430 THE MA NIL A OBSER J 'A TOR Y 



The recognition of the observatory as an official department was 

 due to the recommendations of the authorities of Manila and of some 

 of its more inPaiential residents, merchants, and officers of the navy. 

 The value of the observatory during the preceding tyi)hoon season 

 had been so manifest to ever}' one that the. local i>ress urged the 

 .Spanish government to assist the Jesuit fathers in their humane 

 work. As, at the same time, notice was received that the British 

 government was about to erect an official observatory in Hongkong, 

 the people of Manila became even more anxious to have their own 

 ol)servatorv officially recognized b}' the .Spanish government. Their 

 reiiuest was warmly seconded b}' the captain of the port and 1)V the 

 naval commander, D. Felipe Canga Argiielles, and l)y other distin- 

 guished naval officers, who likewise j)etitioned for the esta)>lishment 

 of a series of telegraphic stations along the coast of Luzon, from 

 whence meteorological reports could be rapidly transmitted to Manila. 



The request was favorably indorsed by the governor-general of the 

 l'hilipi)ines and transmitted to the government at Madrid, where it 

 was finally sanctioned, the Queen Regent issuing a decree Aj)ril 28, 

 1SS4, by which the Manila Oljservatory was officially acknowledged 

 as a government institution, with a regular sul)vention assigned for 

 its maintenance. As the erection of the minor meteorological sta- 

 tions was sanctioned by the same decree, fourteen telegraphic posts 

 were established in Iaizou at points most conveniently situated for 

 meteorological i)urj)Oses, and were ])rovided with all the necessary 

 meteorological instruments. 



Meanwhile some notable events in the history of the ol)servatory 

 were taking place. Father Faura invented his aneroid barometer, an 

 instrument designed to enable any i)erson to detect the approach of 

 a tvphoon with but little labor. This aneroid, generally known in the 

 Philippines as the Faura barometer, has become so poi)ular that it is 

 to be found in nearly ever}' steamer and sailing vessel of these waters 

 and in a great many private houses. Another event was the co- 

 operation of the oljservator}' with the observatories of other ])arts of 

 the world in simultaneous meteorological observations from 1878 to 

 1888. A further distinguishing tribute was the interest of the Jap- 

 anese government in the work of the observatory. In Februar}', 1890, 

 the foreign minister of Japan obtained from the governor-general 

 of the Philippines, through the Japanese consul at Manila, permis- 

 sion for the transmission l)y cable of meteorological observations and 

 all imi)ortant typhoon warnings. 



