Oct. 28, 1875] 



NATURE 



561 



with some well-devised scheme of international observa- 

 tion. What is required is the means of giving an accu- 

 rate general representation of atmospheric pressure, tem- 

 perature, humidity and aqueous precipitation, together 

 with the movements of the air as indicated by the direc- 

 tion and force of the wind, and of the phenomena more 

 immediately connected with these movements. Of these 

 last, the more important are clouds, their species and 

 motions, and electrical and auroral manifestations. 



These large inquiries naturally fall into two groups. 

 The first group is concerned almost exclusively with the 

 great movements of the atmosphere, and it is the adequate 

 investigation of these inquiries which is aimed at by the 

 United States Government in their great scheme of ob- 

 servations made at the same physical instant over the 

 whole globe. This scheme may be called cos?nopolitaii. 



The second scheme may, in contradistinction to the 

 above, be called iiiternational. It includes those inquiries 

 which deal with the large and vitally important subject of 

 comparative climatology, or a comparison of the climates 

 of different countries and regions, and of their meteorology 

 generally, inclusive of the great movements of the atmo- 

 sphere over a restricted portion of the globe, such as the 

 United States, the North Atlantic, or Europe. It is alto- 

 gether essential to the discussion of those inquiries which 

 fall under this head that the observations be made at the 

 same local time and with instruments so constructed and 

 placed as totgive results strictly comparable with each 

 other. It is evident'that the exposure of the thermometers, 

 including their immediate surroundings and height above 

 the ground, must be uniform in all countries ; otherwise 

 the observations, being incomparable, cannot be used in 

 questions of international meteorology. 



Of the recurring meteorological phenomena which 

 first and most imperatively require to be dealt with inter- 

 nationally, both from their importance in atmospheric 

 physics and from their intimate bearings on animal and 

 vegetable life, are the daily changes which take place in 

 the temperature, humidity, pressure, and movements of 

 the atmosphere from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. With observations 

 at these hours, together with the daily maxima and 

 minima of temperatures from a network of stations well 

 spread over Europe, we should be put in a position of 

 being able to inquire, with some hope of success, into the 

 influence exerted on meteorological phenomena by differ- 

 ent latitudes and elevations ; by the^Baltic, Caspian, BJack, 

 Mediterranean, and Adriatic Seas, the English Channel, 

 and the Atlantic ; and by the Swiss Alps, the mountain 

 ranges of Great Britain and Norway, the scattered hills 

 of Ireland, the elevated plateaux of Spain, and the exten- 

 sive flats of Germany and Russia, We entirely concur 

 with Prof. Plantamour in thinking that during recent 

 years the study of the movements of the atmosphere has 

 been too exclusively directed with a view to the applica- 

 tion of the results to the prediction of storms on the 

 coasts and to the system of storm-warnings, and that 

 other points of view have been completely abandoned 

 (Report, p. 58). It is right, however, to add that this 

 neglect may be excused on the ground that, as there is an 

 entire want of uniformity in the hours and modes of ob- 

 serving in the systems of meteorology as pursued in the 

 different countries of Europe, the data for the investiga- 

 tions of nearly all the important questions of international 

 meteorology do not exist. 



It was a widespread feeling of a requirement of uni- 

 formity of procedure in the prosecution of meteorological 

 researches in different countries which led many to look 

 to the Congresses of Leipsig and Vienna as likely to 

 secure this result ; and it is a matter of regret that at 

 these meetings nothing was done to bring about uni- 

 formity in the hours and modes of observing. Doubtless 

 the question of international observations was under dis- 

 cussion at Vienna, but the feeling of the delegates regard- 

 ing it, as indicated by the state of the vote and the large 



number who abstained altogether from voting, was such 

 that the only resolution arrived at was this, viz. : " That 

 the best form of publication for the stations selected for 

 international objects should be determined by the Per- 

 manent Committee, after consultation \nach Anfrage\ with 

 the directors of the central institutes." * 



The matter accordingly came before the Permanent 

 Committee at their meeting at Utrecht in September 1874, 

 and after numerous explanations and a long discussion 

 they unanimously resolved on a form for the publication 

 of observations made for international objects (p. 7). 

 This resolution is now being carried out by several of the 

 countries represented at the Vienna Congress. 



With reference to this resolution, however, it is to be 

 remarked that (i) no provision was made by it for the 

 observations being made at the same hours of the day ; 

 and as a matter of fact, the observations in the British 

 Isles in connection with the scheme are 9 A.M. and 9 p.m. ; 

 in Russia, 7 a.m., i p.m., and 9 p.m. ; in Norway, 8 A.M., 

 2 p.m., and 8 p.m. ; in Italy, 9 A.M., 3 p.m., and 9 P.M. ; 

 in Austria, variously, and so on. 



(2) No provision was made for securing uniformity as 

 regards the vital question of the exposure and position of 

 the thermometers, without which comparability is im- 

 possible. 



(3) The forms adopted, both for the daily observations 

 (p. 10) and for the monthly results (pp. 47-50) are in 

 several respects defective, inasmuch as they do not in- 

 clude some of the more important data required in inter- 

 national inquiries. 



The result will only be the printing of various sets of 

 observations styled international, but which are not inter- 

 national—being, in truth, taken at their very best, merely 

 national. By observations so made, no international 

 question of meteorology can be satisfactorily discussed, 

 and many international questions of the first importance, 

 both practical and scientific, cannot even be attempted to 

 be discussed. 



When the subject was before the Vienna Congress, 

 Plantamour urged the necessity of drawing a distinction 

 between observations referring to the special study of the 

 climate of each country, and those which are intended to 

 indicate the simultaneous condition of the atmosphere 

 over the whole surface of the earth (Report of Vienna 

 Congress, p. 35). Until this be done, or until some such 

 scheme as we have here indicated has been considered 

 and agreed upon, it would be a mistake in meteorologists 

 co-operating in carrying out a scheme which, while called 

 international, completely fails to furnish the data required 

 for international inquiries. 



The only wise course the Permanent Committee can 

 take at their next meeting is to rescind this resolution, as 

 they have already virtually rescinded (p. 8) the resolution 

 regarding rain-gauges all but unanimously passed at 

 Vienna ; and after consideration of the whole question to 

 make provision that the instructions given them by the 

 Vienna Congress with regard to this matter be carried 

 out, viz., that no resolution be come to till after they have 

 consulted the directors of the central institutes of the dif- 

 ferent countries ; by which means they will furthermore 

 be put in a position to propose a scheme which has been 

 well matured, and therefore of such a character as will 

 enlist in its behalf the general co-operation of meteoro- 

 logists. 



NOTES 



We can only this week join in the universal expression of 

 regret at the death of Sir Charles Wheatstone, which took place 

 at Paris on the 19th inst., at the age of seventy-three years. 

 Indamniation of the chest was, we beUeve, the immediate cause 

 of the sad result. The Paris Academy showed the greates 



* Protocol of the Ninth Meeting of the Congress. 



