U8 



NA TbRE 



[December i i, 1902 



Rykatchef and Colonel Kowanko, of St. Petersburg, Prof. 

 Cailletet and M. Teisserenc de Bort, of Paris, and the writer, 

 who is the American member. There were also present at the 

 Congress, by special invitation, about one hundred military and 

 civil aeronauts and representatives of meteorological institutions, 

 the writer representing the United States Weather Bureau by 

 request of its chief. 



The opening of the Congress in the great hall of the Reichstag 

 building was a brilliant event. Prince Frederick Henry of 

 Prussia appeared for the Emperor of Germany. Both the 

 Imperial and the Prussian Governments were represented, and 

 the chief European nations, except France, sent the com- 

 manders or officers of their military balloon corps. After the 

 usual formal greetings, the representative of the Piussian 

 Minister of Instruction spoke as follows : — 



"The Royal Government is much impressed with the im- 

 portance and necessity of an exchange of ideas between the 

 savants of all nations in matters concerning meteorology and 

 terrestrial magnetism, since international cooperation in these 

 branches of science is the indispensable forerunner of progress. 

 This was indeed recognised as early as 1780, by the founding 

 on German soil of the ' Societas meteorologica Palatina,' which 

 undertook the task of beginning systemaiic weather observations 

 in Europe, with the hope of extending them to other parts of 

 the world. On account of the existing state of affairs, its efforts 

 were of short duration and for a long time savants were allowed 

 to labour independently, but with the foundation of magnetic 

 investigations by Gauss and Weber, the sagacious idea of 

 organisation acquired new life and pressed for realisation, espe- 

 cially through the development of navigation, which has the 

 greatest interest in the accurate observation of weather pheno- 

 mena on the ocean. The Antarctic discoveries of James Ross, 

 and the successlul efforts of American navigators to shorten 

 ocean voyages, -gave a new impulse, and so there arose the 

 proposition of organising a meteorological service at the first 

 congress of the maritime nations held at Brussels in 1S54, 

 although it was not until 1S73, during the Vienna Exposition, 

 that the first meteorological congress convened there laid the 

 foundation of an international weather service. The inter- 

 national committee, appointed at that time, met at first annually, 

 but later at intervals of two or three years. With its increasing 

 activity, the necessity of dividing the work manifested itself, and 

 thus special commissions were formed, of which one meets here 

 to-day and whose third gathering will probably be as fruitful as 

 its preceding meetings. In a field where there is only interest 

 in research, may the bonds uniting the representatives of cultured 

 nations ever become closer ! " 



In the name of the Prussian Meteorological Institute, its 

 director, Dr. von Bezold, remarked that early investigators 

 perceived the importance of aeronautics for meteorological 

 researches. " When Charles, the inventor of the hydrogen 

 balloon, made his first ascension in 17S3, he look with him a 

 barometer and a thermometer, as did the American aeronaut 

 (Jeffries), who ascended from London duiing the next ye;.r. It 

 was not until very lately that Germany took part in this work, 

 or about the year 18S0, but then, with an instrument markedly 

 superior, namely, Assmann'saspiration-psychrometer, and through 

 the munificence of the German Emperor, she was enabled to carry 

 out the work on a large scale. For the second time, the repre- 

 sentatives of scientific aeronautics now meet on German soil and 

 thereby recognise the importance of our efforts. But much indeed 

 has been done for this new research by M. Teisserenc de Bort 

 «t Trappes, near Paris, through the perlection of the ballon- sonde, 

 ihe unmanned balloon carrying self-recording instruments, and 

 by Mr. Rotch, of Blue Hill, through his application of kites. 

 Bjth methods are so good that by their use a great impetus has 

 been given to meteorological research, whereby it is easily under- 

 stood that there should be uniform rules for their employment. 

 Looking backward, it may be said that the international meetings 

 (or the organisation of meteorological research, in 1854 at 

 Brussels, in 1S73 at Vienna and in 1879 at Rome, are landmarks 

 in the progress of the science, and that when, in September, 

 1896, the International Committee for Scientifi.' Aeronautics was 

 appointed, the plan had been so well considered and the technical 

 necessity was so evident that there was entire unanimity in the 

 deliberations and resolutions. The originator of the idea of the 

 unmanned balloon was the late Gaston Tissandier, who en- 

 thusiastically explained the scheme to the speaker in 1886, 

 although nearly ten years elapsed before its realisation. This 

 work will be fruitful, for wind and clouds have no political 



NO. 1728, VOL. 67] 



boundaries and the sun belongs to us all. Consequently, we 

 are all striving, for various reasons, toward the same goal, and 

 the motto viribus unilis will be, as ever, the decisive measure 

 of the result." 



Prof. Cailletet, of Paris, responded for the foreigners present, 

 and then Prof. Ilergesell, after thanking the preceding speakers, 

 said, in the course of his remarks : — 



" Everywhere— in Paris, Strasburg, Munich. St. Petersburg 

 and Berlin — aeronautical experiments for the scientific explora- 

 tion of the atmosphere had taken place, and since a general 

 wish was expressed to unite the separate efforts in a common 

 cause, a favourable time to do this seemed to be in the autumn 

 of 1S96 at the conference in Paris of the directors of the meteor- 

 ological institutes. France, the cradle of aeronautics, was the 

 chosen ground, because there, independently of the German 

 and Russian experiments, a most promising method of investiga- 

 tion had been developed that had already produced gaod 

 results ; for the French experimenters, Colonel Charles Renard 

 and Messrs. Hermite and Besancon, all members of our Com- 

 mission, had simultaneously put into execution the plan of 

 1 I'loring the highest strata of the atmosphere with free balloons 

 carrying only self-recording instruments. Not the least service 

 of our Commission has been to render the method of unmanned 

 balloons comparable with the exact measurements in manned 

 balloons as they are made in Berlin. During our first meeting, 

 in April, 189S, at Strasburg, the difficult problem of obtaining 

 a uniform instrumental equipment was solved in a general way. 

 Since then, our manned balloons, here and abroad, carry the 

 aspiration-psychrometer, which Dr. Assmann, in cooperation 

 with the late Captain von Sigsfeld, has devised, and the 

 unmanned balloons are provided with the normal registration 

 apparatus which the indefatigable Teisserenc de Bort has con- 

 structed so skilfully. The registration balloon from that time 

 has been the most powerful tool in dynamical meteorology and 

 has lurnished astounding data for the cold atmospheric strata 

 up to a height of 20 kilometres, which are confirmed to a height 

 exceeding 10 kilometres by the ascensions of the brave Berlin 

 aeronauts, Berson and Stiring, who have ascended so far in these 

 regions. Since November, 1900, on the first Thursday of 

 every month, simultaneous ascensions have occurred in Paris, 

 Strasburg, Munich, Berlin, Vienna, St. Petersburg and Mos- 

 cow, and on May 5, 1902, the 213th registration balloon of the 

 International Commission was sent up. The observations have 

 proved that the temperature does not steadily decrease upward, 

 but that strata exist which often possess great differences of 

 temperature. This stratification is one of the most important 

 objects of the present investigation. And the future ? System- 

 atic meteorological research is at present carried on over only a 

 small portion ot the globe. Even in Europe, in the north there 

 is lacking Scandinavia, and in the south Italy and Spain ; but 

 the presence of representatives of these countries at our meeting 

 gives the hope of speedy cooperation. A plan for a meteor- 

 ological cruise of a steamer to fly kites will also be discussed, for 

 the meteorological exploration of the Tropics must be extended, 

 and the participation of England in our endeavours gives us hope 

 that India may be claimed as a region for investigation. Per 

 aspera ad astra — that may be setting our goal too high, but, 

 per aspera ad alias et igno/ai regiones, up to the regions which 

 hide the great secret where the weather comes from — that we 

 certainly should fix as our goal." 



At the second meeting, General Rykatchef, director of the 

 Central Physical Observatory at St. Petersburg, spoke on the 

 preliminary results attained wiih kites, batlons-sondes and 

 manned balloons during the past five years in Russia. Scientific 

 aeronautics in Russia date only from 1899, with the exception 

 of some years of preparatory work. Still, there have been a 

 large number of ascensions; 13 of the 60 kite-flights were 

 above 3000 metres, while the ballons-sondes reached 14,200 

 metres. The inclement climate of Russia occasions many 

 unusual difficulties, for instance, the kite wire on the reel 

 becomes thickly coated with frost, rendering the unwinding 

 difficult, or both wire and kites in the air are so thickly 

 incrusted with frost work (five millimetres or more) that the 

 kites often fall to the ground. Kites were used chiefly at the 

 stations in Pavlovsk and St. Petersburg, and thereby special 

 details were obtained in the lower strata of the diurnal and 

 annual influence on the vertical decrease of temperature up to 

 3000 metres. It was found that in summer and during the 

 daytime the decrease of temperature with increasing height 

 proceeds more rapidly, and, on the contrary, that in winter 



