294 



. KNOWLEDGE • 



[Feb. 3, 1882. 



PUoKKSaOK nilANT ON MKTEOROLOOY. 



AT n iliiiii'T tOTi-'ii nt (iliuiK"'' ^y M''' J'>l>>> Uumii to Ihc prin- 

 ri|uil iitllrinlii i>f •rvoml (if tho ^nmt niilway compniiioii uf the 

 UniUxl KiDK'loni, Or. (iraiit, rrofi'iifiMr of AKtruiiomy in thii Uiii- 

 mnity uf (ilaa^iw, i^ivo nn int43roiitii>)f HUininnry uf tho proMent 

 ■t*t4' uf t lii< urioiK-t' of iiiii|c<ir«l»)ry. In tlio cuurnu of liiii ri'murks, 

 ho will - A |>f<riMin iTn<tu to Kir William UiTichi.'l ro<jui'atin){ to Ihi 

 infumu'il ri'itiMJCtiiin ilic BtiiU' <)f thu mtatlicr <lurinK the nt-it fuw 

 month* nhich would clnuw' nftvr thu ditto of hi* letter. Tlio illuii- 

 trionii nulrnnompr IfpliiHl in tenn» to this effort : " Tho queiition of 

 pnHlirtiii^ tho weather in one which ia nlwyo the comprchcnirion of 

 Mitrooonu'rN and men of ncionce in gonenil." Thia letter waa written 

 about li") yenm ai;o, and it uxproasod very concisely the im- 

 meniie diHioiilly of the problem. In thosn days tho observations 

 ol the weather wore very im|>erfect and liinitcil in ranpe. 

 Bat a moro hopoful view ])rescnts itj*elf in tho present day. During 

 the Inst thirty or forty years, systenmtie observations of motooro- 

 logirnl phenomena hove In-en carefully made in all the countries of 

 tho civilisoil world. In many instances those observations have 

 boon di<<cu8Sed Ity men of science, and conclusions have been de- 

 duced from thorn which have thrown much intercstinj; light on tho 

 climate of tho countries to which they refer. Furthermore, the 

 invention of thi' electric telegmph has supplied tho means of 

 rapidly confronting distant observations with each other, and of 

 disseminating with equal rapiility tho conclusions deduced from 

 this inter-compuriHon. Tho result, then, is that in the present day 

 tho science of meteorology includes many valuable conclusions 

 arrived at by can.'ful induction from obsor^'ation, and that even in 

 tho matter of predicting the weather, some progress has been 

 mode. It is. however, to be borne in mind that tho attainment of 

 this last-mentioned object is due rather to a sagiicious interjirota- 

 tion of the obsorvation.t, combined with the man-ellous aid of the 

 electric telegmph, tlmn to a rigorous deduction from established 

 scientific principles. In systematic observations of meteorological 

 phenomena, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, led the way in this 

 country. Subsequently tho observatories of Oxford, Liveq)Ool, 

 and (ila-igow devoted attention to the same object. The establish- 

 ment cf meteorological societies in England and Scotland about 

 tho same time contributed also to the advancement of meteorology 

 as a science. Tho Sleteorological Office, originally a branch of the 

 Board of Trade, commenced its labours in 1868, the council of 

 scientific men under whose direction it is conducted being nomi- 

 nated by the Royal Society. Now, there are three leading objects 

 which the Council have undeviatingly kept in view since the com- 

 mencement of the existing organisation in January, 1868. These 

 an): — 1. Ocean meteorolog)-. 2. Land meteorology of the British 

 Islee. 3. Weather telegraphy. Allow me to make one or two 

 remarks on each of those objects. I need not dwell upon tho 

 vast importance of ocean meteorology. It ia upon the in- 

 formation furnished by this branch of the science that our 

 ships, whether of tho Royal or the Mercantile Marine, must rely 

 for shaping their courses most advantageously over the trackless 

 €x:ean. A lino Held of scientific work is here opened up to ship 

 captains who have a taste for the observation of meteorological 

 phenomena. Any of such officers who desires to cooperate in 

 taking observations is furnished with instruments for the purpose, 

 and it is Emtifying to learn from the annual reports of the Meteoro- 

 logical Council that tho labours of many of them in this resi>ect are 

 much ap|>reciated by the Council, as constituting valuable materials 

 for subseipient discussion. Seven observatories have been esta- 

 blished in connection with the Meteorological Office with a view to 

 the advanci'mont of tho land meteorology of the British Isles. These 

 art) the observatories of Valentia and Armagh, in Ireland ; Fal- 

 mouth, Kew, and Stonyhurst, in England ; and, linally, Glasgow and 

 Aberdeen, in Scotland. The observations at each of these obser- 

 vntoties are all obtained by means of self-recording instruments, 

 and the tubulated results are regularly transmitted once a week to 

 tho Meteorological Othce in London. Tho variations of the baro- 

 meter and of tho liry and wet bulb thermometers are recorded 

 ooDtinnously upon paper by a photographic |)rocess which goes 

 on night and day without intermission. The velocity of 

 tho wind is measured by its action upon a system of revol%-ing 

 hcmisphi'rical cups— an instrument invented by Dr. Robinson, 

 tho director of the Armagh Observatory. I was lately induced to 

 mako some calculations based ujion the recorded anemometer 

 obserrations at the sovun observatoriw, with tho view of ascertain- 

 ing the mean hourly velocity ef the wind at each observatory 

 during tho years 187^5■0. The results of my calculations were 

 those :— The mean hourly veloi-ity of tho wind for tho three years 

 in question was— for Annagh, 10 6 miles, 100 miles, and 98 miles ; 

 for Kow. 10-3 miles, 10 8 miles, and 108 miles ; for Stouyhurst, 

 10-8 miles. lOO miles, and 107 miles ; for Glasgow, 12-9 miles, 121 

 miles, and 12' t miles; for Aberdeen, 133 miles, 13'5 miles, and 



H'2 miles; for Folmonth, 16'8 miles, 170 miles, and 171 miles; 

 linally, for Valentia, 182 miles, I7'7 miles, and 170 miles. It will 

 be iivoD from this how nearly tho annual mean rexnlla obtained 

 at tho some Obscrvatorj- agree with each other. It will bo 

 seen, further, that, while Armagh, Kow, and Stonyhunit have 

 tho least wind, tho lion's share of tho wind falls to Valentia 

 and F'almouth ; while, again, tho Scottish obsorvatories bold 

 an intermodiato position in this respect. These results, it 

 must bo admitted, speak well for the observations on which thoy 

 arc based, and for thu instruments with which tho observations aro 

 made. Thoy also afford us an interesting illustration of the pre- 

 sence of law as the regulator and controller of all tho phenomena 

 of nature, " Variable and fleeting as tho wind " is an expression 

 often used, and yet, when the winds at any place, which blow from 

 all points of tho compass, aro gathered together, their aggregate 

 velocity from year to year is fonnd to bo almost identical in amonnt. 

 It cannot be doubted that important conclusions tending to throw 

 light on the climate of tho British Isles will result from a discQssicn 

 of the observations received at the Meteorological Office from tho 

 outlying observatories. I have, finally, to make a brief roferencc 

 to weather telegraphy. In considering this matter, the important 

 fact must not be lost sight of, that the forecasts of the weather 

 which emanate daily from the Meteorological Office are not given 

 forth as rigorously deduced scientific conclusions by the eminent 

 men of science who constitute the Meteorological Council. Had 

 they been less fettered in the matter, they would probably have 

 been more cautions, but they h.ive wisely yielded to tho public 

 demand for such forecasts, and it must be admitted that in this 

 instance the public instinct was in the right direction. The success 

 of the forecasts, considering the diffictJtiea which meteorologists in 

 the British Isles engaged in such an inquiry have to contend with, 

 has been very decided. During tho last two or three years, as many 

 as 75 per cent, of the storm warnings which have emanated from 

 the Meteorological Office have been thoroughly snccessfol. We 

 may therefore confidently indulge the expectation that, with tho 

 progress of further researches, the percentage of successes will 

 continno to increase. The Americans have shovrn great enterprise 

 and skill in this matter. Bnt it is to be borne in mind that they 

 have an advantage in the inquiry which we cannot, from the nature 

 of things, possess. For storms that come from the west — and these 

 are the storms which really strike our shores — the Americans have 

 a whole continent at their backs upon which to plant signals for tho 

 purpose of informing them respecting a coming storm ; while we, 

 on the other hand, have only the Atlantic, where no signsUs can bo 

 established. The present winter will hereafter be memorable for 

 its storms. I may state that, in addition to Robinson's anemometer 

 for measuring the velocity of the wind, an instrument which 

 belongs to the Meteorological Office, we have also an anemometer 

 by Osier, for the direct measurement of wind pressure, which is the 

 property of the Observaton,-. During the storm of Friday, the 6th 

 ult., this instrument recorded a pressure of 51 lb. on the square 

 foot, and yet it bore the strain throughout admirably. I may 

 remark in tliis connection, as an interesting fact, that dtiring tho 

 great snowstorm which swept over London and its neighbotirhood 

 on Jan. 18, 1881, the Osier anemometer at the Koyal Observatory, 

 Greenwich, registered as high as 51 lb. on the square foot. The 

 tremendous storms which occasionally sweep over a country are, 

 no doubt, originally due to the agency of solar heat disturbing the 

 equilibrium of the atmosphere ; and, no doubt, the day will come 

 when a close physical connection will be established between those 

 grand phenomena and the origin of nearly all tho energy on tho 

 earth's surface. But it may be a long time before this conclusion 

 is arrived at. One of the most serious difficulties which meteor- 

 ologists have to contend with consists in the imperfect know- 

 ledge which exists respecting the climatic conditions of the upper 

 regions of the atmosphere. Mr. Glaisher, by hia aeronautic ascents, 

 did good service in this matter ; but still much remains to bo done, 

 and it is probable that balloon ascents, notwithstanding the dangeri 

 of such enterprises, of which we have had recently a sad illnsi 

 tion, will continue to constitute tho only practicable means fi 

 arriving at materials which will serve to throw light upon t! 

 important question. In connection with this circumstance, I shooli 

 not omit referring to the series of meteorological observatioi 

 conducted during last autumn on the summit of Ben N'evis, nndei 

 the auspices of the Scottish Meteorological Society. This spirii 

 enterprise deserves to be renewed, and it appears to mo to be one ol 

 those to which tho Government might wisely give some support i 

 conjunction with gentlemen of scientific proclivities throughout th< 

 country. I would finally remark on the desii'ability of establishing 

 meteorological observatories on the east coasts of England ant 

 Scotland. It ia noteworthy that from Dover to the Orkney Islei 

 there does not exist upon tlie coast a single meteorological obserra 

 tory, except the one established at Aberdeen in connection with tin 

 Meteorological Office. This is a state of things which ought not t 



