186 



upon were the 21st of March, the 21st of June, the 21st of Sep- 

 tember, and the 21st of December, being those or immediately ad- 

 joining to those, of the equinoxes and solstices, in which the solar 

 influence is either stationary or in a state of most rapid variation. 

 But should any of those 21st days fall on Sunday, then it will be 

 understood that the observations are to be deferred till the next 

 day, the 22d. The observations at each station should commence 

 at G o'clock, A. M. of the appointed days, and terminate at 6 

 o'clock, P. M. of the day following, according to the usual reckoning 

 of time at the place. During this interval, the barometer and ther- 

 mometer should be read off and registered hourly, or at all events 

 at intervals not more than two hours asunder, and the precise hour 

 and minute of such reading should be especially noted. 



Impressed with the belief that the adoption of a similar deter- 

 mination on the part of the Institute would tend to spread a know- 

 ledge of the design, and secure an extensive co-operation through- 

 out our country, a committee of its members having made the best 

 preparations in their power, made the suggested observations on 

 the 21st of December, 1835, at the apartments of the Institute. 

 The record of these observations, together with a brief notice of 

 the plan, was published and generally distributed, and the request 

 made at the same time, that those who were willing to unite with 

 us should communicate their observations. The result has proved 

 that our expectations were well founded. Immediately on this 

 publication, we had the pleasure to learn that simultaneous obser- 

 vations had been made by John S. McCord, Esq. an officer of 

 the Natural History Society of Montreal, who has been unwearied 

 in his efforts to establish new stations throughout the British Pro- 

 vinces. The succeeding appointed days have been observed at 

 numerous and distant points of our country, and the Transactions 

 of the Institute contain, in addition to those made at the apart- 

 ments of the Royal Society of London, and by Sir John Herschel 

 near the Cape of Good Hope, which were reprinted from the Lon- 

 don Athenaeum, observations made at Albany, Montreal, Quebec, 

 Flushing, L. L, New- York city, Middletown and New Haven, 

 Conn.; Williamstown, Mass.; Baltimore, Maryland; Cincinnati, 

 Ohio; Gardiner, Maine; and Burlington, Vermont. As showing 

 not only the feeling with which our co-operation has been receiv- 

 ed abroad, but for the important suggestions made by Sir John 

 Herschel, the committee beg leave to incorporate with their re- 



