cviii. PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



the rate of meteors coming into our atmosphere, perhaps 30 

 miles a second, being the nearest that occurs to me. From 

 observations during several years of the altitudes of meteor trains, 

 it would appear that the layer of the air at a height of from 50 to 

 60 miles is especially favourable to their production. Daniel's 

 comet, which appeared last year in its greatest brightness in 

 August, was, I hope, seen by all our members, though it rose at 

 the somewhat inconvenient hour of about 4.0 a.m. Many photo- 

 graphs were taken of it showing tails up to 17 degrees in length 

 (Juvisy, France) and 20 in number (Greenwich). In Spain the 

 tail was traced for 25 degrees in length. I saw it well, more 

 than once, with the naked eye and through a telescope, but 

 though an interesting object, it did not display to me tails either 

 in this number or magnitude. 



METEOROLOGY. 



The earliest meteorological records kept in this country are 

 contained in a MS. in the Bodleian Library, and extend from 

 1337 to 13+4 A.D. The most noteworthy advance in the past year 

 is the daily report in the newspapers by the Manchester Univer- 

 sity of observations, taken with kites or captive balloons, of the 

 temperature, humidity, and the velocity and direction of the wind, 

 at various heights from 1,000 to 5,oooft. These should add much 

 to our knowledge of the upper strata of the atmosphere. On 

 July 22nd 27th last 25 balloons were sent up from various places 

 in the United Kingdom, the instruments from 14 of which were 

 found after their descent. One reached an altitude of 1 2\ miles, 

 the average height being 7^ miles, above which the temperature 

 remained almost unaltered. The temperature gradient varies 

 with the direction and velocity of the wind and also with the 

 amount of clouds, being greatest for a N.W. wind and on clear 

 and fine days. It is also found that the direction of the wind 

 alters at high levels, rotating from south towards west and so on. 

 Up to an average height of 35,oooft. the temperature slowly 

 decreases ; but at about that height the decrease usually suddenly 



