August 3, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



149 



Bort's great work in his famous observatory 

 at Trappes, near Paris, dates back to 1890. 



The kite experiments in atmospheric elec- 

 tricity made in America by Benjamin Frank- 

 lin in 1753, and by Joseph Henry in 1840, are 

 now classic. Most important contributions 

 to meteorology by kite-flying have been made 

 by Messrs. Rotch, Fergusson and Clayton, of 

 Blue Hill Observatory. The United States 

 Weather Bureau in 1898 temporarily main- 

 tained seventeen kite stations, and is now 

 completing the Mount Weather Research Ob- 

 servatory, where the temperature, moisture 

 and movement of the air at great heights will 

 be ascertained by means of balloons and kites, 

 while other researches on the sun's heat, at- 

 mospheric absorption, atmospheric electricity, 

 terrestrial magnetism and seismic phenomena 

 will be conducted. 



In Japan, too, the importance of study of 

 the upper air was recognized soon after the 

 organization of our meteorological service in 

 1875. Since that time the specialists at the 

 Central Meteorological Observatory at Tokyo 

 and at provincial stations have undertaken 

 many technical expeditions to high mountains 

 in order to investigate the phenomena of the 

 higher strata of the atmosphere. For the 

 establishment of the first Japanese mountain 

 observatory we are indebted to our illustrious 

 Prince Yamashina. For the site of this ob- 

 servatory his imperial highness chose Mount 

 Tsukuba, that remarkable mountain which 

 stands alone on an extensive plain, and which, 

 moreover, lies in the tracks of the cyclones of 

 very intense character. Since its opening in 

 1902 it has been of great service to observa- 

 tional meteorology in Japan. 



It is evident, however, that the atmospheric 

 data observed at mountain stations are very 

 much affected by the local topography and the 

 disturbing elements of the mountain mass and 

 surface. A consideration of the observations 

 made in the free upper air during balloon as- 

 cents from Munich, and those made simul- 

 taneously at neighboring mountain stations, 

 shows important differences between them. 

 Hence it becomes vitally important for each 

 civilized country or nation to establish on its 

 own soil an aero-physical observatory, like 



those at Trappes, Blue Hill, Berlin, Linden- 

 berg and Mount Weather. 



The scientific problems to be investigated 

 at such a research observatory are manifold, 

 and include the following: 



1. The distribution of teraperature in the 

 upper atmosphere; the thermal conditions in 

 cyclones and anticyclones; the distribution 

 and condensation of atmospheric moisture; 

 the distribution of pressure in the upper and 

 the lower atmospheres. These are pi^oblems of 

 paramount importance, and must be inyesti- 

 gated by ascensions of balloons and kites. 



2. The absorption of solar heat by the at- 

 mosphere, which must be measured by means 

 of the pyrheliometer and actinometer ; the dis- 

 sipation of solar light and heat as determined 

 by the polariscope ; the detailed analysis of the 

 sunbeams as carried out by means of the 

 bolometer and spectrometer. To all these 

 there should be added apparatus for studying 

 the conductivity and emissivity of the land 

 and water, the snow fields and the forests of 

 the earth's surface. 



3. The discovery of the remarkable proper- 

 ties of radium has opened up a field of re- 

 search relative to the ionization of gases, and 

 this has led to a complete revolution in our 

 ideas relative to atmospheric electricity. By 

 means of an Exner's electrometer and Benn- 

 dorf's self-registering apparatus the potential 

 should be measured. To make systematic ob- 

 servations of dissipation and radioactivity of 

 the air under ground we need the Elster and 

 Geitel instruments. Corresponding measure- 

 ments of the ionization should be made with 

 the Ebert ion-counter, and the Gerdien con- 

 ductivity apparatus. 



Japan feels the direct influences of the 

 Pacific Ocean and the Asiatic continent, and 

 also those of the tropical and polar ocean cur- 

 rents, so that meteorological as well as cli- 

 matic conditions in Japan are very complex. 

 Very often a continental cyclone, which ap- 

 pears to originate in the Asiatic continent, 

 and a typhoon, which comes from the tropics 

 by way of the Philippines and Formosa, pass 

 over Japan simultaneously, bringing great 

 complexities in the weather. In spite of all 

 these difficulties, however, the storm tracks 



