March 8. 



900J 



NA TURE 



449 



little is he content with that view of popular government, 

 which views favourably the application of scientific 

 results derived from private means and individual enter- 

 prise, but does nothing to develop science by research 

 and investigation, on its own initiative. To ask for bricks 

 without providing straw is a complaint that is not limited 

 to one time or one nationality. Prof Abbe, writing as 

 the adviser of a government prepared to spend its funds 

 on the furtherance of scientific aims, fortunately has not 

 to labour this point ; but he nevertheless urges the duty 

 on administrative authority, not only of developing the 

 art of applying the sciences, but also that of constructing 

 them. 



The observational side of meteorology has been so 

 long in evidence at the expense of the experimental, that 

 it is very desirable that an eminent authority should in- 

 sist upon the necessity of experiment and research in 

 physical laboratories, as distinct from the ordinary 

 meteorological observations with which so many ob- 

 servers content themselves. Foremost among the in- 

 quiries demandmg increased attention, the author places 

 the physical constants pertaining to the atmosphere it- 

 self, such as its chemical composition, its weight per unit 

 volume, the law of the relation between pressure, den- 

 sity and temperature, the specific heat of the air, the 

 viscosity, the radiating and absorbing powers, &c. 



We need not follow the professor through all the 

 problems that he enumerates calling for increased at- 

 tention, since every physicist will readily admit that 

 there is a large harvest of information to be gathered 

 in all that concerns the behaviour of the atmosphere, 

 whether at rest or in motion ; and every one will find a 

 still larger number of subsidiary problems, awaiting solu- 

 tion, in proportion to the thorough and exhausting 

 character of the work that is bestowed on each main 

 line of investigation. Neither is it necessary to pursue 

 in detail the various topics of applied meteorology, which 

 may at first sight appear somewhat local in their char- 

 acter, but which will be found to apply with very slight 

 modifications to other districts, wherever sufficient enter- 

 prise and enlightenment invite the co operation of the 

 physicist in fields of practical utility. It is of more im- 

 portance, especially in consideration of the matter sug- 

 gested by the second subject of this article, to see what 

 he has to say concerning the hopefulness of the applica- 

 tion of any theory to the problem of the general circu- 

 lation of the atmosphere. In our wide dependency of 

 India it is necessary at times to deal with imperfect 

 information by imperfect methods ; to treat a problem 

 of economic importance with skill based on experience 

 where it is impossible to introduce the certainty that 

 follows mathematical deduction. This course appears to 

 meet with approval, for it is urged that, " for the present 

 at least, it may be wisest to seek for graphic methods 

 and processes of quadrature, which may enable us to 

 arrive at approximate solutions of the complicated 

 systems of equations that represent, the interaction of 

 the nine elements that enter into the problem of the 

 motions of the atmosphere." The attitude here suggested 

 js scientific and prudent, and conveys a quiet censure on 

 those who, knowing little of the difficulties that beset the 

 solution, are impatient at the non-fulfilment of forecasts, 

 which the better instructed know are tentative and pro- 

 visional in their character. To those who exhibit their 

 smartness by immature criticism, we recommend the 

 study of the following paragraph with which Prof. Abbe 

 concludes his review of the general problem. "Add to 

 all these (difificulties) the further consideration that, when 

 once set in motion, the atmosphere may, by some very 

 delicate change in the conditions under which it is 

 moving, assume some obscure form of discontinuous 

 motion, and we at once see that the difficulties of the 

 analytical mechanics of meteorology challenge the in- 

 tellectual power of man to overcome them." 



NO. 15i^4. VOL. 61] 



What, then, is to be said of those, who, occupying a 

 prominent position in journalism, have the opportunity of 

 guiding intelligent opinion, yet use that position with the 

 deliberate intention of discrediting meteorological inquiry 

 and of throwing additional obstacles in the way of those 

 who struggle to solve a problem of enormous magnitude 

 by means of very inadequate data ? For this we under- 

 stand to be the position of Mr. Eliot and his critics, or 

 rather his assailants, for of criticism there is none. It is 

 not contended that an erroneous theory has been pursued, 

 or that some source of information has been overlooked ; 

 it is not suggested that any other forecast could have been 

 made from the materials at hand ; there is only that 

 kind of cheap sneer, with which we are so painfully 

 familiar, " that all the material which science has so 

 painfully accumulated and laboured over for so many 

 years, can give us no hint of a vital change in the weather, 

 impending at three weeks distance." There is no recog- 

 nition of the valuable work that the Indian Meteorological 

 Office has inaugurated, and to some extent accomplished, 

 or of the fact that for thirteen consecutive years the fore- 

 cast of the monsoon has been fairly accurate, and that 

 this is the first conspicuous failure. It seems positively 

 childish to condemn a system which has such a uniformly 

 good record, because in this instance " some obscure 

 form of discontinuous motion " has bafifled ingenuity, and 

 disclosed the incompleteness of the data. It is needless 

 to say that Mr. Eliot has a very satisfactory reply to the 

 journalist, or that his reputation stands above any need 

 of our support. The only point which it does seem worth 

 while to make, is to express a regret that a good 

 opportunity has been missed by this influential news- 

 paper for urging upon the Government the necessity 

 of increasing the area over v/hich observations are 

 made, and of educating intelligent opinion as to 

 the direction in which additional information is to be 

 sought. This we conceive to be the proper attitude to 

 assume with regard to the unfortunate forecast. To 

 strengthen the hands of the scientific advisers of the 

 Government would be a worthy and generous motive ; to 

 sneer at the energetic officials, and to sow increased dis- 

 trust on the credibility of weather forecasting, is not only 

 to betray the writer's ignorance, but is criminal, so far as 

 it hinders the collection of data which alone can intro- 

 duce greater certainty into the forecasts, and give the 

 Government the means of dealing with the enormous 

 suflfering that follows the failure of the monsoon rains. 



W. E. P. 



NO TES. 



The death is announced of Prof. E. Beltrami, professor of 

 mathematical physics in the University of Rome, president of 

 the R. Accademia dei Lincei, and correspondant of the Paris 

 Academy of Sciences. 



Lord Rayleigh will not deliver the second of his course of 

 lectures on "Polarised Light" at the Royal Institution on 

 Saturday afternoon next (March lo), owing to the sudden death 

 of his mother, the Dowager Lady Rayleigh. There will be no 

 lecture on Saturday afternoon. 



The German Society of Naturalists and Physicians will 

 meet this year at Aachen, on September 17-21. 



The next meeting of the French Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science will be held at Paris, on August 2-9, under the 

 presidency of General Sebert. 



Astronomers will regret to see the announcement of the 

 death of Dr. C. T. R. Luther, Director of the Diisseldorf 

 Observator>-, and the discoverer of many minor planets. 



