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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 105. 



mittee that the daily international dis- 

 patches to Paris he accelerated, so that they 

 should be more useful in forecasting, pend- 

 ing the possible adoption of the American 

 ' circuit system ' in the European countries; 

 the second committee refused to adopt 

 either a standard anemometer or a uniform 

 exposure for anemometers ; and the third 

 committee, after considering the delays 

 which had occurred in commencing the in- 

 ternationarsystem of cloud observations in 

 some countries, requested, when possible, 

 that both nephoscope observations and the- 

 odolite measiarements of clouds be con- 

 tinued throughout the year 1897, in order 

 to obtain one whole year of observations 

 for synoptic comparison. Probably the 

 most noteworthy feature of the Conference 

 was the attempt of the last named of the 

 sub-committees to secure uniformity in mag- 

 netic surveys, and as regards instruments 

 and methods of reduction both in the field 

 and at the permanent stations. Resolutions 

 were adopted favoring the use of captive bal- 

 loons, free balloons, and unmanned, or pilot 

 balloons for obtaining meteorological data 

 in the upper air. Simultaneous ascents in 

 the diiferent countries and the prompt pub- 

 lication of the original observations were 

 recommended. The success of kites at 

 Blue Hill Observatory for elevating self-re- 

 cording meteorological instruments led to 

 the expressed desire that similar experi- 

 ments should be made elsewhere. 



The Conference reappointed the Interna- 

 tional Meteorological Committee, which was 

 elected at Munich , except that three vacan- 

 cies caused by resignations were filled. This 

 committee of 17 is thus constituted: von 

 Bezold, of Prussia; Billwiller, of Switzer- 

 land ; de Brito-Capello, of Portugal ; Davis, 

 of Argentine Republic ; Eliot, of India ; 

 Hann, of Austria; Hepites, of Roumania; 

 Hildebrandsson, of Sweden ; Mascart, of 

 France; Mohn, of Norway; Moore, of the 

 United States ; Paulsen, of Denmark; Rus- 



sell, of New South Wales; Rykatcheff,of Rus- 

 sia; Scott, of Great Britain; Snellen, of the 

 Netherlands ; Tacchini, of Italy. M. Mas- 

 cart is the President, and Mr. Scott retains 

 the position of Secretary to the Committee,, 

 which he has held for many years. The 

 Committee appointed commissions to deal 

 with problems relating to solar radiation, 

 terrestrial magnetism and atmospheric elec- 

 tricity, cloud observations and meteorologi- 

 cal aeronautics. The United States is rep- 

 resented in the two last-named commis- 

 sions by the writer. French, English and 

 German reports of the Conference will be 

 published, respectively, by Messrs. Mas- 

 cart, Scott and von Bezold. The date of 

 the next conference was fixed five years 

 hence, the place of meeting to be named by 

 the International Committee. 



During the Conference the meteorological 

 institutions of Paris and its suburbs were 

 visited. These included the Central Me- 

 teorological Office with its station on the 

 Eifiel Tower and its meteorological and 

 magnetical observatory at the Pare Saint 

 Maur, the municipal observatories of the 

 Tour Saint Jacques and Montsouris, and 

 the new private observatory of M. Teisserenc 

 de Bort at Trappes, which is devoted to 

 dynamic meteorology and at present chiefly 

 to the measurement of cloud heights by 

 photography. The pleasantest feature of 

 the Conference was the cordial relations 

 which existed between all the members, 

 and these were especially noticeable in the 

 case of the French and Germans. At a 

 breakfast given by M. Mascart on the Eiifel 

 Tower, M. Rambaud, the Minister of Pub- 

 lic Instruction, under whose patronage the 

 Conference was placed, spoke of the inter- 

 national character of all science, but espec- 

 ially meteorology, since the air which we 

 breathe belongs to no country and can be 

 monopolized by no one. 



The Fourth International Congress of 

 Hydrologj', Climatology and Geology, 



