1835.] Miscellaneous. 117 



of the Association. Also, that Colonel Sykes has been requested to prepare for 

 publication his valuable statistical returns relative to the four collectorates of the 

 Deccan, subject to the Bombay Government; while Professor Jones is to " en- 

 deavour to obtain permission to examine the statistical records understood to exist 

 in great number in the archives of the India House, and to prepare an account of 

 the nature and extent of them." Thus there may be some chance of the Reports 

 of Dr. Buchanan seeing the light through this unexpected chaunel, although 

 the Government of India has itself declined permitting the continuance of their 

 publication on the nearly gratuitous terms proposed and acted on by Captain 

 Herbert for the Dinajpiir volume* ! 



Desiderata capable of illustration in India. 

 Meteorology. 



1. Experimental data for the theory of refraction. 



What is the law of the decrease of temperature, or of density, in ascending ? 



How does this vary at different times ? 



Can any means be contrived for indicating practically at different times the 



modulus of variation ? 

 Does the refractive power of air depend simply on its density, without regard 



to its temperature ? 

 Is it well established that the effects of moisture are almost insensible ? 

 Can any rule be given for estimating the effect of the difference of refraction 



in different azimuths, according to the form of the ground ? 

 When the atmospheric dispersion is considerable, what part of the spectrum 



is it best that astronomers should agree to observe ? 



2. That the Committee in India be requested to institute such observations as 

 may throw light on the horary oscillations of the barometer near the equator. 



3. That the Committee in India be requested to institute a series of observa- 

 tions of the thermometer during every hour of the day and night. 



4. That the decrease of temperature at increasing heights in the atmosphere 

 Bhould be investigated by continued observations at stated hours and known 

 heights. The hours of 9i a. m. and 8f p. m., as giving nearly the mean tempera- 

 ture of the year, are suggested for the purpose. 



5. That persons travelling on mountains, or ascending in balloons, should ob- 

 serve the state of the thermometer, and of the dew-point hygrometer, below, 

 in, and above the clouds, and determine how the different kinds of clouds differ in 

 these respects. 



6. That the temperature of springs should be observed at different heights above 

 the mean level of the sea, and at different depths below the surface of the earth, 

 and compared with the mean temperature of the air and the ground. Detached 

 observations on this subject will be useful, but a continued and regular series of 

 results for each locality will be more valuable. 



7. That series of comparative experiments should be made on the temperature 

 of the dew point, and the indications of the wet-bulb hygrometer, and that the 

 theory of this instrument should be further investigated. 



8. Observations on the horary oscillations of the barometer, at considerable 

 heights above the sea. This more particularly applies to places near the equator. 



9. Observations on the phenomena of wind at two stations, at considerably 

 different elevations. The direction of the wind should be noted in degrees, begin- 

 ning from the south, and proceeding by the west. 



Magnetism. 



10. That observations should be made in various places with the dipping- 

 needle, in order to reduce the horizontal to the true magnetic intensity. 



11. A regular series of observations conducted in this country on the diurnal 

 rariation of the needle. 



Geology. 



12. That measurements should be made, and the necessary data procured, to 

 determine the question of the permanence or change of the relative level of sea 

 and land on the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, (or other parts of the 

 world.) The measurements to be so executed as to furnish the means of reference 

 in future times, not only as to the relative levels of the land and sea, but also as 

 to waste or extension of the land. 



* See Preface to the second volume of the Journal Asiatic Society, 



