56 USE OF METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS TO NAVIGATORS. 



decomposition. The tempestuous weather we had experi- 

 enced for several days not having a!l>H*ed us to open the 

 ports, this occasioned other inconveniencies, not less serious 

 than those from the cause just mentioned. The thermo- 

 meter, which without was scarcely so high as 8° [46*4° F.], 

 in the gunroom was at ]5°[59°F.]; and the hygrometer 

 rose from 78° to 96°. Lastly, a considerable portion of sul- 

 phuretted hidrogen gas evinced its presence, not merely by 

 its peculiar smell, but by the yellow hue almost every article 

 of silver in the place contracted. On the report I made to 

 the captain, the taking down all the hammocks was strictly 

 enforced, the declfs were carefully swept, fumigations were 

 repeatedly made, the ports were directed to be opened, a 

 windsail was employed, and in a few days the former salu- 

 lubrity of the gunroom was restored, 

 Another in- ^^ ^Y report of the 2Jst of november I again apprised 

 stance. the captain, that the excessive heat I observed during the 



night in the gunroom indicated, that too many persons slept 

 in it j and as this damp and hot ternperature could not fail to 

 be prejudicial to all, it was indispensably necessary to remove 

 some of them. The captain reduced the number from twenty- 

 four to fifteen or sixteen, and the results I obtained the fol- 

 lowing night confirmed the justice of my observations. 



On the 11th of december, on going into the hold, I per- 

 ceived a sour, nauseous, and extremely disagreeable smell ; 

 and ray candle burned with difficulty. I sopn learned, that 

 a cask of wine had been leaking for some days; so that I had 

 no difficulty in accounting for the smell, and for the great 

 proportion of carbonic acid gas. I hastened to acquaint the 

 captain with this; and recommended pumping the ship dry, 

 throwing fresh water into the well, and pumping it out re*- 

 peatedly. Orders were immediately given for this purpose;^ 

 and the ship was once more rendered sweet by my a4vice, 

 4 thud. My experiments at the close of december afforded me a 



triumph peculiarly flattering, as they served evidently to 

 prove the importance of meteorological observations on board 

 ships. The storeroom of the captain and principal officers 

 was filled with all sorts of provision put on board in Europe; 

 fruit dry and pfeserved, adjutages in large quantity, fats, 

 oils, &CC, On going into it with my instrumentSj I wqg 



equally 



