The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-20 00:00:00

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.

Yesterday morning a copy was returned to Par-

liament of a correspondence between the Board of
Trade and the Royal Society on the subject of me-
teorological observations;telegraphy, and forecasts.
The secretary of the Board of Trade wrote in
February last to the Royal Society concerning the
new features which the operations of the meteoro-
logical department had assumed, and expressing an
anxiety to know whether the science of meteorology
was now in such a state as to admit of a permanent
reliable system of storm signals and daily weather
forecasts ; and whether the progress and useful ap-
plication of meteorological science would be more
efficiently promoted by devoting the money voted
by Parliament to the original objects contemplated
viz., the collection, tabulation, and discussion ot me-
teorological phenomena, or by devoting it to the
system of telegraphy and weather forecasts. The
secretary of the Royal Society, after the lapse of a
month, replied, on behalf of the President and the
Council, to the effect that they were assured by
Admiral Fitzroy that the original objects for which
the meteorological department was formed were
still kept in view. "In the fore-warnings of
storms," adds Dr. Sharpey, " much must as
yet undoubtedly be viewed as in a great mea-
sure tentative ; but there is one class of cases
on which such premonitory information is en-
titled to be regarded as resting on more assured
scientific relations. Admiral Fitzroy considers that
he has satisfactorily established the occasional oc-
currence of storms of a cyclonic character, of very
limited diameter, not much exceeding perhaps that
of the British islands themselves, and originating
in their vicinity. The practice of forewarning is
specially suited to such storms. They are charac-
terised by great violence, and by frequent and rapid
changes in the direction of the wind. The key to
their comprehension is supplied by the telegraphic
reports, which convey to the central office a know-
ledge of the various simultaneous directions of the
wind in different localities ; and, when once com-
prehended, they are particularly suited for fore-
warning, inasmuch, as, in its general course, the
advance of the cyclone is steady in direction and
moderate in rate. In connexion with this subject
the President and Council revert with satisfaction
to a reply by Sir John Herschel to the Royal Com-
mission on Lights, Buoys, and Beacons, that 'the
most important meteorological information which
could be telegraphed would be information first re-
ceived by telegraph of a cyclone actually in progress
at a great distance, and working its way towards
the locality. There is no doubt that the progress
of a cyclone may be telegraphed, and might secure
many a ship from danger by forewarning.' It is
obvious that this remark, which refers to the ap-
proach of a distant cyclone, is equally applicable to
cyclones originating in or near our islands, the
existence of which has been made known by the sys-
tem of telegraphy which Admiral Fitzroy has esta-
blished. With respect to the 'forecasts of the state
of the weather,' which are published in the news-
papers, the President and Council learn from Ad-
miral Fitzroy that they really occasion no cost to
Government, and scarcely fall therefore within the
questions submitted for reply ; moreover, the Pre-
sident and Council have no data whereon to rest a
conclusion in regard to the degree of reliance to
which these last-named forecasts may be entitled."

Outrage upon Englishmen in South Russia.

A correspondent of the Levant Herald, writing
from Odessa on the sth, says :—" An outrage has
just been committed on a couple of Englishmen in
South Russia, which I appeal at once to you to
bring to the notice of her Majesty's Government
and to that of the home press and public. The facts
—which it is impossible to report in precise detail,
though my information as to them is of the most cer-
tain kind—are shortly as follows. About ten days
ago a party of Cossacks proceeded to the estate of
Count Branitzki, of Biatocerkieff, to effect his arrest
on a charge of insurrectionary complicity. Though
the Count quietly submitted to be arrested,
the party subjected him to brutal insult and
violence, and half pillaged the chateau besides.
Amongst the servants—nearly all of whom came
in for a share of their master's ill-treatment—were
two English gardeners, named Douglas and Cun-
liffe. These the ruffians seized, stripped, and nearly
Bogged to death, and finally dragged off with them,
with their arms tied behind their backs. The poor
fellows have since been thrown into prison at, my
information states, Saratoff, where the count is also
incarcerated. It is not pretended that the victims
of this brutal outrage were in any way implicated
in the alleged offence of their master, but they were
unprotected Englishmen, and that was enough to
entail on them the savage violence I have men-
tioned. I know not if our local consul-general have
taken any steps in their behalf ; but whether or not,
the matter is one for the home papers, and for Mr.
Hennessy, or some other independent Parliamen-
tary friend of Poland, to make the use of it which
it justifies."