PROVINCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETIES. 
505 
showing the hours, minutes, and seconds, from which the time may he taken 
at any instant throughout the day, appears to be the most highly appreciated. 
As a proof of this, on the 4th of February we caused to be counted the 
number of persons who appealed to the clock controlled from the Observa- 
tory, which is placed in the office window of the Magnetic Telegraph Company, 
and visible from the Exchange flags, and between the hours of six a.m. and 
five p.m. eighteen hundred and sixty persons took the time from this clock. 
“ It is scarcely possible to estimate the value of this extensive dissemina- 
tion of accurate time, without referring to the various letters and memorials 
on this subject, addressed to the authorities of Liverpool, during the two or 
three years preceding the erection of the Observatory. They all dwell very 
largely on the importance of publishing, officially, accurate time for the 
benefit of mariners, chronometer-makers, and others ; and it is stated in a 
memorial from the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 
1837, that a captain could not at that time obtain the correct error and rate 
of his chronometer, as celebrated chronometer-makers had been found to 
differ from each other in the Greenwich mean time to the amount of two 
minutes. The memorial ends with the remark , — ■ these two minutes might 
cause a Wreck.’ ” 
By means of his “Bain-gauge,” “Barometer,” and “Anemometer,” the down- 
fall of rain, pressure of the atmosphere, and direction and force of the wind 
are daily recorded ; and Mr. Hartnup is about introducing into the Obser- 
vatory a new barometer, of which we hope one day to be able to give a 
description to our readers. 
Concerning this instrument he reports as follows at the conclusion of his 
pamplilet : — - 
“ The new self-registering barometer which is now being constructed, will 
make our meteorological observations much more complete. Some delay has 
been caused in the construction of this instrument by our requiring it to be 
different to those in general use. The record is usually obtained by photo- 
graphy, and as the tracing has to be developed, it is not available for some 
time after it is taken. For nautical purposes it is necessary that the changes in 
the pressure of the atmosphere should be seen immediately. We have 
therefore been obliged to adopt a different plan to that which is generally 
employed.” 
How completely interlinked the Arts and Sciences are becoming ; and how 
mutually dependent one upon another, when the record of the state of the 
atmosphere must be made by photography ! How rapid the increase of 
knowledge, and of man’s wants, when even that process is not sufficiently 
subtle for his purposes ! 
PBOVINCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETIES. 
The amount of space occupied by our Exhibition notes and deferred 
articles precludes us from giving to this section of our periodical the atten- 
tion which it merits, and we shall therefore postpone the consideration of 
the progress of Field Clubs, Science Schools, and Philosophical Societies 
until our next issue. 
