Great Britain and Ireland, Holland, Portugal, and Russia 

 are represented, while from the United States the Chief 

 Signal Office at Washington has sent a full display of its 

 appliances, which ought to put several European Govern- 

 ments to shame. 



The most prominent exhibitors in the way of models, 

 next to the United States, are Germany and Holland, 

 of whose apparatus I have exhibited specimens on the 

 table. I shall explain these subsequently. 



The first idea of conveying intelligence of storms by 

 the electric telegraph, appears to have occurred to Mr. 

 Redfield, known as the first discoverer of the Law of 

 Storms, in the year 1847. He was an American, and 

 various attempts were made to carry this idea into effect 

 at the other side of the Atlantic, before the war of 1861 

 put, for a time, a stop to all such progress. 



In Europe, Leverrier was the first in the field, and in 

 February, 1855, he obtained the Emperor's sanction for 

 the creation of an extensive organization for the purpose 

 of distributing weather intelligence over the countries 

 taking part in the scheme. 



The fact that the well-known Balaclava storm of 

 November 14, 1854, had travelled along southern Europe 

 before it burst upon the allied fleets on the Crimean 

 coast, was that which decided Leverrier on carrying out 

 the experiment, but it was not until five years later, in 

 the spring of 1860, that he felt himself in a position to 

 invite other countries to join in the scheme. 



His letter to Sir G. Airy, of that date, contains the 

 following expressions, which now, at the end of three and 

 twenty years, represent fairly enough the conditions of 

 storm warning. 



" The ultimate result of the organisation which we are 



