INDIAN METEOROLOGY. 301 



Mr. Hill communicated to the Royal Society an important paper 

 on " Some anomalies in the winds of Northern India, and their 

 " relations to the distribution of barometric pressure," * "which 

 was published in the Philosophical Transactions. 



In May 1887 Mr. H. F. Blanford went on furlough, and Mr. J. Eliot 

 acted as meteorological reporter to the Government of India, 

 Mr. Pedler acting as reporter to the Bengal Government. Shortly 

 after taking charge, Mr. Eliot was asked to submit proposals for 

 the more efficient working of the department. Mr. Eliot's report 

 was duly submitted to Government, together with a memorandum 

 from Mr. Blanford approving most of the suggestions. After some 

 delay, Government sanction was eventually given to various changes, 

 of which the following were the most important : — 



(a.) The discontinuance of the solar and terrestrial radiation 



observations, except at a few selected stations ; 

 (b.) The adoption of 8 a.m. as the hour for the observations 

 embodied in the weather telegram transmitted daily to 

 Simla, Calcutta, and Bombay ; 

 (c.) The tabulation of all the observations hitherto recorded, 

 in a form admitting of easy reference, and the calculation 

 of daily averages of air pressure, maximum and minimum 

 temperatures, aqueous vapour pressure, cloud, and rainfall. 

 (cL) The extension and improvement of the methods of collecting 

 rainfall data for the information of the Government of 

 India, and the adoption of a uniform system of rainfall 

 registration throughout India. 



These changes were all recommended on well considered grounds, 

 which were explained at length by Mr. Eliot. For instance, with 

 reference to the collection of rainfall data, he pointed out that the 

 rainfall stations communicating with the Imperial Government were 

 only 497 in number in all, while those communicating with the 

 provincial governments were 1,390 in number. Next, there was an 

 utter want of uniformity in the hours and methods of rainfall 

 observation. The measurement of rainfall was initiated, like so 

 many other Indian institutions, provincially under the revenue 

 authorities, and it had never been systematized for the whole of 

 India. A striking instance of the difficulty and inconvenience of 



* An abstract of this was published in Proceedings of the Koyal Society for 

 January 1.887. 



