area in modifying the pressure and temperature con- 

 ditions over Northern India during the hot weather, and hence the 

 distribution of rainfall during the following south-west monsoon. 

 He was the first to realise fully the importance in Indian meteorology 

 of this factor which has become the basis for the seasonal forecasts 

 now issued by the Indian Meteorological Department. 



His most important work at this time was undoubtedly the series 

 of annual reports on the meteorology of India (from 1876 to 1885) 

 that he wrote, and the papers he contributed to the ' Indian Meteoro- 

 logical Memoirs,' which publication he initiated shortly after the 

 establishment of the Indian Meteorological Department. 



The subjects of these papers show how largely his mind was 

 occupied with the regular diurnal and annual meteorological changes 

 in India. He considered a full knowledge of these matters of primary 

 importance in the present stage of our knowledge, and that their 

 solution would throw valuable light on some of the most important 

 abnormal features of Indian meteorology and might furnish a key 

 for the explanation of these features. 



His last and most important work of investigation was the mono- 

 graph on " The Rainfall of India "(' Indian Meteorological Memoirs,' 



VOL. LIV. 



