1876.] Report of the Meteorological Committee, 191 



same person throughout the whole period, so that the method of classifi- 

 cation would doubtless be uniform. 



The continuity of the observations and the hours at which observations 

 have been recorded are of late years more in accordance with the gene- 

 rally accepted principles for the calculation of mean results. 



At the same time it should be remarked that there is great difficulty 

 in securing a supply of observers, and that it is in contemplation to relax 

 in some measure the rigour of the tests applied to the observations. 



As regards our Methods of Operation and our Instructions for keeping 

 the Log, the latter were printed in full by the recent Maritime Con- 

 ference held in London in 1874, and an extract of the Methods was also 

 given. 



The works published by the Office in this Department have been : — 

 O. 4. Charts of Surface Temperature for the South Atlantic, Monthly, 

 and for 5° Squares, representing the Observations from Board 

 of Trade Registers, and also results for smaller spaces from 

 the Dutch Records published in ' Ondersoekingen met den 

 Zeethermometer.' 

 0. 11. Contributions to our Knowledge of the Meteorology of Cape 

 Horn and the West Coast of South America. Monthly tables, 

 charts, and summaries of observations from 5° Squares ; mate- 

 rials collected by Admiral FitzRoy, and supplemented by data 

 from other sources and for other localities. This contribution 

 is of some importance as preliminary to a more complete in- 

 vestigation into the meteorology of that region. Among the 

 points brought out by it are the existence of an area of high 

 barometrical pressure on the Tropic of Capricorn in the South 

 Pacific, like those on the two tropics in the Atlantic, and also 

 the fact that sea surface-temperature ranges above that of the 

 air, even in the region of Humboldt's Current. 

 O. 12. The Currents and Surface-Temperature in the North Atlantic, 

 0°-40° N., giving, for 2J° Squares, Monthly Charts for Di- 

 rection and Telocity, and for Temperature, and an Annua 

 Chart. 



These were the first monthly current-charts which were 

 published, excepting those of Lieut. Fergusson for the Indian 

 Ocean, &c. 

 O. 13. On the Weather of the North Atlantic in February 1870. This 



paper will be noticed under Weather Telegraphy. 

 O. 18. Contributions to our Knowledge of the Meteorology of the Ant- 

 arctic Regions. This was a discussion, according to date and 

 locality, of the materials contained in the logs of H.M.S. 

 ' Erebus ' and ' Terror ' in 1840-43, and threw much addi- 

 tional light on the meteorological conditions of that region of 

 the globe. 



VOL. XXIV. P 



