410 ESTABLISHING OF METEOEOLOGICAL STATIONS BY EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT. [1855. 



sucli duties as are performed by the official staff of the riehly- 

 endowed Smithsonian Institution of Washington, is altogether 

 fallacious, and could only lead to disappointment and failure. 

 That portion of its members on -whom such duties must devolve, 

 are already called upon to make considerable sacrifices in time 

 and labour, for the successful conduct of the Institute; and if 

 a staff is to be provided, for carrying out such a comprehensive 

 scheme as they trust ultimately to see established in British 

 North America, the Provincial Magnetic and Meteorological 

 Observatory is the only Institution to which it can be proper 

 to have it attached. 



Canadian Institute, Jan. 22d, 1856. 



MEMORANDUM : 

 On llie steps loldcli liave been talcen hy the Educational Department, 

 to establish a system of Meteorological Observation throughout Upper 

 Canada. 



(Read before the Canadian Tnsliiute, Jan. 2G, 1856.) 



BY J. GEOEGE HODGINS, DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS. 



As some doubt seems to exist on the minds of some of the 

 members of the Institute, regarding the nature and extent of 

 the means which have been employed to establish meteorological 

 stations throughout Upper Canada, I have deemed it proper to 

 embody in this memorandum, all the information in the pos- 

 session of the Department of Public Instruction on the subject. 



By some of the members it has been felt, that the Institute 

 is liable to censure for not taking the initiative in the matter ; 

 and proceeding at once to give practical effect to certain views 

 On the subject, which had frequently urged upon it; but had 

 tliose gentlemen applied either to Professor Cherriman, or to 

 the Chief Superintendent of Schools, they might have learned 

 what was the nature of the steps which had been taken to 

 carry out an effective system of meteorological observation 

 throughout Upper Canada. 



It it now six years, since the subject engaged the attention 

 of our second President, Col. Lefroy. At his suggestion, Dr. 

 Ryerson submitted the matter to the Government; and in 

 June, 1850, a Bill was brought into the Legislature by the 

 Hon. Francis Hincks, containing among other things the fol- 

 lowing proposed enactments : — 



"Whereas it is desirable at Seminaries and places of Education to 

 direct attention to natural pbenomena, and to encourage habits of 

 observation; And whereas a better knowledge of the climate and me- 

 teorology of Canada will be serviceable to agriculture and other pur- 

 suits, and be of value to scientific enquirers : Be it therefore enacted, 

 That it shall be part of the duty of the Master of every Senior County 

 Grammar School, to make the requisite observations for keeping, and to 

 keep, a Meteorological Journal, embracing such observations, and kept 

 according to such form, as shall from time to time be directed by the 

 Council of Public Instruction; and all such Journals or Abstracts of 

 them shall be presented annually by the Chief Superintendent of 

 Schools to the Governor, with his Annual Eeport : 



Every senior county grammar school shall, on or before the last day of 

 November, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, be provided, at 

 the expense of the county municipality, with the following instruments : 



One barometer. 



One thermometer for the temperature of the air. 



One Daniel's hygrometer, or other instrument for shewing the dew- 

 point 



One rain-guage and measure. 



One wind-vane. 



And it shall be the duty of the Chief Superintendent of Schools to 

 procure these instruments at the request and expense of the Municipal 

 Council of any county, and to furnish the master of th e senior county 

 grammar school with a book for registering observations, and with 

 forms for abstracts thereof, to be transmitted to the Chief Superinten- 

 dent by such master, who shall certify, that the observations required 

 have been made with due care and regulaiity . " 



It was much to be regretted that, owing to the pressure of 

 other matters, this Bill only reached a first reading before the 

 Legislature adjourned. 



In 1851, the iSeat of Government was removed to Quebec; 

 and it was not until midsummer, in 1853, that Dr. Byerson, 

 with the assistance of the Hon. Mr. Hincks, succeeded in 

 getting a bill passed, containing a provision in the identical 

 words just quoted. The year 1854, was chiefly occupied in 

 devising measures for re-organizing the Grammar Schools, and 

 in placing them in a more satisfactory footing in the country. 

 In that year, however, specimens of the instruments designed 

 to be used in making the necessary observations, were pro- 

 cured by Dr Byerson in Boston, and New York. I have 

 brought some of these instruments down for your inspection ; 

 they are now before you on the table. Upon examination, 

 early in 1855, by Professor Cherriman, (who has kindly aided 

 the Chief Suijerintendent in this matter) the instruments were 

 considered unsuitable. A second order for instruments, to a 

 London maker, not having been completed in time for es- 

 tablishing the stations in 1855, Dr. Byerson determined to 

 take no further steps in the matter, until he would visit London 

 and Paris, and with the aid of Col. Lefroy, select such instru- 

 ments as would be suitable for his purpose. This he has been 

 enabled to do in a most satisfactory manner, as will be seen by 

 the following extract, from a letter on the subject dated the 

 20th of November last, and addressed to the Secretary of the 

 Province. 



Dr. Byerson says : — " After my arrival in London, I con- 

 ferred with Col. Lefroy, on the subject of procuring philoso- 

 phical instruments for the Grammar Schools. Col. Lefroy, so 

 long and favourably known in Canada — with whom the pro- 

 vision of the Grammar School Act originated, (and who had 

 promised, at the time of its adoption, to give me the benefit of 

 his experience and practical knowledge, in giving it effect,) 

 readily aided me by his counsel and advice. I found, on 

 inquiry, and the comparison of catalogues, that some of the in- 

 struments could be procured more cheaply iu Paris, while it 

 was more advisable to get others made in London. At length 

 Messrs. Negretti & Zambra, (the London manufacturers of 

 philosophical instruments,) agreed to furnish all the instru- 

 ments rec[uired, as low as they could be obtained in Paris, to 

 mark the thermometer according to both the centigrade and 

 Fahrenheit systems, and to make them range as low as 35 

 degrees below zero ; to test all the instruments before packing 

 them, and to deliver them in New York, to a brother of Mr. 

 Negretti, at their own risk — I only to pay the freight. I beg- 

 to append to this letter, (marked A) the admirable memo- 

 randum with which Col. Lefroy kindly furnished me in 

 London, on the subject of those instruments; and I am happy 

 to be able to add, that Professor Cherriman, (who succeeded 

 Col. Lefroy in the Observatory at Toronto,) has cordially con- 

 sented to afford me all the aid I may require in the preparation 

 of the tables and instructions neoesaary to render the system of 

 Meteorological Observations, adopted in the Senior County 

 Grammar Schools, harmonious with that adopted at the Pro- 

 vincial Observatory, and to prepare and transmit the proper 

 returns. Messrs. Negretti & Zambra cannot execute the order 

 for the whole of these instruments, (40 sets, which will be 

 made under the inspection of Col. Lefroy), until February. 

 The cost of the instruments will be from £12 to £15 per set. 

 The system of meteorological observations in Canada, when 

 once established, will be more complete than that of any other 

 part of America." 



The memorandum referred to by Dr. Byerson, I have 



