ADDRESS. 
lxi 
Parliament, and the first direct result of it was a vote of money for the 
purchase of instruments and the discussion of observations. All the valuable 
meteorological data which have been collected at the Admiralty, and all that 
can be obtained elsewhere, will be tabulated and discussed in Ihi- new 
department of the Board of Trade, in addition to the continually accruing 
and more exact data to be furnished in future. A very large number of 
ships, chiefly American, are now engaged in observations’; stimulated by the 
advice, and aided by the documents so liberally furnished by the United 
•States Government, at the instance of Lieut. Maury, whose labours have 
been incessant. Not only does that Government offer directions uud charts 
gratis to American ships, but also to those of our nation, in accordance with 
certain easy and just conditions. In this country, the Government, through 
the Board of Trade, will supply a certain number of ships which nr.' going 
on distant, voyages with ‘abstract logs’ (or meteorological registers) and 
instruments gratis, iu order to assist effectively in carrying out this important 
national undertaking. In the preface to a late edition of Johnston a ‘ Wind 
and Current Charts,’ published last June. at. Edinburgh, I)r. BuUt *nys,_‘ It 
has been shown that Lieut. Maury's charts and sailing direction* have 
shortened the voyages of American ships by about a third . If the voyage* 
of those to and from India were shortened by no more than a tenth, it w ould 
secure a saving, in freightage alone, of .£‘250,000 annually. Estimating the 
freights ol vessels trading from Europe with distant ports at £*20.000,000 a 
year, a saving of a tenth would be about £2,000,000; and every day that 
is lost in bringing the arrangement* for the accomplishment ol Ud.i into 
operation occasions a sacrifice to tho shipping interest of uhuut £0000, 
without taking any account of tho war navies of tho world.’ It is obvious 
that, by making a passage in less time, there is not only a saving ..f c- M k,isc 
to the merchant, the shipowner, and the insurer, but a gnat diminution of 
the risk from fatal maladies,—as instead of losing time, if not lives, in 
unhealthy localities, heavy rains, or calms with oppressive heat, a ship pro¬ 
perly uavigated may be speeding on her way under favourable circumstances, 
there is no reason of any insuperable naturo why every part of tin- sea 
should not be known us well as die land, if not indeed better than the land 
generally speaking, because mure accessible and less varied in character. 
Changes in the atmosphere, over the ocean as well as on the land, are so 
intimately connected with electrical agency (of course including magnetism), 
Zlz f eamen ar , c '"teretied in such matters, and the facts which they 
H5 , T"n va i ua r V° P hu ? sf, phers. Meteorological information col- 
view— nf l .^,. 1JuarLi . of Ira '!e "ill be discussed with the twofold object in 
certain “^gators, or making navigation easier, as well ns more 
t!nTfnr,i d rT 5 acaIlectl0n of accurate and well-digested observa¬ 
tions for the future use of men of science. 
had m V HlJ0 “ M wtimate for meteorological expenses 
Board of Trad?* 5**? to organize a new branch department at the 
«Tcute hldlL l8t °L Au « ust * Capt * "I. »I*|>oin.ed to 
Slant Of 4,1,8 referrin ! to Dr. Lyon Blayfuir. of (he 
Department Art * atuJ t0 Admiral Beechey, of ’tho Marine 
and in trm if it «, ° * asM : stancc aa they could render. As soon as register* 
S12M Z\™ dy ' and a, ‘ 0®ce prepared, Capt. FiUfioy will bo 
exnected that «p VAM | VC | . porso . ,,sl ' "hose duties he will superintend. It is 
SSt !^ supplied with ‘ abstract log. 1 (mrteoro- 
XlM a,,d ! D6lJ ' un *f 1 D,ii i" October, and that the office will 1 M in 
the Hvflrnor K ° V | e * r - Admiralty have ordered all the records in 
j 0 aphical Office to be placed at the disposal of the Board of Trade 
