May 5, 1881J 



NATURE 



o£ higt mountains, fully establish this fact. Observations 

 of the upper clouds further indicate that when a cyclonic 

 disturbance travels eastward in our latitudes, the passage 

 of its centre is usually accompanied (or, more strictly, 

 followed) only by a temporary backing and subsequent 

 veering of the westerly upper-currents, showing that 

 where we have circular isobars at the earth' s surface, we 

 should find in the region of the cirrus merely a loop or 

 bend in the isobars for that altitude, could such isobars 

 be drawn. Could we in short have a weather-chart 

 confined to the region of cirrus, we should see in it, in 

 lieu of a deep cyclone, a shallow " secondary " travelling 

 round a portion of the great polar area of depression. 



It is true that north-easterly winds may thus be subject 

 to more retardation due to friction at their upper surface 

 than south-westerly winds. But in a fluid like the atmo- 

 sphere the whole effect of this retardation must be 

 conceived as almost insignificant. 



The question, then, that I would ask is this : — May 

 mot the fact that any given gradient for an east wind is 

 wholly contributed by the strata of atmosphere near the 

 earth's surface, while a similar gradient for a west wind 

 is contributed by the whole mass of atmosphere overhead, 

 be imagined, consistently with what we know of the 

 mechanics of the atmospheric currents, to give a greater 

 force of wind in the former than in the latter case, at the 

 surface of the earth ? 



There is one other point to which I may be here per- 

 mitted to call attention, though it relates to language 

 alone. I have employed' above, consistently with com- 

 mon usage, the expression "gradient for" a particular 

 wind ; but this expression appears liable to the objection 

 that it involves a hypothesis, and one which is moreover 

 not in accordance with fact. "A gradient for a south- 

 west wind" signifies a distribution of pressure in which 

 isobars lie south-west and north-east, and in which the 

 lowest pressure is in the north-west and the highest 

 La the south-east. But it is only in the higher lati- 

 tudes, and on a level surface such as the sea, that this 

 distribution is actually accompanied by a south-west wind. 

 In inland localities, even as far north as the latitudes of 

 the British Isles, it is accompanied by a wind between 

 south-south-west and south ; in lower latitudes by a wind 

 still more from the higher to the lower pressures, and 

 finally at the equator such a distribution of pressure 

 would be accompanied by a south-east wind. Further, 

 the expression leads to the needless ignoring of the more 

 local deflections of the winds produced by irregularities 

 of the earth's surface. Would not the expression 

 "north-westw^n^" gradient, simply indicating that baro- 

 metric pressure decreases most in a north-westward 

 direction, be more correct and equally intelligible ? Such 

 a gradient would be one for winds between south-west 

 and south in our northern latitudes, for winds between 

 north-east and east in corresponding southern latitudes, 

 and for winds from the intermediate points over interme- 

 diate portions of the globe. " North-westa/iw/," " north- 

 ward,'' and " north-east :t'ti;-(/V' &c., gradients, are more- 

 over slightly shorter expressions than gradients " for 

 south-west," "for west," "for north-west winds," iS:c. 

 W. Clement Ley 



SCIENCE IN CHINA ' 

 I. 



THE Department for the Translation of Foreign Books 

 at the Kiangnan Arsenal, Shanghai, which has for its 

 object the translation and publication of books relating to 

 the arts and sciences of the West, was established towards 

 the close of the year 1869, mainly through the instru- 

 mentality of Messrs. Hsu and Hwa, natives of Wuseih, 

 and who at that time were on the staff of officials at the 

 Kiangnan Arsenal. The causes which led to the com- 



By Mr. fohn Fryer , Chief Translator to the Chinese Arsenal. 



mencement of this important undertaking are, however, 

 traceable to a much earlier date. In fact, to find a suit- 

 able starting-point for its history', it is necessary to go 

 back to the earlier portion of the lives of these two 

 Chinese gentlemen. 



Wuseih is an important city on the borders of the Ta 

 Hu, or Great Lake, in the province of Kiangnan, and has 

 long been noted for its industrial pursuits, as well as the 

 energy and enterprise of its inhabitants, many of whom 

 have emigrated to Japan at various times. It was in this 

 busy place that a little coterie of intelligent scholars was 

 formed, all deploring the hollow and unsatisfying nature 

 of the ordinary routine of Chinese studies. They deter- 

 mined to push their investigations in a more useful and 

 promising field by endeavouring to become acquainted 

 with the great laws of nature, and to gather as much 

 information as they possibly could respecting the various 

 branches of science and art. 



Without organising themselves into a society, these 

 aspirants for intellectual light used to have occasional 

 meetings of an informal kind for mutual improvement, 

 each person explaining any new facts _or ideas he had 

 acquired. The works of the early Jesuit fathers on mathe- 

 matics, astronomy, and kindred subjects were carefully 

 read, as well as original native works. But at last, during 

 a visit to Shanghai, they found a valuable prize in Dr. 

 Hobson's translation of a treatise on Natural Philosophy, 

 published at the London Mission Hospital in Canton in 

 the year 1855. This book, though of a very elementary 

 character, was hke the dawn of a new era upon their 

 minds, enabling them to leap at one bound across the 

 two centuries that had elapsed since the Jesuit fathers 

 commenced the task of the intellectual enlightenment of 

 China, and bringing them face to face with the results of 

 some of the gi-eat modern discoveries. Apparatus was 

 extemporised at their homes to perfonn the various ex- 

 periments described in its pages, and every new theory or 

 law was put to the test as far as their limited means 

 would permit. Frequent papers were written and circu- 

 lated from one to another, while queries were continually 

 started by individuals asking for more information on 

 difficult subjects. A pile of such manuscripts accumulated 

 in the house of Mr. Hsii, who, with his son, formed a 

 sort of centre for this little oasis in the midst of a vast 

 desert of ignorance and superstition. Unfortunately, 

 however, these manuscripts were all destroyed when the 

 Taiping rebels captured the city, and the Ihtle company 

 were glad to escape with their lives to the neighbouring 

 hills, among which they found a temporary refuge. Even 

 in these trying circumstances they were able to turn their 

 knowledge to good account in different ways so as to 

 alleviate their own hardships as well as those of their 

 fellow-sufterers. 



In the third moon of the first year of Tung-che, or 1862, 

 an Imperial edict called upon the Governor-General of 

 the "Two Kiang" provinces to search throughout his 

 jurisdiction for men of talent and ingenuity, and versed in 

 the arts and sciences, who should assist in improving the 

 condition of the Empire. H. E. Tseng Kwo-fan accord- 

 ingly selected six men, whose names were duly forwarded 

 to Peking. Among the number were Messrs. Hsii and 

 Hwa, whose reputation as scientists had by this time 

 extended far beyond their native town. They were after- 

 wards invited to an interview with the Governor-General 

 at Anching, and were at once retained on his staff, with 

 the view of their being able to study and perfect them- 

 selves in the more useful branches of the foreign arts, 

 sciences, and manufactures. r xt 1 • 



At that time the rebels were in possession of Nankmg, 

 and the surrounding country was in a most unsettled 

 state, so that little could be done in the direction of im- 

 provement or study. Mr. Hwa, however, was engaged 

 with others in collecting and preparing such scientific 

 books as China then possessed. This work was after- 



