March 6, 1884] 



NATURE 



435 



He continued to sufter from occasional attacks of 

 rheumatic fever, and during the last year of his Ufe was 

 never quite well; but in spite of the great weakness 

 uiider which he laboured, his overmastering passion for 

 hard work would not be controlled. His health again 

 gave way at the end of January, and he finally succumbed 

 at one o'clock on the afternoon of February 1 6. 



It was from a singularly clear and firm apprehension of 

 the characteristic principles of modern meteorology, and 

 an unflinching application of them to the facts of obser- 

 vation, that Capt. Hoffmeyer has left his mark on the 

 science, — these principles being the relations of winds, 

 temperature, and rainfall to the distribution of atmo- 

 spheric pressure. In working out the weather problem 

 of Europe, no country occupies a more splendid position 

 for the observation of the required data than does Den- 

 mark with its dependencies of Faro, Iceland, and Green- 

 land. Denmark was slow to occupy the field, nothing 

 being done in this direction by the Danish Government 

 prior to Hoffmeyer's appointment as Director of the 

 Meteorological Institute. In a short time these important 

 regions were represented by stations in Greenland, Ice- 

 land, and Faro. The meteorology of Denmark proper 

 was pushed forward with great vigour. In truth, the 

 monthly meteorological Bulletin of Denmark is in several 

 respects among the best that reach us. The number for 

 January, 1884, just received, presents the monthly results 

 of pressure for 13 stations, temperature for 109 stations, 

 and rainfall and other forms of precipitation for 159 

 stations. These results are graphically shown on four 

 maps, accompanied with a full descriptive letter-press — 

 one map giving the isobars for the month, another the 

 isothermals, and on the same map the mean temperature 

 at each of the 109 stations ; a third map, the minimum 

 temperature at each of the stations ; while the fourth 

 gives isohyetal lines showing the rainfall, and here again 

 the amount at each of the 159 rain stations is entered in 

 plain figures on the map. The educative effect of these 

 instructive monthly sheets on a people whose industries 

 are so largely pastoral and agricultural must be very 

 great. 



It was, however, to the department of meteorology 

 which is concerned with the preparation and study of 

 synoptic weather charts that Hoffmeyer chiefly directed 

 his attention. The great services he rendered in this 

 direction may be indicated by a reference to his atlas of 

 daily weather maps of the Atlantic, embracing a period of 

 fully three years, the expense of which was almost wholly 

 borne by himself, and his annual reports giving tri-daily 

 observations for the Denmark, Faro, Iceland, and Green- 

 land stations — a work which no working meteorologist 

 can aftbrd to be without. It was arranged last summer 

 to resume the publication of the synoptic charts in con- 

 junction with Neumayer, and the work was so far ad- 

 vanced that the first sheets were printed off on February 

 17, the day after his death. 



Of the positive additions Hoffmeyer made to science, 

 the most noteworthy are his papers on the Greenland 

 foehn (Nature, vol. xvi. p. 29;), and on the distribu- 

 tion of atmospheric pressure in winter over the North 

 Atlantic, and its influence on the climate of Europe 

 (Mature, vol. xviii. p. 6S0). The latter is an original 

 and highly important contribution to science, whether 

 regard be had to the method of investigation or to the 

 results. He showed that the character of the weather, 

 as regards mildness or severity of the winter of the 

 regions surrounding the North Atlantic, is really deter- 

 mined by the position of the region of minimum pressure, 

 according as it is localised to the south-west of Ireland, 

 in Davis Straits, or midway between Jan Mayen and the 

 Lofoden Islands. 



It was but fitting that he should have occupied the 

 honourable position of Secretary to the International 

 Polar Commission, one of the principal objects of which 



was to collect materials for a satisfactory discussion of 

 the different questions raised by the weather maps of the 

 northern hemisphere. For this office the sincerity of his 

 convictions, his honesty of purpose, and his business 

 habits, eminently fitted him. To all who knew him, the 

 memory of his eager readiness to assist fellow-workers, 

 the urbanity of his manner, his joyous nature, and the 

 unusual warmth of his friendship, cannot but awaken the 

 keenest feelings of regret for his early death. 



NOTES 



As the British Association meets this year — its fifty-fourth — 

 on August 27, in Montreal, preparations for the meeting have 

 had to be made unusually early. Already everything is ready, 

 and we are able to announce the lists of officials. Pre.i- 

 dent : the Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, D.C.L., F.R.S., Profes- 

 sor of Experimental Physics in the University of Cambridge. 

 Vice-Presidents : His Excellency the Governor-General of 

 Canada ; the Right Hon. Sir John Alexander Macdonald, 

 K.C.B., D.C.L. ; the Right Hon. Sir Lyon Playfair, 

 K.C.B., M.P., F.R.S; the Hon. Sir Alexander Tilloch Gait, 

 G.C.M.G. ; the Hon. Sir Charles Tupper, K.C.M.G. ; Sir 

 Narcisse Dorion, C.M.G. ; the Hon. Dr. Chauveau ; Principal 

 J. W. Dawson, C.M.G., F.R.S. ; Prof. Edward Frankland, 

 M.D., D.C.L., F.R.S.; W. H. Kingston, M.D. ; Thomas 

 Sten-y Hunt, LL.D., F.R.S. General Treasurer : Prof. A. W. 

 Williamson, LL.D., F.R.S. General Secretaries : Capt. 

 Douglas Galton, C.B., D.C.L., F.R.S. ; A. G. Vernon Har- 

 courl, F.R.S. Secretary : Prof. T. G. Bonney, D.Sc, F.R.S., 

 P.G.S. Local Secretaries for the meeting at Montreal : L. E. 

 Dawson, R. A. Ramsay, S. Rivard, S. C. Stevenson, Thomas 

 White, M.P. Local Treasurer for the meeting at Montreal, F. 

 Wolferstan Thomas. The Sections are the following : — A. — 

 Mathematical and Physical Science. — President ; Prof. Sir 

 William Thomson, M.A., LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.SS.L. and E., 

 F.R.A.S. Vice-Presidents: Prof. J. B. Cherriman, M.A. ; 

 J. W. L. Glaisher, M.A., F.R.S., F.R.A.S. Secretaries: 

 Charles H. Carpmael, M.A. ; Prof. A. Johnson, M.A., LL.D.; 

 Prof. O. J. Lodge, D.Sc. ; D. MacAlister, M.A., M.B., B.Sc. 

 (Recorder). B. — Chemical Science. — President : Prof. H. E. 

 Koscoe, Ph.D., LL.D., F.R.S., F.C.S. Vice-Presidents: 

 Prof. Deuar, M.A., F.R.S., F.C.S. ; Prof. B. J. Harrington, 

 B.A., Ph.D. Secretaries: Prof. P. Phillips Bedson, D.Sc, 

 F.C.S. (Recorder); H. B. Dixon, M.A., F.C.S. ; T. McFar- 

 lane, Prof. W. W. Pike. C— Geology.— President : W. T. 

 Blanford,.F.R.S., I'.G.S., F.R.G.S. Vice-Presidents : Prof. 

 Rupert Junes, F.R.S., F.G.S. ; A. R. C. Selwyn, LL.D., 

 F.R.S., F.G.S. Secretaries : F. Adams, B.Ap.Sc. ; G. M. 

 Dawson, D.Sc, F.G.S.; W. Topley, F.G.S. (Recorder); 

 W. Whitaker, B.A., F.G.S. D.—liiology.— President : Prof. 

 H. N. Moseley, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.R.G.S., F.Z.S. 

 Vice-Presidents: W. B. Carpenter, C.B., M.D., LL.D., 

 F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S.; Prof. R. G. Lawson, Ph.D., 

 LL.D. Secretaries : Prof. W. Osier, M.D. ; Howard Saun- 

 ders, F.L.S., F.Z.S. (Recorder); A. Sedgwick, B.A. ; Prof. 

 R. Ramsay Wright, M.A., B.Sc. E. — Geography. — Vice- 

 Presidents : Col. Rhodes ; P. L. Sclater, M.A., Ph.D., 

 F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S., F.R.G.S. Secretaries: R. BeU, 

 M.D., LL.D., F.G.S.; Rev. Abbe Laflimme ; E. G. Raven- 

 stein, F.R.G.S. ; E. C. Rye, F.Z.S. (Recorder). F.— Econo- 

 mic Science and Statistics. — President : Sir R. Temple, 

 G.C.S.L, CLE., D.C.L., F.R.G.S. Vice-Presidents, J. B. 

 Martin, F.S.S. ; Prof. J. Clark Murray, LL.D. Secretaries: 

 Prof. H. S. Foxwell, M.A., F.S.S. ; J. S. McLennan, B.A. ; 

 Constantine MoUoy (Recorder) ; Prof. J. Watson, M.A., LL.D. 

 G.— Mechanical Science. — President : Sir F. J. Bramwell, 

 F.R.S., M.Inst.C.E. Vice-Presidents: Prof. H. T. Bovey, 



