A Treatise on Meteorology, with a Collection of Meteorological Tables

326 Pages·1868·23.915 MB·English

by  Elias Loomis

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I E E A T I S E
METEOROLOGY.
WITH A COLLECTION OF
METEOROLOGICAL TABLES.
BY ELIAS LOOMIS, LL.D.,
PEOFESSOB OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY AND ASTRONOMY IN YALB COLLEGE,ANDAUTHOE OF A
"COURSE OF MATHEMATICS,"
NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
327 TO 335 PEARL STREET,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.
1868.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
In the Clerk's Office ofthe District Court of the United States for the Southern
District of New York.
PREFACE.
WITHIN the past forty years a vast amount ofmeteorological
observations has been accumulatedfrom almost every part ofthe
world, and particularly from the United States. Within the lim-
its ofour own country we have observations, more or less exten-
sive, from more than a thousand stations, and some of these reg-
isters are very accurate and complete. So great an amount of
labor expended upon observations ought certainly to 'lead to
some valuable results. Such results have already been in part
attained, but they are generally published in very large works,
or in elaborate 'memoirs whose object is limited to the discus-
sion ofspecial questions. Many ofthese memoirs are only to be
found in foreign languages, and nearly all of them are too elab-
orate to circulate freely even among the mass oftolerably intelli-
gent observers. It will probably be conceded that there has not
hitherto appeared, at least in the English language, any general
treatise on Meteorology which furnishes a comprehensive view
of the present condition of every branch of this science with a
minuteness sufficient to satisfy one who is himselfengaged in the
business of observing. In the present volume an attempt has
been made to furnish a concise exposition of the principles of
Meteorology in a form adapted to use as a text-book for instruc-
tion, and at the same time to exhibit the most important results
of recent researches. That this attempt has been but partially
successful no one can be more fully aware than the author; nev-
ertheless it ishopedthatthis volume willcompare favorablywith
any work which has hitherto appeared having the same objects
in view. This treatise hasbeen in contemplation for manyyears,
during which I have been collecting materials for this purpose.
iv PKEFACE.
It would have been quite easy to have expanded the book to
double its present size, and in such a form it might have been
more satisfactory to thosewho are themselves engagedin original
researches but I have aimed to prepare a work which should
;
not only be useful to observers, but should also be adapted to
purposes ofinstruction in our colleges and scientific schools. It
is hoped that this volume may serve to stimulate observers, by
showing them the important results already deduced from their
labors, and also by calling their attention to the unsettled prob-
lems which require for their solution either more accurate or
more numerous observations.
I have again to acknowledge my obligations to Professor H.
A.Newton, whohas readallthe proofs ofthiswork, andto whom
I am indebted for numerous suggestions, particularly in the last
chapter, which relates to a subject to which he has devoted spe-
cial attention.