SCIENTIFIC SUMMAEY. 
379 
METEOROLOGY. 
The Meteorological Commission . — The Report of the Commission appointed 
to inquire into the condition of the Meteorological department of the Board 
of Trade has just been published, and, though a large folio blue-book, is a 
most interesting one. The Commissioners show that, while great credit is 
due to Admiral Fitzroy for being the first to organize a system of weather 
forewarning, the latter is at present by no means perfect or scientific. They 
show very fully how it may be made more accurate and reliable. In answer 
to the question as to how this part of the system may be improved, the Com- 
missioners mite : — “ The system of Weather Telegraphy and of Foretelling 
Weather is not in a satisfactory state. It is not carried on by precise rules, 
and has not been established by a sufficient induction from facts. The Storm 
Warnings have, however, been to a certain degree successful, and are highly 
prized. We think that the Daily Forecasts ought to be discontinued, and 
that an endeavour should be made to improve the Storm Warnings, to 
define the principles on which they are issued, and to test those principles 
by accurate observation. Above all, we think that steps should be taken 
for establishing a full, constant, and accurate system of observing changes of 
weather in the British Isles.” 
The Propulsion of Balloons . — A very curious apparatus for the above pur- 
pose has been devised by Mr. Butler, one of the members of the Aeronautical 
Society, which has been lately established. It consists of a pair of wings, to 
operate from the car of the balloon, and whose downward blow is calculated 
to strike with a force exceeding 40 lb., a power equivalent to an ascensive 
force of 1,000 cubic feet of carburetted hydrogen. The action required is 
somewhat similar to that of rowing, and would be exactly so, if at the end 
of the stroke the oars sprang backwards out of the hands of the rower ; but, 
in this case, the body is stretched forward as if towards the stem of the boat, 
to grasp the handle and repeat the process, during which an action equi- 
valent to “ feathering” is obtained. It is anticipated that these wings," 
acting from a pendulous fulcrum, will produce, in addition to the object for 
which they are designed, two effects, which may possibly be hereafter modi- 
fied, but which will be unpleasant accompaniments to a balloon ascent ; viz., 
the oscillation of the car and a succession of jerks upwards, first communi- 
cated to the car from below and repeated immediately by an answering jerk 
from the balloon. 
Our Summer. — Although we have now reached midsummer, the following 
observations, published some time since in the Times by Dr. Hjaltalin, of 
Iceland, will be read with interest by those who remember the meteorological 
features of the months of May and June : — “ We have had a frightful winter, 
the mean temperature having been about 5 deg. below the mean of our winters. 
The thermometer during the last few days has ranged between 12 and 14 degs. 
of Celsius. This state of things will, no doubt, occasion a most tremendous 
2 D 
YOL. Y. — NO. XX. 
