Address delivered at the annual general meeting, January 21st, 1885

Abstract

FOR the space of twenty-three pears none of my predecessors in this chair have dealt With the subject of the actual stntzis of meteorology, and it may therefore be of some interest if I attempt to give the Fellows, to the best of my humble ability, a rough conspectus of the present condition of the science in the different countries of the globe, and of the lines of inquiq which appear at the present epoch to be attracting most attention.There is no lack of literature, for besides occasional papers, many of high value, appearing in the annals and year-books of the sevcrd central offices, we have tho Journals of the five sister Societies, the French, Scottish, Austrian, Italian and German, naming them in order of age ; nnd at least six Journals, of repate, more or less exclusively devoted to Meteorology. Among these the first rmk is undoubtedly taken by the stately li!epmfo?z'imt of the Russian office, md the liriiima Meteorologicnl ~h m i r s . Then fonow the 1Montkly Meteorolopknl MagnAite, now in the sisteenth year of its vigorous existence, and the more recent ventures in a similar line, ciel st Tenv of Brussels, Dns JVtuer issued by Dr. A s s m w , of Magdeburg, and the very newest, the Aium'cctw Uetaornloyicnl Joiiirml. The two last of these periodicals only date from 1884. With all this wealth of literatnro there is one particular in which, in this country at least, our scicnee labours under a great disadvantage. So far as I am aware, no instruction is giveninit, and no lectwes on the subject form part of the C O U~S C of study nt my school or college, except at the strictly profes-NEW S$RIES.-VOL XS. L 1 In the Appendix to this Address (p. 153) I have given D list of all the Stations which niay be recognised ns Stations of the Second Order over the whole globe, with the authorities on which the names in most of tlie lists haw been inserted. There are many more stations in the list tbnn m e s h o w in tho Map.