( ) 
haps be of very great Importance ; fince, as you obferve, 
Compertum habemus y ut quod maxime , fubitas tem- 
po fiat um commut at tones Vends pracipu'e accept as ejTe 
refer endas. As for the ‘Degree or Strength of the Wind 
there are alfo fuffi'cient Data in all Sea- Journals to de- 
termine it 3 as I fhall particularly fhew in the Sequel of 
this Letter. Laftly, there is a daily Account inferred 
of the Latitude and Longitude of the Ship, that there 
will be no Difficulty in computing what Part of the 
Globe each Obfervation belongs to. 
And now fince there is in the World a great Variety 
of thefe Marine Obfervations already made, (for in all 
Voyages what foe ver that have been perform’d for many 
Years pad, it has been cudomary to keep an exad Jour- 
nal of the aforefaid Articles,) I thought it might be no 
difficult Matter to colled therefrom the Hiflory of the 
Winds, and Weather in mod Parts of the Ocean. 
In order to this, I imagin’d that if the Royal Socie- 
ties of London and Daris fhould encourage fuch a De- 
fign, they might eafily procure Extracts from mod of 
the Journals kept in their refpedive Nations : For cer- 
tainly fuch Gentlemen as would be at the Pains to keep 
a condant Diary of the Weather, would not fail alfo 
to communicate fuch Marine Obfervations , as they 
fhould be able to obtain. 
The Seamen likewife themfelves, (among whom 
there are a confide rable Number of fuch as have a 'Fade 
for phyfical Knowledge) as they are under a Kind of 
Neceflity to obferve exadly the Winds , &c. would not 
be backward in tranfmitting their Obfervations ; efpe- 
cially when they were informed of what Importance 
and Advantage it might be to themfelves, and the Caufe 
of Navigation ♦ 
I pro- 
I 
