fORKESPONDIXG SOCIETIES. OO 



Dr. Hugh ilobeit Mill introduced the following subject :— ^ 



Local iSocieties and Meteoroloyy . 



The study of meteoi'ology may be commeuded to the Jittention of those 

 scientific Societies whose scope is wide, on account of the means it afl'ords 

 of advancing science and at the same time obtaining those intellectual 

 advantages to the student which it is one of the objects of scientific 

 Societies to secure. The object of studying meteorology is not to fit the 

 student to predict tlie weather of to-morrow, though it may help him to 

 stimulate the Meteorological Office to keep improving the weather 

 forecasts by bringing intelligent criticism to bear on the forecasts as 

 issued. Tliese forecasts receive criticism enough at present, but too often 

 of a captious and uninstructed kind which contains neither correction nor 

 help. The main object is to advance meteorology by means of careful 

 and accurate observation. Thousands, perhaps even millions, of observa- 

 tions have been made and recorded in the past absolutely uselessly, for the 

 instruments have been untrustworthy, the hours of observation irregular, 

 or the records rendered valueless by not being communicated to the 

 •authorities competent to deal with them. 



The best advice which can be given to an enthusiast anxious to observe 

 is not to begin until he has good instruments certified as accurate. In a 

 long record the difference in the cost of good and bad instruments is 

 almost nothing when compared with the value of the observer's time 

 lavished uj^on work which a few shillings spent at the outset makes 

 permanently valuable, a few shillings saved makes useless or even 

 harmful. 



There is scope in meteorology for a great diversity of work. Definite 

 researches should be carried on in specific directions. At present the 

 most interesting and perhaps the most important of these is the investiga- 

 tion of the free air at great heights by means of instruments raised by 

 kites. Excellent work is being done in this country by a joint committee 

 of the British Association and the Royal JNCeteorological Society, Avhich 

 has been greatly aided by the inventive genius and generous help of 

 Mr. W. H. Dines. Additional centres for kite work are desirable, but 

 these must be remote from the haunts of men, as the accidental fall of a 

 kite with several miles of .steel wire attached is a very serious risk near 

 towns or thoi'oughfares. The equipment costs about l.')0/. and the work 

 demands great mechanical skill. 



Another research which awaits the student is that into the measure- 

 ment of moisture in the air, and the revision of the tables by means of 

 wliioh the humidity is calculated from readings of the dry and wet bulb 

 thermometers. 



A more simple and no less useful department is the study of local 

 climate, and here the co-operation of local societies may be confidently 

 invited. Every important town should have a properly equipped 

 meteorological station. An observatory such as that maintained at 

 Falmouth by the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society is beyond the 

 resources of most Societies ; but a Second Order station, where the instru- 

 ments only I'equire attention for a few minutes twice daily, such as that 

 in the Museum Garden at York, is within the reach of most. The climate 

 of a place can only be determined by a long record, and such records are 

 very rare, because on the death of an enthusiastic observer therg is 



