564 
MR. H. F. BLANFORD ON THE WINDS OF NORTHERN INDIA. 
observing-stations, up to the greatest elevations to which man can ascend when unaided 
by the balloon. The periodical variations of temperature, vapour-tension, pressure, &c., 
both annual and diurnal, are strongly marked and regular ; and their changes proceed 
so gradually, that the concurrence and interdependence of their several phases can be 
traced out with much precision, even in the unanalyzed registers. 
These numerous and great advantages indicate this country as preeminently a field 
for the future study of meteorology. Most of the great problems of the science are here 
presented in the form of instcmtice ostensivce ; and comprehensive systematic observation, 
intelligently conducted, is all that is wanting to place them at the command of Euro- 
pean science. 
What James Prinsep, Colonel Sykes, Dr. Hooker, and General Strachey have 
already effected in this field by their own unaided labours is too well known to need 
more than a passing reference ; and it is mainly owing to the exertions of the last, 
acting both independently and in concert with the Asiatic Society of Bengal, that within 
the last few years a beginning has been made, at the expense of the Government, to 
gather its fruits more extensively. In 1865 the first steps were taken by the Govern- 
ments of Bengal and the North-western Provinces to obtain regular meteorological 
registers from a number of selected stations, under the charge of a special Government 
officer for each Government. Up to that date, the only regular observatories had been 
those of the three Presidency towns, with four other stations in Bombay, that of Tri- 
vandrum and Agastyamully in Travancore, and that carried on for three years by Colonel 
Boileau at Simla. Attempts had indeed been made in previous years to register the 
rainfall, temperature, and, in some cases, other kinds of observations through the agency 
of the medical officers of the East-India Company ; but, owing mainly to the absence of 
any organized control, the results were for the most part of little value. Even after a 
beginning had been made on a better system, owing to various difficulties arising from 
local causes, a year or two elapsed before the system could be brought into good working 
order ; but there has been a marked improvement year by year, and as the Governments 
of most of the other provinces have since taken up the scheme, regular observations are 
now carried on over the greater part of the empire. 
The results are not indeed in all cases accessible, and in some of the more remote 
provinces, where the facilities for scientific work are less than at the older seats of 
Government, there is still much to be desired. It is impracticable, therefore, at present 
to extend the discussion of my subject much beyond the geographical limits I have 
adopted. These include Bengal proper and its dependencies (Orissa, Behar, Assam, and 
a portion of the Arakan coast), the North-western Provinces with Oude and a part of 
Rajpootana, the northern part of the Central Provinces, and the Punjab. 
The data from all these, except the last and Upper Assam, that have served as the 
materials for this discussion, consists of registers of the temperature, hygrometry, 
pressure, wind-direction and velocity, and the rainfall, also in some cases the tempe- 
rature of radiation. In the case of the Punjab, I have been able to use only the ther- 
