178 



RESEARCH 



decided that the work had reached a magnitude 

 beyond their power to maintain in respect either of 

 grants or of publication. 



The British Rainfall Organisation had in fact 

 grown into an important institution. The number 

 of rainfall observers had grown from something 

 under 500 in 1861 to practically 2000 in 1876, 

 and Symons had established himself as the leading 

 authority on rainfall. Of the increased number of 

 observers 250 were equipped with instruments at the 

 expense of the British Association, and considerably 

 more were probably recruited as a direct result 

 of the recognition given to the organisation by 

 the Association. Without the prestige which the 

 Rainfall Committee gave to Symons' work, his pro- 

 gress with the development of his great voluntary 

 organisation must have been far slower than it was. 

 It lasted long enough to give a fair start to a system 

 which under the care of its founder continued to 

 develop steadily and acquired vitality enough to 

 maintain an independent existence. The number 

 of observers is no gauge of the scientific value of the 

 work done that must be deduced from the subject- 

 matter of the annual volumes of British Rainfall- 

 lout it serves to show how great and sustained was the 

 public interest in the work. The 2000 observers in 

 1876 had increased to 3500 at the time of Symons' 

 death in 1900, and the first fifteen years of the 

 twentieth century added still another 1500, bringing 

 the whole number up to 5000. There can be no doubt 

 that the help afforded by the British Association in 

 the first fifteen years of the British Rainfall Organis- 

 ation was most valuable to Symons in laying down 

 the broad lines of independent voluntary co-operation. 



