NA TURE 



m 



THURSDAY, JANUARY i6, 1879 



A SCOTTISH METEOROLOGICAL MOUNTAIN 

 OBSERVATORY 



IT is the opinion of those best versed in meteorological 

 science, that much valuable information regarding 

 the constitution of the earth's atmosphere, and the laws 

 which determine the changes in the atmosphere, is to 

 be obtained by observations at elevated stations. To 

 quote the words of the distinguished French philo- 

 sopher, Biot : " It is in the high regions of the air 

 that meteors are formed, rain, snow, and hail. There 

 the thunder rolls and the lightning traces its furrows. 

 There the aurora displays its plume of light, and the 

 aerolite shines and bursts. There are the upper currents 

 which chariot the clouds. It is to these elevated regions 

 that the inquirers of meteorological science ought to be 

 directed." 



For want of permanent stations at high levels, attempts 

 have been made to explore the upper regions of the atmo- 

 sphere in balloons. In the year 1862, Mr. Glaisher— at 

 much personal peril — accomplished about thirty ascents 

 with instruments which enabled him to ascertain with 

 some precision the aerial temperature, humidity, clouds, 

 and other phenomena, up to a height of several miles. 

 More recently, Tissandier, in France, made twenty-four 

 ascents in balloons, also with the result of "obtaining 

 valuable information on these points. Since February. 

 1877, Secretan, an enterprising optician in Paris, has 

 been sending up small exploring balloons, for ascertaining 

 the height of clouds and the direction of the aerial 

 currents up to about 1,200 metres. 



The value of the data obtained by these casual explora- 

 tions has led meteorologists to a more systematic study 

 of the upper regions of the atmosphere. 



Thus Dr. Hildebransen^ of Upsala has been devoting 

 himself to a study of clouds, to ascertain their altitude, 

 movements, and shapes at different seasons ; and he has 

 recently issued a circular to meteorologists in other 

 countries, pointing out the importance of the inquiry, and 

 inviting co-operation. 



It has been recently discovered in France, by observa- 

 tions at the Montsouris Observatory, that chist of various 

 kinds is at most seasons of the year floating in the atmo- 

 sphere, consisting of spherules so minute as to be dis- 

 cernible only by the microscope or by chemical tests : 

 and that which so floats is not always the same in the 

 higher as in the lower regions of the air. The bearings 

 of this new information on epidemics affecting both 

 animal and vegetable life is awakening much attention 

 among continental physicists. 



These remarks refer to the information afforded by 

 meteorological observations at high stations regarding 

 I the constitution of the atmosphere or the ingredients 

 existing in it. But there is another use to which high- 

 i level stations can be and are applied, viz., to furnish early 

 mtimation of changes in the weather. It appears from 

 he observations made at the high-level stations of the 

 scotch Meteorological Society, that changes of tempera- 

 ture take place in the upper regions from twenty-four to 

 hirty-six hours sooner than in the same district at 

 Vol. XIX. — No. 481 



ordinary low levels. Lately Prof. Loomis has been com- 

 paring the observations made at high-level and low-level 

 stations in America, and he finds a considerable differ- 

 ence, not only in the speed and direction of the wind, but 

 even in the barometric pressure. 



In these circumstances it is not surprising that scientific 

 meteorologists in all countries should in addition to low- 

 level stations have made strenuous efforts to obtain also 

 stations at high levels, and that they have been to a large 

 extent successfuL Thus in France two meteorological 

 stations have lately been formed on the Puy de Dome 

 and the Pic du Midi, at heights respectively of 4,809 and 

 9^39 feet above the sea. In Austria Dr. Hann, one of 

 the ablest European meteorologists, with Government 

 aid, established a station in Upper Carinthia at a height 

 of 8,000 feet above the sea. There are three stations in 

 Italy, at heights respectively of 7,087, 8,343, and 8,360 

 feet above the sea, and a fourth is about to be established 

 on Mount Etna, at the Casa Inglese, at a height of 9,653 

 feet above the sea. In Switzerland there is a station at 

 the Hospice of St. Bernard, at 8,130 feet above the sea. 

 In the United States the meteorological station at Mount 

 Washington is 6,600 feet. Mount Mitchell 6,691 feet, and 

 at Pike's Peak (Colorado State), 14,216 feet above the 

 sea ; all of these stations were established by the Govern- 

 ment, which also supplies instruments and pays the 

 observers, who are soldiers. 



Such being the state of matters in foreign countries as re- 

 gards high-level stations, what is the case in Great Britain ? 



It is believed that in England the highest meteorological 

 station is 1,372 feet above the sea; and that in Scotland 

 the two highest are, respectively, 1,334 and 1,450 feet It 

 is matter of regret that in both England and Scotland 

 ' there should not be stations at higher points, seeing tha: 

 there are in both countries favourable positions for such. 

 That regret has been repeatedly expressed by authori 

 ties to whose opinion some regard might have bee 1 

 expected to be paid. In February, 1877, the president o." 

 the English Meteorological Society, in his address to the 

 Society, pointed out that " the most obvious way of gain- 

 ing a clearer insight into the condition and movements o: 

 the gaseous envelope of the earth, is by the establishmen: 

 of observatories on isolated mountain peaks. The valu^^ 

 of this arrangement had been practically recognise! 

 abroad, and might well be imitated on some of ou- 

 highest hills, such as Skiddaw in the north of England, 

 or on the western seaboard of Ireland or Scotland, where 

 their fitness as outposts, for giving early indications o ' 

 storms from the west, would soon be appreciated." 



The suggestion of high-level stations has been r - 

 peatedly made by the Scotch Meteorological Societ /. 

 Thus, in July, 1875, the Chairman of that Society, aft:r 

 alluding to the value of the observations at the Americxi 

 high-level stations, observed that, so impressed was t :> 

 Society's Council with the importance of high-le.-i 

 stations, that, if funds were forthcoming, "probably t"-i2 

 ver}' first thing which the Council would endeavour to :' > 

 would be to establish stations on the two highest poi rs 

 of Scotland, viz., Ben Nevis on the west coast, and B : \ 

 Macdhui on the east coast, and, by means of int :r- 

 mediate stations on the sides of these mountains, obtai ', 

 as suggested by Mr. Stevenson, vertical meteorologi : .i 

 sections of the atmosphere." 



