%, V.^/^ -^^ ^Q^ ^o3:^>^^> IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V / A & ^ 1.0 I.I ^ 124 2.5 6" M 1.8 11.25 IIIIII.4 111.6 L Photographic Sciences Corporation ,/ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y, 14580 (716) 872-4503 .S'5S*iSr«54^^E^^BS!S:^W3i!€Ms^iS'i<3!'?«K^«l®K^*W5*SS^^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical IVIicroreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6X6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-6tre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mdthode normale de filmage sont indiqu^s ci-dessous. D n D D D D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagde Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurde et/ou pelliculde Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque I I Coloured maps/ Cartes g^ographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure serreo peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intdrieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6talt possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6X6 filmdes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppldmentaires; I I Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes Pages restored and/oi Pages restaurdes et/ou pellicul6es I I Pages damaged/ I I Pages restored and/or laminated/ I I Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ m Pages ddcolordes, tachetdes ou piqu6es Pages detached/ Pages d6tach6es I I Showthrough/ D D D Transparence Quality of print varies/ Quality indgale de I'impression Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel suppl6mentaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 filmdes d nouveau de fapon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X Y 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X re l^tails es du modifier er une fllmage The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Library of Congress Photoduplication Service The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. ^ L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grdce d la g6n6rosit6 de: Library of Congress Photoduplication Service Les images s iivantes ont dtd reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de l'exemplaire i\lvn6. et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. les Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other o'iqinal copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with h printed or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ► (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprim6e sont film^s en commenpant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmds en commenqant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ► signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand cornor, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film^s d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. errata i to e pelure, son d n 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wl^l* ■ ■"" ' **i'"*«!f«Hi i ( >■ i j i j ii u y i W — WilBi mi i w^giWagij it^ ClC %(o'o -r-t^'.y/^ nlM^T^/^yiT^'j, ^> /»^ Ji_ Z£.7-f.i^i.t^ c- METEOROLOGY AND ITS PROFESSORS This Pamphlet is respectfully dedicated to all whom it may concern. By their obedient servant. THOS. D. KING. v A ^ o 9 Jo b X K^ V METEOROLOGY AND ITS PROFESSOKS. If a Professor of Meteorology is fitted to rank with those pro- fessors who attempt to discover the secret operations of nature, whether in the heavens or in the deepest problems of mechanics, or in the interior of the earth, or in the finely woven tissues of organic structure, and who are concerned for the discovery of new phenomena, or to draw the light of knowledge from the unex- plored depths of nature, then — the study of Meteorology is as necessary as the study of chemistry, hotany, physiology, astronomy and geology. It is difficult to understand why the study of the air, weather and seasons, with the varied and interesting appearance which they present, has not received greater attention from educated per- sons, more particularly from those who are interested in agriculture and shipping. The fact of the existence of periodical variations in the temperature of the years and seasons in our own climate, of the terrific thunderstorms and hurricanes which frequently visit us in the summer, should incite us to a more constant and more diligent study of the phenomena, since we may thus become quali- fied to avail ourselves of a considerable degree of knowledge of these changes. One of the reasons for the little notice given to Meteorology in Montreal— no more interest generally being taken in it than of the weather column of a shilling almanac — may arise fr-m the fact that the Professor of Meteorology has not given to the pupils of McGill College popular lectures on a science as necessary as natu- ral history, geology and astronomy, teaching them " the balancings of the clouds " mentioned in Holy Writ as a part of the wondrous works of HIM who is perfect in knowledge. It ought to be the duty of a professor of an university, which has conferred upon him honors and degrees, who undertakes the work of public instruction, to present to the students of his college in simple arrangement, and enable themto comprehend with ease — things, the natural history of which has coat Science a world of pains to analyze and recompose. Of the causes which have induced the author of this communi- cation to write, and also forced him to print this protest, little need be said. The task is a thankless one ; it may make enemies ; truth has always done so. The discerning of truth without dif- ference of opinion is unattainable, and perhaps the disputes of the - .,.;Wt.^,5k«-.iireo- tor of the " Montreal Observatory " are erroneous, or, at least, not to be relied on in order to get the true isotherm of Montreal. The true direction and force of the wind it is impossible to obtain iu consequence of the bad site of the Observatory, even supposing that the self-recording instruments used were of the best con- struction and on the most approved plan, which they are far Irom Tsrstsamm^ — 6 — being, as their only commendation is their rudeness ; therefore the comparison of a neries of observations made at synchronous periods, between those made at the " Montreal Observatory," immeaiately under one of the steepest ledges of Mount Royal, and those made at the Observatories of Toronto, Quebec and Washington, cannot be. have not been, nor ever will be such as are requued to pave the way to the period when Meteorology will acquire the certainty of deduction which it now lacks, and when conjectures relative to future phenomena will become proba- bilities. , If it is desirable upon the part of the Director of the '< Montreal Observatory" and those who raised the money for its erection, and upon the part of the Government which gives an annual grant to the Director, to attain a thorough knowledge ot laws as yet unknown that govern the motions of the atmosphere, and what may be called the strange caprices of the weather, and to further the groat Meteorological service so happily and wisely inaugurated by the Hon. Minister of Marine and Fisheries, of which the Magnetic Observatory at Toronto is the Dommion centre ; and also to aid the still greater international Meteoro- logical service of which the Smithsonian Institution at Washmg- ton is the centre, the "Montreal Observatory " must then be placed immediately upon another basis, in order to make the organization of the Meteorological service such as to admit of the pre-announcement of storms, and the adoption of an uniform system of observation. Instruments of a better quality, much as they are needed, will not avail; the Observatory ought to be removed, in fact, if it were demolished it would be a boon to Science (that is, if true Science is a record of facts), unless the building was used, which it now is not, for lectures on the subjects of Meteorology and Astronomy, and as a place where pupils may be taught how to observe, or the art of observing ; instructed m the use of instruments of precision, such as the Transit, the Alt- Azimuth instrument, the Sextant, the Kepeating and Reflecting Cucles, the Theodolite, the Mountain Barometer, &o., in order that the students in the school of Civil Engineering, and in the contemplated school of Mining in connection with the Geological Survey may be satisfied about the limits they can measure the same object, under the same circumstances, as its only from a knowledge of this that they can have confidence in their measures of the same object under ditlerent circumstances, and after that, of different objects under ditferent circumstances. Without some such train- ing and without a considerable training, any astronomical or geo- detical observations they may hereafter be called on to make — 7 — would be of little value. Such training is neceHsary in order that they may be able to check the " hoaxing, forging, trimming and cooking frauds" of some observers, impostors to true Scionoe : and it is I'urther necessary lor thorn to know tlieir own eirois in read- ing and adjusting l)etbre they pronounce upon those of the instru- ments. Tlie instruments now in the Observatory will afford tlie pupils excellent practice, enabling tliem to judge of their own skill, and to ascertam the precision with which they can bisect an object with the wires of a telescope, and write down tlic readings of the verniers of a sextant, and determine its index eiroi'. Such training as the writer has hinted at is absolutely necessary. even though the use of large astronomical instruments does not claim any profound requirements, and the use of ordinary Meteo- rological instruments does not demand more skill or attention than a school-boy's working out a sum of decimals or vulgar frac- tions. What chiefly is wanted, is intloxiblo candour in recording precisely the facts which nature has presented. A man to take charge of a Meteorological Observatory ought to be an indefatig- able, hard working, obedient drudge, (although a drudge of a superior order to a farm labourer), who will be contented to pnss half his day in using his hands and his eyes in the mechanical act of observing, and the remainder in the dull process of calculation. The Principal and Vice-Chancellor, in his pleas for the exten- sion of University education in Canada, begs heartily, and hitherto he has been a very successful beggar, always ready with plausible reasons for additions to McGill College ; whether he always begs judiciously is open to grave question. Several thousand dollars expended on an observatory in which the observations made are of little practical value, is not begging with discernment, when a building better adapted for meteorological observations might have been erected for a tenth of the cost of the present one : a building more remote from the influence of the retaining wall of the water- works reservoir ; from the hees, whose branches nearly touch the revolving cups of the anemometer, and from the neigh- bouring houses which cut off the distant meridional mark. The Principal and Vice-Chancellor has recently set up a plea for a good astronomical telescope, larger and more expensive astronomical instruments, and, in addition, a properly fitted-up observatory and the means of sustaining an observer— a proper observer ; but were the instruments obtained, they would be of no use, judging from the service to which the transit instrument has been applied, and of which the public will be better able to judge when the Director of the " Montreal Observatory " has published to the world how he obtained its latitude and longitude, Whether ,.«»«*«»**' ,.*»fd?' R — thoy were dfidncpirt hy tho menn of mflny onlminations of PolariR and meridionnl transits of the moon-culminatinR stars, and how the fine astronomical clock, by Dent, lent by the Harbour Com- missioners,' was rated by transits of a Pavonis, and a, Lyrm, and a Viilpeoulpp, and n Colnmbw, and that so nccnrately that the time ball on the wharf, near the Custom House, was dropped, under the supervision of tho Director, within one minute, two minutes, and sometimes three minutes of the mean time.t— perhaps to some not a ma< .ir of moment. . iranmt rJoria ohxervaiionin. Without wishinir to be cynicnl the writer puts these questions: Was the discrepancy in the ball-dropping to be attributed to that occasional discordance from the mean which attends even the most careful observations ? Did the time occupied in causing the extremities of tho fingers to obey the volition, as well as the time employed in compressir.g the flesh before the fingers acted on the stop which released the trigger, which caused the ball to drop, influence <^^he accuracy of the dropping? Was the differences from mean time to be attributed to irregularity of refraction in the atmos- phere surrounding Mc.Gill College ? or to the imperfections in tho transit instrument ? or to the astronomical clock by Dent? or to the desire for extreme accuracy on the part of the Director ? Such discrepancies demand the most serinn.i attention and early consideration of those who furnish costly apparatus, laboratories, astronomical instruments, and observatories to colleges, for enab- ling the stiidont to get the practical study of outward nature, and the laws by which the CREATOE governs the universe. If an error of three minutes can creep into tho rating of a clock by the wong use of a transit instrument, and in the time of drop- pmg the ball for rating shipmaster's chronometers, it may readily be understood, by the dullest apprehension, how a thermometer may be made to read five or six degrees too high in the summer, or five or six degrees too low in the winter; and, how it is that the Director of the " Montreal Observatory " indulges in extremes of temperature, and has succeeded in registering, and recording, and publishing the maxima and minima temperatures reached on the island of Montreal during the past ten years. If the Director of the "Montreal Observatory " has made some mistakes, and taken observations with insufficient instruments, and those wrongly placed, placed in utter defiance of all instruc- • Tnkon awny by them from the McOill Colleiare Obiervatory and the Mean Time obtnined from the Citadel Observatory, Qiiebeo. t Giving an error of only forty-five viilet of longitude. ^1. SMir tions sent from Gieenwidi and Kew, Washington and Toronto, his only course to win tlie confidence of his I'ellow-labourers in the (MUse of Meteorology, and to render liis future observations of any use, is to ai!knowledge the error of his ways in the most full and explicit manner, not concealing and masking oversights .and errors. Enough has been written to sliow that special regard to every cir- cumstance by which the accuracy of the Meteorological observa- tions might be .aflected, has not l)een taken, and that usual atten- tion was not bestowed on them by the Director. Had he chosen a proper site for the Observatory and fitted it up with the most approved instruments, he might possibly have derived honours from his lal)Ours, and given light to the admiring Science on this continent. The writer is glad to know that a Meteorological Society will shortly l)e formed in Montreal, the members of which will be fur- nisheil with the necessary instruments, and guided by proper instructions for their use as regards systematic conformity of observation, so that the society will soon be al)le to iurnish all the data requisite for a complete study of both agricultural and sani- tary Meteorology, and that, at no other expense thnn the tabulation and [)ul)lication of the observ.ations made liy its ow" members. Tlie society, he li'usts. will be able to carry on a well conducted system of cooperative Meteorologii-al observations. He is still more glad to know that a complete set of good instruments will shortly be furnished to the Montreal (Jeneral Hospital and obser- vations taken with them, so that the surgeons of that institution may not in future depend upon the capricious ol'seivations meted out in the daily prints. That good will result from the Meteorological Society of Mont- real, he believes, l)ecause it will be the means of bringing person- ally together those who are interested, ii not absolutely engaged, in the same Held of science. It will also be the means of an imme- diate, therefore obvious change of ideas, whether they present themselves as facts, opinion.s, or doubts. Lastly, he fervently hopes the Society will prove to be the foundation of friendly connexion which will throw light on Meteorological Science, add cheerfulness to life, and give patience and amenity to manners. MoNNKEAL, October, liil'2. _ .j.*a«te ' .-fe,t--i!«k4(fei"' lSl*vi{w---<.'%,i-|yU®ii!4f3«Bw.'*W.ri4!iKMI.^iil^jSo^^ ii4. ka-AJ S JggfeSi.tagifeijSa'.^'-^.jigS^^