March 26, 1908J 



NA TURE 



491 



greatly loved and esteemed by his subordinates and 

 fellow-workers, and by his many friends. 



Sir John Eliot had a most distinguished career, 

 and the major part of his life was devoted to India, at 

 first to educational work, and later on to Indian 

 meteorological problems. He was born at Lamesby, in 

 Durham, on May 25, 1839. The details of his earlier 

 education have not been recorded, but he went up to 

 Cambridge University about 1S66 and took his degree 

 from St. John's College in 1869, and was second 

 (bracketed) wrangler and first Smith's prizeman of 

 his year. He was then elected to a fellowship at 

 St. John's College, which he held from iS6g up to 

 his marriage in 1876. .'\s a young man his health was 

 not very robust, and he was advised to avoid the 

 climate of England, so that after taking his degree 

 he accepted an appointment in the Indian Government 

 Service as professor of mathematics at the Roorkee 

 Engineering College. This he held from 1S69 to 1872. 

 He was then transferred to the regular Indian Educa- 

 tional Service as professor of mathematics at the Muir 

 Central College at Allahabad, an appointment which 

 he held from 1872 to 1874. 



About this time he turned his special attention to 

 physics rather than to pure mathematics, and also 

 undertook certain meteorological work at Allahabad. 

 In 1874 he was appointed professor of physical science 

 at the Presidency College, Calcutta, and combined this 

 with the post of meteorological reporter to the Govern- 

 ment of I3engal, both of which he held from 1874 to 

 18S6. He was then appointed meteorological reporter 

 to the Government of India and director general of 

 Indian observatories, an appointment which he held 

 until he retired in January, 1903. On his retirement 

 the Government of India published in the Gazette 

 of India a most complimentary resolution thanking 

 him for "his long and meritorious services." 



As an educationist he has left his mark in the 

 various colleges in India in which he worked, and also 

 in the Calcutta University, of which he was for many 

 years a most distinguished Fellow. Many of the 

 present generation of educated Indian gentlemen who 

 are holding very prominent positions are largely in- 

 debted to Sir John Eliot, not only for his actual teach- 

 ing, which was of a particularly high order, but also 

 for his kindliness and sympathy towards his students. 

 The example shown by his work and character had 

 a great effect on all brought in contact with him, and 

 he was very greatly respected and loved by his students 

 and by all classes of Indian gentlemen, for it may 

 be truly said of him that his great abilities were more 

 than equalled by his extreme modesty and invariable 

 kindness. ' 



In his capacity as Fellow of the Calcutta University 

 he also did very notable work, and by his great influ- 

 ence and marked powers of persuasion he was able to 

 introduce many considerable reforms into the courses 

 of instruction in mathematics and physical science, and 

 in the latter case he was specially successful in making 

 the courses more practical and more thorough than 

 they had hitherto been. 



,As a meteorologist, India also owes him a large 

 debt of gratitude. As meteorological reporter to the 

 Government of Bengal, he largely extended the 

 meteorological system, and introduced daily weather 

 reports with charts based on telegraphic information, 

 and he also instituted a very comprehensive and effec- 

 tive system of storm warnings for coast stations round 

 the Bay of Bengal, and of flood warnings for inland 

 stations. One of his earliest meteorological papers was 

 a " History of the Backergunge Cyclone of 1876," 

 in which storm about two hundred thousand people 

 were drowned in about half an hour by a huge storm 

 wave, which swept over the Island of Sandip. 



NO. 2004, VOL. 77] 



In this monograph Sir John Eliot largely developed 

 and extended the theory of the formation of cyclones. 

 This publication indeed excited a good deal of atten- 

 tion both in India and in England, and in both in- 

 stances this was unusual. So much attention was 

 directed to this memoir and to the cyclone which it 

 described that a request was made in the House of 

 Commons for the report to be produced and laid on 

 the table, and it was then made available to those 

 interested in England. 



The reputation as a meteorologist which Sir John 

 Eliot gained while occupying the post of meteorolog- 

 ical reporter to the Government of Bengal rendered it 

 a foregone conclusion that when the higher post of 

 meteorological reporter to the Government of India 

 fell vacant it would be offered to him. This post had 

 been created about the year 1875 or 1S76, and its first 

 incumbent was the late Mr. H. F. Blanford, F.R.S. 

 Up to about 1875 there had only been local officers 

 in charge of the meteorology of the different provinces 

 (such as Bengal, Madras, and Bombay) into which 

 India is divided, but it was felt that if Indian meteor- 

 ology was to make any real progress it must be 

 studied as a whole, and not piecemeal. Hence the ap- 

 pointment of meteorological reporter under the Im- 

 perial or Indian Government was created, and all the 

 observations taken in the various provinces were, after 

 local use, sent on to the Indian Meteorological Depart- 

 ment. Much and most valuable work was done by 

 Mr. Blanford in the development of the department on 

 an Imperial basis, and also in the foundation of sys- 

 tematic and organised investigation and in the prompt 

 diffusion of meteorological information thus obtained, 

 but, as in all great schemes, the progress of consolida- 

 tion of the work in its imperial aspects was rather 

 diflicult. 



With Mr. Blanford's work as a basis. Sir John 

 (then, of course, Mr.) Eliot was able to make more 

 rapid progress. He largely increased the area from 

 which observations were received, and also the number 

 of reporting stations in the area already covered. 

 Indeed, during his tenure of ofifice he almost doubled 

 the number of stations which sent in reports, and 

 extended them so as to get observations from very 

 high altitudes (11,000 feet elevation), and also from 

 outlying places like Kashmir and the routes leading 

 towards Central Asia, and from such places as Leh, 

 Ladakh, Dras, &c. He made the work of the observ- 

 atories more accurate and more systematic, and ar- 

 ranged that by telegraphic communication the latest 

 meteorological information from all parts of the Indian 

 Empire in the form of daily weather reports with 

 charts should be at once available at headquarters. 



Indeed, it is not too much to say that from the time 

 he took over charge of the Indian Meteorological De- 

 partment, its efficiency and usefulness were very 

 largely increased, and that he brought it quite into 

 line with the most modern meteorological organisa- 

 tions. Under him the department published many 

 series of most valuable results and memoirs. He also 

 developed a complete system of storm warnings for 

 the whole of the coast-line of India and Burma, ex- 

 tending over some thousands of miles, and also estab- 

 lished flood warnings for the whole of India by which 

 telegraphic warnings are sent of e.xpected floods to all 

 engineers in charge of irrigation and other large 

 works, and in other cases where similar damage may 

 occur. Daily reports with charts dealing with tht 

 sea areas of the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean were 

 also established, and, furtlier, he established a most 

 valuable system of seasonal forecasts, which gradually 

 became of very great value, though naturally to begin 

 with they were rather tentative and experimental. 



Those who navigate Indian seas are also especially 



