404 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. SEPTEMBER, 1905
from the west appear to control the changes and motions in ECUADOR:
the special temporary areas of low pressure. Indeed the
latter appear to owe their very existence to the flow of air .
over the chain of high mountains and the resulting formation
of eddies. Eddies rotating around horizontal axes form cloncl
and rain on the east, but foehn winds and pamperos on the
west of the axis. Eddies around vertical or inclined axes con-
stitute low pressures whose perpetuity and development de-
pend almost wholly upon the question whether the risiug air
with cloud ancl rain is on the east side or the west side of the
circulation. The general tendency of the lorn areas iA to
move southeastward toward the coast of Chile and Argentina
and then if they live, to pass northeastward over the east coast.
BRAZIL.
The Department of Marine of the United States of Brazil
has for the past nine years pnblishecl a monthly bulletin. giv-
ing in full the results of the daily observations a t various
hours, including Greenwich mean noon observations, taken a t
a number of stations along the eastern const, and a few in the
interior. I n addition to the strictly meteorological features
the bulletin gives the results of the magnetic observations
made at the central station, Moro de San Antonio, Rio Janeiro.
The work for each six months is summarized in semiannual
volumes, the periods covered being October-March and April-
September respectively. This work is under the inimediate
supervision of Captain Americo Silvado, of the Brazilian Navy.
The State of Sko Paulo has had an independent meteoro-
logical service since 1686. uuder the direction of the C’ommis-
siio Geographica e Geologica de SBo Paulo, publishing the
results of its observations in an annual volume of Dado8 Cli-
matologicos. General observations are made at the ~O W R of
7, 2, and 9, at about twenty stations, and rainfall observations
at several others.
At Juiz de Fora, in the State of &h a s Geraes, an incle-
pendent observatory has been maintained by the municipality
since 1893, and has published its obser\ ations.
BOLIVIA.
The Sociedad Geografica de La Paz regularly publishes ob-
servations made at La Paz. The bulletin of this society has
also occasionally contained summaries of observations at other
places in Bolivia, among which are Sucre, Oruro, and Trini-
dad. Private individuals have published observations a t
Potosi and Cochabamba.
OUIBNA.
I n British Guiana a fairly complete system of rainfall ob-
servations is maintained throughout the colony under the
direction of the Government Botanic Garden at Georgetown.
I n Georgetown itself records of temperature, sunshine, 2nd
rainfall are kept 111); the record of the latter element extends
back to 1880. The observations are published in the Report
on Botanic Gardens, Georgetown.
A first-class meteorologicnl observatory is maintained at
Cayenne, French Guiana, the data from which are published
in the Annales of the Bureau Central Meteorologique de France.
For Dutch Guiana (Colony of Surinam) the Meteorological
Jaarboek of the Netherlands has contained, since 1880, daily
observations taken at Paramaribo. The French Annales gives
an annual summary of monthly means of Observations at
Burnside-Coronie.
COLOMBIA.
Colombia has a Meteorological Office, but no reports have
been received recently. Monthly totals of rainfall, number of
rainy clays, and greatest fall in 24-hours for C’artagena are
published in the Annales of the Bureau Central Meteorologi-
que de France.
The Observatorio Astronomic0 y Meteorologico de Quito
seems to be the only meteorological observatory in Ecuador.
It publishes an annual r&sum(! of meteorological observations,
of which the first volume, for September, 1895, to October,
1S96, has been received.
URUGUAY.
In Uruguay the Jesuit Colegio Pi0 de Villa Colon has
maintained a meteorological station of the first order near
Rloiitevicleo since 1883. The Meteorological Society of Uru-
guay, established in 1890, maintains a number of second order
and rain stations ancl publishes the results in its Resumeii de
las Observationes Pluviometricas.
_____
E. D. ARCHIBALD AND THE MODERN KITE.
The Editor regrets that by a slip of the pen in the second
coluum of page 257 of the MONTHLY WEATHER PIEVIEW for June,
“Abercroinbg” was published insteacl of bcArchibald.” The
great work done by E. D. Archildd in 1883 in the way of reviv-
ing the use of the bite for meteorological purposes was men-
tioned in the MONTHLY VEATHER REVIEW for 1895 and 1896, but
lest modern readers should forget what we owe to him we
iuay add that Archibald carried out a systematic series of
observations with anemometers at different heights above the
ground during 18x3, 1884, and 1885. He used steel music
wire as a kite line almost from the start in 1883, and attained
heights up to 1500 feet above the ground. He also invented
nncl patented in 1585 the kite balloon to which he gave that
name. A combination of the kite and t,he balloon that we be-
lieve was the first ever macle.
A h . A. Lawrence Rotch WBR present at one of the first flights
at Tunbridge Wells, a l ~d in 1887 Mr. Archibald took a photo-
graph from a kite, which is also one of the first if not the very
first occasion on which that was done. The great imyrove-
ments that have been made in kite work by Mr. Rotch, the
Weather Bureau, and various investigators all over the world
have been the natural outcome of Mr. Archibald’s clemonstra-
tion of the general utility of the idea. He may fairly claim
to have started the modern sptematic kite flying with steel
wire for scientific purposes. At the meeting of the British
Associat,ion for the Advancement of Science in 1881 at Mont-
real, he brought the importance of the subject prominently
to the attention of those present and ventured to predict an
important future for this inetliod of studying the atmosphere.
His name should replace that of Abercromby on page 257.
THE MOUNT WEATHER OBSERVATORY.
I n response to a correspondent inquiring about the Mount
Weather Observatory, the Chief of Bureau has lately replied
as follows:
.The Mount Weather Obbervatory is not for solar physics alone, nor
are the foiecasts of the U. S. Weather Bureau likely to be founded upon
solar observation,- only, but upon the data and study of the atmosphere
itself. The Weather Bureau makes forecast5 of weather and of floods that
are of general and sometimes of critical importance to agriculture, com- merce, and many othm human interests. These forecasts depend upon
our knowleilge nf a hranch of science whose field is the study of the
earth’s atniosphrre as a whole. Recent research has shown that there is a possibility of improving
these forecabtb by a inore complete study of the changes gang 011 in the
radiation that we receive from the sun, but this is a minor matter com-
pared with the btudy of the so-called waves of temperature, pressure,
and moisture that pass over the earth’s surface, ancl the mechanical
laws that govern the movenwnts of the air. As progress in OUT knowl-
edge of the mechanics of the ea1 th’s atmobphere can only be made by
means of daily weather charts, lahoratory experiments, and mathemati-
ea1 study, therefore the IT. S Weather Bureau has established a meteoro-
logical institution of broad scope, designated as the Mount Weather Ob-
SEPTEMBER, 1905. MONTELLY WEATHER REVIEW. 405
servatoq, at which every branch of investigation and study bearing on
the atmosphere will be pursued, especially (1) observations of the upper
strata of the air by means of kites and balloons, (2) observations of the
clouds by the nephoscope, (3) experiments in the physical laboratory on the motions of small maase8 of air under conditions that are precisely
known, (4) observations of the total radiation from the sun by means of
actinometers and bolometers, (5) details of the solar condition recorded
by apparatus at the solar physical observatory, (6) records of the elec-
trical and magnetic phenomena of the earth and atmosphere, and (7)
particularly the education of special students in the interpretation of all
these observations by means of the higher mathematics, so that the
results of the knowledge thus gained may advance meteorology and im-
prove the weather forecasts.
This recognizes that behind every praolical a r t of doing there must be
a higher science of studying and knowing.
IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH OBSERVATORIES FOR THE PROMOTION OF METEOROLOGY.
The public is familiar with the idea that i t is a fine thing to
establish great hospitals, universities, libraries, churches, tech-
nical schools, and other institutions thiit minister to the prac-
tical needs of miinkind, but very few haw as yet awakened to
realize the fundamental importance of institutions for the
increase of knowledge, as distinguished from those that merely
diffuse knowledge or from inany otherR that apply knowledge
to ameliorate the condition of niankinil. We often think of
our pu1)lic institutions as marking the great difference between
the present and the past ages, but the ancicnts liad their RAY-
lums and hospitals, their irrigation systeuis, their iiiachiuery,
aqueducts, sewers, tinti otlier ways of applying whatever
knowledge they had.
The fundamental difference between the present age and 2x11
previous time is not the school nor the asylum, I,ut tlie enor-
nious increase in our actual kuowledgc of nature in all her
minutest and most complex workings. W e must invrensc
knowledge before we can teach it or apply it and to bring
about this increase is the peculiar proyince of those meu wliq
devote themselves to research so-called. -4 few nariies tlis-
tinguished for research come down to u s from anticluity, swli
as Archimedes, Nratosthenes, Pliny, Aristotle. Youbtless
there mere others whose naiiies hayo heen forgotten, but in
modern times the number lias been imuicnsely increased since
the days of Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Hujgliens, aud
Descartes.
Science is soinetimes said to be a systematic arrangenieiit
of our knowledge of nature as distiuguislied froni the vague
and erroneous traditions aiid guesses of less fortiirinte times;
but modern science is more than :in arraugeincnt of knoml-
edge-it is research for the purpose of increasing knowledge.
No one can liold a high place in science unless it can be shown
that he has on many occasions been iible to eluciclnte with
precision that which was previously iuiperfectlj kuoivn or
perhaps unsuspected. The best scientific men, or “ research-
ers ” as they have lately been called, are distinguished by an
inborn and cultivated ability to concentrate their ahole
energies upon a solution of a definite problem until the work
is done. Generally speaking they do not care SO ruucli for sala-
ries or positions or the practical application of their knowl-
edge, as they do for the opportunity of devoting their lives
to the research work that they love. Such valuable inen liavc
to be provided for and for several centuries scientific societies
and the better endowed iiniversities as well as wedthy meii
have set aside small sums of iiiouey estriblishing fellowships or
something ecluivalent for the support of those who have shown
ability in research. Iu fact the German universities have for
90 years been animated more by tlie spirit of research than
of instruction, and promotions therein have beeu biised almost
wholly on ability in original research.
There have been several notable illiwtrations of munificent
foundations for the special benefit of research. Such was the
Royal Institution of London organized about 1800 by that
most brilliant American, Benjamin Thompson, Count Rum-
ford. It has supported such eminent men as Sir Humphrey
Davy, Michael Faraday, John Tynclall, and Lord Rayleigh.
Doubtless it was this successful foundation that led James
Smithson to establish his great fund “for the increase and
difiusion of knowledge ” in which sentence he in fact quoted
from Washington’s farewell address. Possibly Smithson
thought that in a free and peaceful republic scientific men
mould be less trammeled than in an aristocratic and warlike
nation. He himself loved knowledge for its own sake but
doubtless realized that to some “ knowledge is wealth ” to
others “ knowledge is power.” Hitherto Americans like Pea-
body and Rockefeller have distinguished themselves by the
endowment of education; Caruegie has given a @eat fund for
research; Lick, Terkes, McCoruick, and others have given
large sums for special research in astronomy, but we know of
no one who has encloned research in meteorology. It has
therefore become unavoidable that the Weather Bureau should
solicit from the Federal Congress of the United States the
funds neecld for research in that dificult branch of science
whose derelt rpment is essential to the improvement of practical
meteorology.
JVe quote the following appreciative remarks from an article
by Dr. Frank Waldo, in the Boston Evening Transcript of
August 19, 1905:
Is there an honest and economical reason for this establishment?
Being conversant with Weather Bureitu conditions I am alJe to answer
in the affirmative. It has been a long cherished desire ou the part of all Gorerument meteorologists to undertake the class of careful studies
o f the atmospheric conditions that hare been pursued by some Euro-
pean governuients. But a lack of proper facilities has, in R great meas- ure, prevented such undertakings, their practical importance not being
recognized I)y the “ appropriating ” puwerb who have been more iriter-
estecl in the matter of extending weather preclictious to a wider circle of
iwipienti, than in the slow increase of accuracy which might be
expectecl to result from expensive stullies and costly equipments. This feeling of economy weut so far some years ago that the otficinl publica-
tion ~f prokszional 1 q e r s by the Weather Bureau was ordered discon-
tinued. * * * While great advances have been made in theoretical meteorology yet
what ha.; been most needed has been more accurate and more numerous
observations of atmospheric conditions, not only over the world a t large,
but also in special locations. This last has uecessitated the establis!l-
ment of proper Observatories. Three kinds of special observatories have been erected in the prosecu-
tion of meteorological studies. First, a central observatory, which acts as a bureau institution for the ordinary obseri ing stations such as are
scattered over the country-whence the former may control the work
of others aucl set them an example of the highest claw oP work in their
liue of obserratiou. Such an observatory has been maintained a t Wash-
ington from the begiuniug of our Weather Bureau, although its efflciency
has greatly increased within recent years since the Bureau has had a
Iruilding of its own. These Observatories were mostly established in the
capital cities. But as the work of observational meteorology increased in accuracy,
cbserratories were instituted at some distance from the disturbing in-
fluence of the towns. To this class belong the famous observatories of
Kew, at Ric.hmon(l, England, Pavlovsk in Russia, and Potsdam near
Berlin. We had indeed one somewhat similar observatory in this country, Ceiitral Paik, New Turk; but i t was conducted on a meager scale and in
its work did uot attain the refinement of the great observatoriesof
Europe.
Bfi long ago as 1883 * * * the present writer mas directed by Gen.
11‘. B. Hazen, then the head of the Signal Senice, to draw up plans for a
small observatory of this class to be established a t Fort RIyer, Va., which
wab then the trainiug school for the Signal Service meu and was under control of that Sei\ i By utilizing the temporary buildiugs already
const~ucted at Fort h er, only a few thousand dollals were needed for
the pioper housing aut1 setting up the meteorological instruments. But eveu that petty bum was not forthcoming, chiefly owing to the objections
in Congiess. Fort RIyer has passed out of control of the Weather Bureau, and ~iow
tweuty J earb after General Hazeu‘s uubuccePslu1 attempt Professor
Moore has esta1)litiIierl such an observatory as the IVeather Bureau has so
long1ireded, only to Le attacked l ~y .sensation mongers. What will these critics say when they are told that the hest interests of practical mete- orology require a t least 25 such observatories located a t different psrtsof
the United States? The day will come when we shall have them. * * It is one of the anomalies of our educational system that weather
But we bad no national obberratory of 1 hat class.