Meteorology 673 



continuity of the lines to the South having been interrupted, 

 and the wires from the North and West being so entirely occu- 

 pied by public business that no use of them could be obtained 

 for scientific purposes." 1 



Toward the close of 1862 "the daily telegraphic bulletin 

 of the state of the weather" ! was partially resumed, and in 

 1864 an important addition to the means at the command of 

 the Institution for meteorological purposes was received by 

 the liberal action of the North American Telegraphic Asso- 

 ciation, which gave the free use of all its lines for the scien- 

 tific objects of the Institution. "The association embraces the 

 Western Union, the American, the Montreal, the Southwest- 

 ern, and the Illinois and Mississippi Telegraph companies, 

 covering the entire United States and Canada, including the 

 overland line to San Francisco, which, by its charter, is re- 

 quired to transmit without charge scientific despatches for 

 the Institution." ' The same report adds that "the telegraph 

 companies on the Pacific Coast have also liberally granted 

 the same privileges." 4 



In 1863 came the culmination of the misfortunes that al- 

 ready so seriously interfered with the development of the 

 meteorological service. It came in the way of a law passed 

 by Congress which prevented " the correspondents on agri- 

 culture and meteorology from sending their reports by mail 

 unless prepaid." 5 Henry adds : "This arrangement almost 

 entirely stops the reception of these articles, for, since the 

 service rendered is gratuitous, the observers cannot be ex- 

 pected to bear this additional burden." Also, " owing to this 

 restriction, the number of meteorological registers received 

 during the past year has been diminished, and the transmis- 

 sion of nearly all of them would have been discontinued had 



1 " Smithsonian Report," 1861, page 35. 4 Ibidem. 



1 1bidem, 1862, page 29. 6 See "Smithsonian Report," 1863, page 



3 Ibidem, 1864, page 28. 31, where the entire subject is discussed. 



