TBANSACTIOKS OF SECTION A. 587 



front of a liiirricane. Great care must be taken not to apply this rule to an 

 increasing trade with a falling barometer, as will be explained hereafter. 



In the rear of a hurricane, on the contrary, the vortex may bear 12 or even 

 more points to the right or left of the wind, because the wind is very much 

 incurved in that part of a hurricane. A ship should therefore always then lie-to 

 tUl the barometer begins to rise and the weather to improve, otherwise she will 

 probably run right into the vortex. She might easily scud 10 knots, while the 

 hurricane might not be advancing more than 5 miles an hour, so that it is very 

 easy to catch up the vortex. The discovery of this great incurvature is one of the 

 most important modern developments of the subject. 



It used to be thought that if the veind increased in force, without changing in 

 direction, with a falling barometer, a ship must necessarily be in the line of progres- 

 sion of the vortex, and that she should run at once. This was owing to the idea 

 that a hurricane was an isolated disturbance. 



Now we know that if it is only the usual trade-wind which increases without 

 changing in direction, and with a falling barometer, a ship should lie-to till the 

 mercury has fallen at least 6-lOths of an inch before she runs as a last resource. 

 Modern research has proved that a hurricane is usually imbedded in some prevail- 

 ing trade or monsoon, and that there is therefore a belt of intensified trade-wind 

 outside the true storm-field. This belt is always on the side of the hurricane 

 furthest from the equator. A ship in this belt experiences an increasing trade with- 

 out change of direction, and with a falling barometer, though she may be far away 

 from the line of progression of the vortex. She would equally experience an 

 increasing and unchanging wind with a falling barometer, if she were in the line of 

 progression ; but as there is no means of knowing wliether she is in the line of pro- 

 gression, or only in the belt of intensified trade, the empirical rule says : ' Lie-to till 

 the mercury has fallen 6-lOths of an inch before beginning to run.' 



The old rules for finding which semicircle of a hurricane a ship may be in, and 

 the old rules for heaving-to in either Hemisphere, are all proved to be both true and 

 valuable by modern research. These rules remain as follows : Facing the wind in 

 both Hemispheres, if the wind changes by tlie right, the ship is in the right-hand 

 semicircle, and she should heave-to on the starboard tack. If the wind changes by 

 the left, she is in the left semicircle, and should heave-to on the port tack. If cir- 

 cumstances compel her to run, she should keep the wind well on the starboard 

 quarter in the North Hemisphere, and well on the port quarter in the South 

 Hemisphere. 



It is much to be regretted that the examination papers of the Board of Trade 

 for master and mates are painfully behind the modern standards of knowledge, and 

 that in these matters the Germans and other nations are now ahead of England. 

 The whole knowledge which is required in our merchant service is contained in six 

 questions, and a candidate is expected to say that the centre bears 8 points, or per- 

 haps a little more, from the direction of the wind, while no notice is taken either of 

 the small incurvature in front or of the great incurvature in rear, or of the belt of 

 intensified trade, where the usual indications of being exactly in front of the vortex 

 fail. 



No one should blame the master of a ship for not following the established rules 

 without the closest investigation, for, as Piddington says, ' absolute rules are all 

 nonsense,' and much depends on the capabilities of a ship, and on the ever- varying 

 conditions of a heavy cross sea. 



o. Report of the Committee appointed to arrange an investigation of the 

 Seasonal Variations of Temperature in Lakes, Rivers, and Esttiaries in 

 various parts of the United Kingdom. — See Reports, p. 326. 



