ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. _ 13 
Mice gach — a = been carried on in . 
ical Survey since 1865 have 
been reduced at Kew, and, it is pert offer incontestable evidence in 
confirmation of the hypothesis of a diminution of density in the 
strata of the earth’s crust which lie under continents and moun- 
tains, and an increase of density in the strata under the sea. 
‘The progress of meteorology during the past year has not been 
so rapid as many persons desire and think possible, but there can 
be no doubt that the widespread interchange of ideas and obser- 
‘vations is tending to place meteorology in the position of a true 
science, from which We may expect a complete account of the 
_motionsof the earth’satmosphereand ocean, as wellas of the various 
other elements which form climate; as well as the relations which 
subsist between them ; and the cosmical phenomena which, with- 
out doubt, have much to do with the changes we see. Each step 
in advance seems to bring fresh proof of the intimate relations 
which subsist between the earth’s atmosphere and the sun’s sur- 
roundings, and of the necessity for combining the study of these 
branches of science. 
How far the former is a result of the latter no one is at present 
prepared to say; but the many efforts which have been made to 
show the dependence of meteorological changes on sun spots, and 
the amount of evidence brought forward to prove it, show how com- 
monly the belief is entertained by those who reason on the subject. 
Meantime meteorology is rapidly extending its practical side, 
and the great success of weather maps and storm warnings in 
England, France, and America, especially the latter country, has 
led to their adoption by other European States ; and there seems 
little doubt that Europe will soon be covered by an international 
system which will afford as much information to the seaman and 
the farmer as the weather-map of America does. In Australia 
we may congratulate ourselves on having made a beginning ; and 
the weather-map that has been published daily in Sydney since the 
3rd February, 1877, is only the first of a series —— = be yer 
lished daily in each Colony ; by which 
is now being freely exchanged by the four Colonies, South Aus- 
