SCIENCE. 



249 



SCIENCE: 



A Weekly Record of Scientific 

 Progress. 



JOHN MICHELS, Editor. 



Published at 



229 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 



P. O. Box 3838. 



SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1880. 



THE SIGNAL SERVICE. 



The question of the appointment of a Chief Sig- 

 nal Officer in the room of the late General Myer 

 is immediately interesting. It is a question which 

 has a direct bearing upon the scientific activity of 

 the country, as well as upon the more important 

 and more practical matter of making accurate 

 weather forecasts, and displaying storm signals for 

 the benefit of commerce. 



The first and greatest use of the Weather Bureau 

 is to make itself valuable to every individual in the 

 United States, through accurate and prompt pre- 

 dictions, and thus to justify the annual expenditure 

 of nearly $1,000,000. At present about 80 per 

 cent, of the predictions are fulfilled, which is a fair 

 showing — indeed, a very creditable one. Most un- 

 prejudiced persons, familiar with the routine of the 

 Signal Service, will admit that General Myer had 

 carried the efficiency of the service about as far as 

 it could have been carried under an* organization 

 like his own ; and the country may feel confident 

 that, whoever is appointed to succeed him, the use 

 fulness of the Signal Service as a Weather Bureau, 

 that is to predict storms for the benefit of com- 

 merce, agriculture, etc., will not be greatly dimin- 

 ished. The present routine is so well established 

 that we may be sure for some time at least, of the 

 same proficiency. 



But meteorologists know that this percentage can 

 be increased. To do this, scientific investigation 

 must be carried on in various ways, and by compe- 

 tent persons. The vast material now accumulated 

 by the Bureau must be examined, discussed, and 

 the laws — empirical and other — deduced. This 

 can only be done under intelligent and sympathetic 

 direction, by men trained in the methods of physi- 



cal and mathematical science. This is the first 

 great want. But again, the Signal Bureau has 

 grown, under General Myer's vigorous adminis- 

 tration, to be a vast machine, composed of many 

 parts — officers and men — and controlling many in- 

 struments. For example, the many military tele- 

 graph lines of the West, several thousands of miles 

 in length. 



Again, the service must look not only to the 

 continuance of peace at home and abroad, but to 

 the contingency of a war in which trained signal 

 men may be wanted. The military post of Fort 

 Whipple, Virginia, is entirely devoted to the train- 

 ing of the enlisted men of the signal service for 

 their varied duties as meteorological observers, 

 signal men and military telegraph men, directly 

 under the charge of officers of the army, who them- 

 selves become familiar with these varied and im- 

 portant duties. 



These and other obvious reasons make it plain 

 that, if the proper scientific efficiency of the Weather 

 Bureau can be maintained it will be highly advan- 

 tageous to keep the Signal Office where it now is, 

 i. e. as an important Bureau of the War Depart- 

 ment. 



At present three different plans are advocated 

 for the filling of the existing vacancy : 



First, The appointment of a colonel of the line 

 who has had experience in the plains, and to whom 

 the Brigadier General's commission would be a 

 fitting reward ; Generals Hazen and Miles are 

 mentioned in this connection. 



Second, The appointment of some officer who 

 has learned the art of administration during our 

 war, by commanding large bodies of troops, and 

 whose duties and studies since the war have been 

 of a sort to fit them for this position : Generals 

 Abbot, Parke, Comstock, Warren and Poe, of 

 the Engineers, are of this class. 



Third, The appointment of a scientific civilian 

 meteorologist, as Prof. Loomis, Prof. Cleveland 

 Abbe or Dr. Daniel Draper. 



Two faculties are required in the person to be 

 appointed : First, he must be an able administrator ; 

 and secondly, he must be capable of understanding 

 and directing scientific investigations. 



If the appointment is made from the first class 

 named above, it is likely that we shall have good 

 administration, and that the present efficiency of the 

 service will be maintained, but that no advances 

 will be made. It is difficult for the necessary for- 

 ward steps to be made under the direction of men 

 in middle life, now first called upon to examine and 

 approve of the methods of physical science. If the 



