290 INDIAN METEOROLOGY. 



measuring the solar heat. Mr. Blanford also took the opportunity 

 during his stay in Europe to study and practise the process of solar 

 photography as elaborated on a large scale by Mr. Janssen, the 

 Director of the Physical Observatory at Meudon. 



Mr. Meins, a trained solar photographer, had been despatched to 

 India in 1877, and was engaged in taking daily photographs of the 

 sun's disc up to the date of his death in 1879. This unfortunate event 

 caused a delay of nine months, but at the close of 1879, Sergeant 

 White, of the Royal Engineers, was sent to India to continue the 

 work, under the superintendence of Mr. J. B. N. Hennessey, M.A., 

 F.R.S. A large photo-heliograph, suitable for taking pictures of 

 the solar disc 12 inches in diameter, was subsequently supplied to 

 the Dehra Observatory under the direction of the Surveyor- General's 

 Department (see page 234;). 



The Report on the Meteorology of 1877 was prepared by 

 Mr. Eliot. Like the Reports of the two previous years, it included 

 a general description of the meteorological features of the year, 

 with comparative tables showing the average values of the several 

 meteorological elements derived from past years, and the anomalies 

 or differences in 1887, descriptions of the newly-established 

 stations, and the geographical co-ordinates and elevations of all 

 stations. The report was illustrated by 12 charts in coloured 

 lithography, showing the mean distribution of temperature, 

 atmospheric pressure, and ivind direction in each month of the 

 year. According to a notice in the Journal of the Austrian 

 Meteorological Society, under the very competent editorship of 

 Professor Hann, the annual volume on the Meteorology of India 

 at this time already ranked with that of the E.ussian Empire in the 

 extent and comprehensiveness of its data, while it appeared at a 

 very much earlier date. 



Part III. of the Meteorological Memoirs was issued in 1879, 

 containing the following papers : — 



1. On the variations of rainfall in Northern India by 



S. A. Hill, B.Sc. 



2. Meteorological and hypsometrical observations in Western 



Tibet, recorded by Dr. J. Scully, with a discussion by 



Henry F. Blanford. 



Mr. Eliot also published a Report on the Madras cyclone of 1875. 



The year 1879-SO completed the first lustrum of the existence of 



the Department. Up to March 1880, 117 stations in India and 



neighbouring countries had been established, not including the 



