44 Lift and Letter* of Francis Oalton 



Thus for nearly forty yfars Galton was intimately associatt'd with both tlie 

 theory anil practice of meteorology in this country. In a letter to Galton 

 on his resignation from the Meteorological Council in 1901, the then chair- 

 man, Sir Richard Strachey, wrote : 



"It is no exftf^jjeration to say that almost every room in tlui Ortio- and all its records give 

 unmistakable eviilence of the active share you have always taken in the direction of the opera- 

 tions of the Ortice. The Council fe<'l that the same high onler of intelligence and inventive 

 faculty has charact-erised your scientific work in Meteoi-ology that has lieen so conspicuous in 

 umny other directions, and has long bocome known and appreciated in all centres of intellectual 

 activity'." 



We have already seen how the importance of a knowledge of climate to 

 the traveller and explorer led Galton to study meteorology ; but as soon as 

 this subject had 'gripped' him — as every new subject he attacked did— he 

 recognised the importance the explorer had as a contributor to meteoro- 

 logical science. He also realised how much iielp could be obtained for this 

 science from residents and officials abroad. Thus he prepared for the Meteoro- 

 logical Society about 1862 a pamphlet entitled: "Meteorologicid Instruc- 

 tions for the use of inexperienced Observers resident abroad." This pamphlet 

 Galton in his collection of papers inscribes "Meteorological Instructions for 

 Travellers." He writes: 



"The following instructions have been framed to facilitate the lalx>urs of those who have 

 little leisure and experience in conducting meteorological observations, and show the minimum 

 of effort with which trustworthy results can be obtained." (p. 2.) 



The Meteorological Society provided four instruments at a small cost, — 

 maximum thermometer, minimum thermometer, and an ordinary thermometer, 

 with a rain-gauge, and it is the efficient u.se of these which Galton describes. 

 The object was to obtain mean monthly temperatures, monthly ranges, rain 

 and wind return.s. There is no reference to barometric ])ressure. Geographi- 

 cal position and a determination of the meridian (for wind observations) are 

 also referred to. 



To Galton also must l>e given a large share of the credit for devising and 

 organising well-eijuipped .self-recording meteorological observatories. Con- 

 tinuous photographic tracings were arranged for the chief meteorological 

 instruments. These are very familiar now, but they required much time and 

 thought in those early days of meteorology and photography*. When these 

 'tracings' were obtaine^l they were not in a form for reproduction and 

 publication, and the difficulty, which meets the editor of every journal, was 

 encountered by Galton, namely: How c;in diagrams be reproduced so as 



' Letter of May 9, 1901 from Meteorological Office. It would be impossible to enumerate 

 here all (ialton's work for the Mel<'<)rologicul 0>niniitte<?. The index to its MIiiiiUk must be 

 consulted by those desiring further information. liis plans fn>m anemometers and pauta- 

 graphs to methods of "weighting" ship-logs, of lithographing and charting are scattered 

 broadcaet through these Minute*. Oalton devised a "Torsion anemometer" and a "Hand 

 anemometer" for u.se on ships. The latter may still be seen in the Science Museum, »South 

 Kensington. Se*- C'it<iIo</itf n/ Mfl^orolmjy, pp. "j.l, (51, 1922. 



' "I ha<l the satisfaction in its [i.e. Metx'orological Council's] early days, when new instru- 

 ments and methods were frequently called for, of being able to do my full share of the work." 

 Memories, j). '2'M. 



