592 
NATURE 
jAucusT 8, 1912 
first members of this committee were the then mem- 
bers of the Meteorological Committee of the Royal 
Society—in other words, the executive of the Meteoro- 
logical Office. The connection between the two insti- 
Fic. 1.—Meteorological Office.—Roof. From the ‘‘ Sixth Annual Report of the Meteorological Committee,” 
by permission of the Controller of H.M. Stationery Office. 
tutions had always been close, but now, naturally, it 
became still more intimate, and indeed the control 
of both the office and the observatory remained prac- 
tically in the same hands until 1900, when the observa- 
tory became the provisional 
home of the National Physical | 
Laboratory. 
Shortly after the transfer of 
Kew to the National Physical 
Laboratory in 1900 it was found 
that the electric tramways were 
seriously interfering with the 
magnetic instruments. Formal 
representations were made to 
the Government, and as a result 
a new observatory was provided 
out of public funds at Eskdale- 
muir, with a grant of roool. a 
year for its maintenance. The 
new observatory was installed 
under the direction of the 
National Physical Laboratory, 
and, being opened in 1908, it 
remained under the control of 
the laboratory for two years, 
until 1910, when the administra- 
tion of both observatories was 
transferred to the Meteoro- 
logical Committee, by which, 
with the assistance of the 
Gassiot Committee of the Royal 
Society, they have since been 
carried on. 
Consequent upon the transfer, 
certain changes have been made 
in the routine duties at the 
observatories, and it has been found possible, for 
instance, to arrange for observations to be taken at 
Kew at 7 a.m., I p.m., and 6 p.m. each day, and 
to be telephoned to South Kensington for incorpora- 
NO. 2232, VOL. 89] 
Stationery Office. 
| of 
Fic. 2.—Kew Observatory.—Main building and meteorological instruments on the exposure lawn. 
the “Sixth Annual Report of the Meteorological Committee,” by permission of the Controller of H.M. 
tion in The Daily Weather Report as part of the 
“London ” observations. 
At'Eskdalemuir the changes that have taken place 
have been both by way of increased equipment and of 
increased staff. The new in- 
struments added have been 
obtained partly by purchase 
and partly by generous dona- 
tions from Prof. A. Schuster, 
F.R.S., and the outfit for seis- 
mological investigation at this 
station now comprises no fewer 
than four instruments, of the 
Milne, Omori, Galitzin, and 
Weichart patterns respectively. 
The contrast between the 
positions of the observatories 
at Kew and Eskdalemuir is 
complete. Kew lies almost at 
sea-level, in a _ well-wooded 
valley, on the banks of a tidal 
river, and close to great centres 
of population. Eskdalemuir is 
Soo ft. above the sea, on nearly 
the highest land in its neigh- 
bourhood, sixteen miles from 
the nearest railway station, and 
far remote from towns. 
Both at Kew and Valencia 
provision is made for the con- 
tinuous registration of baro- 
metric pressure; temperature 
of the dry-bulb and wet-bulb; 
the direction and _ velocity 
the wind; rainfall and sunshine; and _ for 
eye observations at fixed hours of the weather 
and of the amount, form, and movement of the clouds. 
The Eskdalemuir Observatory is not yet fully 
From 
equipped as a meteorological observatory, as it lacks 
in particular a record of wind-direction. At Kew 
there are eye observations of the temperature of the 
earth at 1 ft. and at 4 ft., and of solar and terrestrial 
