603 
of  conditions  tiear  the  surface,  nor  of  the  upper  cnrrents  alone  is 
sufficiënt,  though  import  correlations  exist. 
During  the  last  vears,  tlie  life-historj  in  three  diinensions  has 
been  considered.  The  study  of  a tropical  revolving  storm  has  made 
you  follow  up  an  idea  of  the  late  Lord  Raylbigh,  and  consider  tlie 
vertical  conveclion  largely  as  eviction,  a new  meteorological  term 
meaning  that  air  is  carried  oft'  by  a frictional  effect  orginating  from 
other  rising  air.  The  high  Westerly  motion  is  considered  as  the 
Flywheel  of  the  whole  circiilation,  sometimes  driving  the  engine, 
sometimes  driven  by  it. 
Time  does  not  permit  to  go  on  in  this  way  and  to  describe  your 
models  and  experiments,  I therefore  only  quote  the  words  by  which 
you  have  indicated  your  object:  “to  suggest  lines  along  which,  partly 
by  experiment  and  partly  by  observation,  some  quantitative  estimates 
might  be  formed  of  the  operation  of  various  physical  processes, 
which  have  hitherto  been  used  in  a qualitative  marnier  only  in 
meteorological  theory”.^) 
Another  most  important  contribution  to  the  meteorology  of  the  globe 
j is  represented  by  the  5 volumes  of  the  “Réseau  mondial”  published 
j by  the  Meteorological  Office,  giving  monthly  values  of  pressure, 
1 temperature  and  rainfall  with  normal  values  for  chosen  stations  on 
! the  basis  of  2 stations  for  each  J 0 degree  square.  As  a single  examjde 
of  the  usefulness  of  such  pnblications  I mention  the  fact,  revealed 
by  the  first  volume,  1911,  that  this  year,  believed  by  many  to  have 
been  abnormally  warm  all  over  the  globe,  shows  about  as  many 
and  as  big  negative  as  positive  deviations  from  the  normal. 
Indeed,  after  these  empirical  and  theoretical  investigations,  you 
had  a right  to  say : “The  time  is  coming,  when  it  has  not  already 
come,  that  students  of  meteorology  will  deal  with  the  earth  as  a 
whole  on  the  basis  of  observation,  and  will  recognize  that  anything 
short  of  that  is  inadequate  for  the  solution  of  the  more  general 
problems  of  climate  and  weather”  It  is  also  with  this  object  in 
view  that  you  are  writing  your  Manual  of  Meteorology,  which  we 
hope  soon  to  see  completed. 
With  a few  words  I must  mention  your  contributions  to  the 
study  of  the  relations  between  weather  and  crops.  At  one  of  our 
committee  meetings,  I remember  your  telling  us  about  a farmer, 
who  denied  the  value  of  ordinary  forecasts  for  24  honrs  and  added: 
if  you  had  told  us  beforehand  that  this  summer  was  going  to  be 
a dry  one,  that  would  have  rneant  sornething!  This  is  the  man,  you 
b The  Air  and  its  Ways,  p,  89. 
*)  The  Air  and  its  Ways,  p.  8. 
39 
Verslagen  der  Afdeeling  Natuurk.  Dl.  XXX II.  A“.  19i23. 
