The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-12-26 00:00:00

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this article must be one of more than ordinary or
ephemeral interest. As an intelligent and inde-
fatigable observer of the physical phenomena which
'diversify the liquid and aerial fluids surrounding
elm- globe, Lieutenant Maury is well and favourably
known in this country as well as in his own ; and
the great and valuable services he has rendered to
the elucidation of those sciences, by which expe-
Zitions, safe and successful navigation may be most
+certainly promoted, are acknowledged by the
itighest practical and scientific authorities. The

.work before us, although ostensibly designed as an
laccompanying complement to his Wind and Current
Charts, is, in reality, a record of prolonged and ex-
tensive observation, digested with profound philo-
--eophical care, and embodying most important
-results. It abounds in well-arranged information
relative to meteorology and physical geography,
:es far as these subjects have hitherto been reduced
-10 ascertained proportions. Of the paramount im-
vortance which meteorological knowledge must
drove in any attempt to either regulate or advance
nautical science, Lieutenant Maury is at once an
'eloquent and an earnest expositor, and in forward-
ing this object, which he obviously has deeply at
heart, he has encountered much labour, expended
-much time, and overcome many difficulties. Now,
that partial success has dawned upon his exertions,
his zeal, instead of flagging, has become more con-
icealtrated and more energetic ; and having sue-
-reeded in rousing general attention to the subject,
le busies himself in directing that attention into
.-practically useful channels, He thus, in general
-terms, enfor' -- -.4aprq

s upon

We are now about to turn a new leaf in navigation, on
whhieh we may confidently expect to see recorded much
information that will tend to lessen the dangers of the sea,
-and to shorten the passage of vessels trading upon it. We
are about to open, in the volume of Nature, a new chapter,
under the head of Marine Meteorology. In it are written
'the laws that govern those agents which " the winds and
the sea obey." In the true interpretation of these laws,
'and the correct reading of this chapter, the planter as
well as the merchant, the husbandman as well as the
anarbier, and States as well as individuals, are concerned.
`They have a deep interest in these laws. For with the
isygrometrical conditions of the atmosphere, the well-being
mf plants and animals is involved. The health of the in-
valid is often dependent upon a dry or a damp atmosphere,
a cold blast or a warm wind. The atmosphere numns un

xnr rivers from the sea, and transports them through the
-clouds to their sources among the hills ; and upon the
!regularity with which this machine, whose motions, parts
and offices we now wish to study, lets down that moisture,
and the seasonable supply of rain which it furnishes to
each region of country, to every planter, and upon all cul-
tivated fields, depend the fruitfulness of this country, the
sterility of that. The principal maritime nations, there-
fore, have done well by agreeing to unite upon one plan
nf observation, and to co-operate with their ships upon the
high seas with the view of finding out all that patient

.research, systematic, laborious investigation may reveal
to us concerning the winds and the waves. Accordingly,
-every one who uses the sea is commanded or invited to
make certain observations ; or, in other words, to pro-
pound certain queries to Nature, and to give us a faithful
-statement of the replies she may make. Now, unless we
have accurate instruments, instruments that will them-
:elves tell the truth, it is evident that we cannot get at
"the real meaning of the answer that nature may give us.
An incorrect observation is not only useless of itself, but
when it passes undetected among others that are correct,
it becomes worse than useless ; nay, it is mischievous
there, for it vitiates results that are accurate, places before
us wrong premises, and thus renders the good of no value
In these remarks, Lieutenant Maury indicates
-no less conclusively the practical navigator than
the experienced meterologist and the anxious
philosophical inquirer. Not less profound, and in
no degree less practically useful, are the following
observations on

TIM GENERAL CIRCULATION OF THE ATMOS

Several years ago I commenced to gather from old sea
journals such information as they might be found to con-
tain relative to the winds and currents of the sea, and to
tmbody the information so obtained on a series of charts,
in such a manner as to show by pictures the prevailing
direction of the winds and currents for every month_ and

in every part of the ocean. Indeed, the plan of the under-
taking was to address the eye, to collect the exp(

fence of
sults of

every navigator, and to present the combined
-the whole in such a manner, that each one might, with a
-glance, have the benefit of the experience of all who had
preceded him in any of the frequented parts of the ocean.
This enterprise has been seconded both by the Govern-
--Anent and individuals. American shipmasters, generally,
%aye come into it with great zeal. They make the observa-
- Alms required on every voyage, and send them to me at
—Washington. There are some thousand or more ships
-voluntarily co-operating with me ; and, as it might be
"apposed, from such a number of active and intelligent
4abservers, we are collecting materials of great value.
:I)nrimr, the course of these investigations, many interest-
ing facts have been developed, amounting, in some cases,
'to actual discoveries of great interest—such as a new
-route, which shortens the sailing distance to the equator
Brune fifteen or twenty per cent., and, of course, pro-
portionately to all ports beyond ; the existence in the
North Atlantic of a regular monsoon—and in the North
-Pacific, near the west course, of a perpetual south-west
trade-wind near the equator—a unique phenomenon ; also
the existence, near the same place, of a system of mon-
soons. My present purpose, however, is not to speak of
-these discoveries, but rather to treat of the insight which
-lhese investigations, undertaken on such a large seal(
afford as to the general sy
tion over the earth. The,

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