232 MEMORIES OF MY LIFE 



many previous attempts to represent the distribution 

 of the weather in a form suitable for printing with 

 movable types. With the aid of Mr. W. Spottis- 

 woode I had types cut for me of appropriate forms, 

 and casts from them were used in the set of my 

 published charts based on the above-mentioned data 

 (Meteorographica (Macmillan), 1863) [17], but these 

 were not a success. Later I tried the plan of cutting 

 curves and arrows in soft material by a drill panta- 

 graph, whence casts might be taken for printing. A 

 drill pantagraph is made like an ordinary one, except 

 that the pencil is replaced by a drill, which is rotated 

 by a string that passes over the joints and does not 

 hinder the movements of its arms. I do not know 

 whether this plan of making the weather maps is still 

 adopted. It was submitted to the Times by the 

 Meteorological Council, through their Secretary, and 

 I still have the first trial stereotype that was cast on 

 this principle. I heard that there was trouble at first 

 in finding a suitable soft material better than plaster 

 of Paris and the like, but that this difficulty of detail 

 was soon overcome. 



I have already mentioned Admiral R. FitzRoy 

 (1805-1865). He was captain of the surveying ship 

 The Beagle, whose name became familiar to the 

 public through Charles Darwin's Voyage of the 

 " Beagle" He had always been most zealous 

 in the advancement of weather forecasts and 

 storm warnings. The "cone" was his device. A 

 Meteorological Office was established under his 

 superintendence in 1854, entirely owing to his 

 exertions, but it was on a very small scale. His 

 publications unfortunately failed in scientific solidity, 



