338 NATURE 
| May 28, 1914 
himself sent up on June 5 of the same year. By the 
end of July the first international week took place, 
during which special efforts were made to get observa- 
tions in the upper air, not only at the regular observa- 
rories, but by special expeditions to suitable localities. 
The number ot foreign Government expeditions sent 
out to take observations in the international weeks in- 
1907 and 1908 is remarkable; it is also remarkable 
that England, the geographical position of which 
makes her more dependent on weather than many 
Continental States, and which has a larger navy than 
any, was entirely unrepresented officially, and would 
have been unrepresented altogether had it not been for 
private effort. But by the time of the first inter- 
national week Mr. Dines had perfected his meteoro- 
gtaph and several observers had made themselves 
familiar with balloon work, and therefore this country 
was fairly well represented. 
There are now many observatories in all parts of 
the world which take part in the organisation. Among 
others that have recently been established may be 
mentioned Simla, under Dr. Walker; Helwan, in 
Egypt; Teneriffe; and a station in Uruguay. Par- 
ticularly to be noted, also, is the station in Spits- 
bergen, where German observers remain not only in 
the summer, but through the winter also, to study 
the atmosphere in the Arctic regions; and also the 
station at Batavia, in Java, where Dr. van Bemmelen 
is doing such excellent work on the winds in the 
upper air over the equatorial regions. 
The most complete observatory for upper air re- 
search is that at Lindenberg. This observatory was 
founded under the direct personal interest of the 
Kaiser, and under the direction of Dr. Assmann has 
carried out an immense amount of work with kites, 
captive balloons, and registering balloons. Ascents of 
one sort or another are made on every day in the 
year, and on the international days a large number of 
ascents are made on each day. You will realise the 
immense amount of work done when I mention that 
in 1912 there were twenty-six ascents of registering 
balloons, 262 of captive balloons, and 516 of kites. 
The Kaiser has also shown his interest in the subject 
by giving to the International Commission a_ trans- 
portable observatory that, in the first instance, has 
been erected on the Peak of Teneriffe, where the 
Spanish Government now proposes to build a_per- 
manent observatory. 
The Blue Hill Observatory, near Boston, which 
belonged to Prof. Rotch, has since his death been 
carried on by Mrs. Rotch; the observatory is now to 
be carried on for five years under the direction of 
Prof. McAdie, who is to take up the post of professor 
of dynamical meteorology at Harvard. It is to be 
hoped that some permanent arrangement will be come 
to whereby the observatory at Blue Hill may continue ; 
for it was here that so much pioneer work was done 
by Lawrence Rotch, whose untimely death was such 
a loss to science and to his friends. 
Another pioneer and a charming personality has 
also died, when it might have seemed that many 
vears were before him to carry on his favourite study ; 
I mean Léon Teisserenc de Bort, who only a few 
years ago received the Symons gold medal from this 
society. His death leaves his observatory at Trappes 
without a director. I believe, however, that arrange- 
ments have now been made by which it will be taken 
over by the French Government in connection with 
aviation. 
But it is not only in the permanent observatories 
that work is being done. No expedition for scientific 
exploration would be complete to-day without some 
means of studving the upper air. Dr. Simpson 
worked with balloors in the Antarctic in Captain 
NO. 2326, VOL. 93] 
Scott’s expedition; and both Captain Amundsen anc 
the Danish Expedition to Greeniand propose to study 
the upper air. 
Many expeditions have been dispatched for the sole 
purpose of aerological research. M. Teisserenc de 
Bort and Prof. Rotch chartered a steamer, which, in 
the years 1905, 1906, and 1907, traversed various 
parts of the eastern Atlantic, between the temperate 
zone and the equator, and obtained most interesting 
results from their observations. The Prince of 
Monaco made several cruises in his yacht, the Prin- 
cess Alice, in company with Prof. Hergesell, notably 
to the neighbourhood of the Canaries and to Spits- 
bergen. 
As Lindenberg is the most complete aerological 
observatory, so it has sent out what was perhaps the 
best equipped expedition; this was organised by Dr. 
Assmann for the study of the upper air in tropical 
Africa. Under the charge of Dr. Berson twenty-three 
ascents of registering balloons were made from a 
steamboat on the Victoria Nyanza from July to Sep- 
tember, 1908; great heights were reached, and valu- 
able results obtained: much work was also done with 
kites and pilot balloons. In the international week 
Fic. 16.—The Windlass House at Lindenberg. 
in July of the same year Prof. Palazzo made some 
ascents with registering balloons from an_ Italian 
cruiser in the neighbourhood of Zanzibar. 
The most recent aerological expedition is one 
organised by Mr. P. Y. Alexander to study the upper 
air over the valley of the Amazons; this, too, has 
been put under the charge of Dr. Berson. 
The Scotia, which was sent out to the parts of the 
North Atlantic where ice is frequent, also carried 
balloons and kites, and Mr. °G. I. Taylor was able to 
carry out observations in a pari of the globe where 
upper air work had not been tried before. 
I have attempted to give you a short history of 
upper air research up to the point it has reached 
to-day; I have refrained from giving you the results 
that have been gathered from the research. 
From this brief and necessarily incomplete account 
you will realise that upper air research is a cooperative 
study. The single observer out of touch with others 
can do little; more perhaps than in most sciences, it 
is the trained and united army that succeeds. And 
this is not the least of the charms of the science. I 
can personally testify how English and American, 
French and German, Russian and Scandinavian are 
all ready to help each other. There is no jealousy in 
the upper air. International barriers are broken down. ' 
1 The author is indebted to Prof. Assmann, Director of the Lindenberg 
Observatory, for the photographs reproduced in Figs. ro and 16, 
i; 
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sory 
