The Present State of Meteorology. 19 



interest in the matter, simply for the sake of the local 

 information, to provide the necessary instruments and 

 secure the requisite observations. 



Our rainfall varies so largely with locality, that in order 

 to obtain trustworthy statistics — so necessary in matters of 

 water supply, drainage, and other public works — a rain 

 gauge should be kept at every police station throughout the 

 country. There are over 300 public barometers on the 

 English coast for the use of fishermen and others, and in 

 Victoria there are seven or eight. A few more of these 

 instruments, if they could be taken care of (which some of 

 those now in position appear not to be), would be advan- 

 tageous. They are, however, not nearly so much required 

 on our coast as in England. 



The eager inquiries from all classes for weather news, 

 especially during our critical seasons, render it desirable to 

 adopt some simple means for furnishing the information 

 sought. This is now done to a considerable extent by the 

 Central Telegraph Office, but threatens to become a too 

 cumbrous tax on that service if it is not systematised. If 

 the localities from which reports are to be received were 

 properly selected, and a simple code adopted, conrining the 

 reports to state of wind and weather, rainfall and tempera- 

 ture, omitting barometer readings entirely, a much more 

 comprehensive and comprehensible bulletin of the weather 

 prevailing throughout the colony would be furnished to the 

 public than is now the case, without taxing the Telegraph 

 Department so much as at present. By these means I think 

 all the requirements of a temporary and local character 

 would be fully met, while all the higher and more theo- 

 retical questions would be probably better dealt with by 

 confining our attention to a few well-selected and well- 

 equipped stations than by more numerous half-furnished 

 observatories indiscriminately chosen. It is more economical, 

 and more likely to be fruitful. The establishment of a 

 station at a considerable altitude is the only addition to the 

 present scheme that is required, and this I hope to accom- 

 plish before long on Mount Macedon, at an elevation of 

 3000 feet. 



