I 
xiv INTRODUCTION. 
of the laws which regulate the atmosphere, and a careful investi- 
gation of all its phenomena. 
XLY. Another beautiful feature in this system is, that it costs 
nothing additional. The instruments that these observations call 
for are such as are already in use on board of every well-condi- 
tioned ship, and the observations that are required are precisely 
those which are necessary for her safe and proper navigation. 
XLYI. As great as is the value attached to what has been ac- 
complished by these researches in the way of shortening passages 
and lessening the dangers of the sea, a good of higher value is, in 
the opinion of many seamen, yet to come out of the moral, the 
educational, influence which they are calculated to exert upon the 
seafaring community of the world. A very clever English ship- 
master, speaking recently of the advantages of educational influ- 
ences among those who intend to follow the sea, remarks : 
" To the cultivated lad there is a new world spread out when 
he enters on his first voyage. As his education has fitted, so will 
he perceive, year by year, that his profession makes Jiim acquaint- 
ed with things new and instructive. His intelhgence wfll enable 
him to appreciate the contrasts of each country in its general aspect, 
manners, and productions, and in modes of navigation, adapted to 
the character of coast, climate, and rivers. He will dwell with in- 
terest on the phases of the ocean, the storm,, the calm, and the 
breeze^ and will look for traces of the laws which regulate them. 
All this will induce a serious earnestness in his work, and teach 
him to view lightly those irksome and often offensive duties inci- 
dent to the beginner."* Sentiments which can not fail to meet 
with a hearty response from all good men, whether ashore or afloat. 
XLVII. Never before has such a corps of observers been enlist- 
ed in the cause of any department of physical science as is that 
which is now about to be engaged in advancing our knowledge of 
the physical geography of the sea, and never before have men felt 
such an interest with regard to this knowledge. 
* " The Log of a Merchant Officer ; viewed with reference to the Education of 
young Officers and the Youth of the Merchant Service. By Robert Methren, com- 
mander in the Peninsular and Oriental Company, and author of the ' Narrative of the 
Blenheim Hurricane of 1851.' " London : John Weale, 59 High Holborn ; Smith, 
Eider & Co., Cornhill ; Ackerman & Co., Strand. 1854. 
