Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1854-09-23
TO THE EDITORS.

WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER To- 1854
i GENTLEMEN With the consent of the author for IN
publication Of the letter herewith communicated an,
with the recommendation of persons deeply interested !
the discovery which it treats Of respectfully solt
place in your columns knowing that the interruption it
contains will be highly valuable to all who i've know
ledge aud labor to advance her truths BY ese the let
ter will receive the attention and interes it merits and
when say that than sixteen years of toll have been
spent to produce theory which 6ould benefit mankind
the value of which, after yesrs publication nearly, is
just being realized, although incomplete in its details
cannot fail to elicit when generally known
tire acknowledgment of indebtedness from the sailor and
the merchant for the security gives to life and property
the The Government has paid out large
to have this phenomenon investigated yet they have
been able to have its mysteries explained AS far that
goes, then, still in darkness But in the authors
Mechanical! Theory Of &ors the navigator is supplied
with all that he needs This able to say from hav-
ing carefully determined the predictions of the theory
and from comparison of the results deduced from the
theory with the physical features of many storms which
have investigated the most remarkable harmony exists
that by the observance of the attendant phenomena
the approach of vortex the sailor deteGmine its
bearing well if he had made the cacAlstion, and
by the action of the wind descending ascending
vortex he knows how to shape his To the author
of such discovery this is praise and is not intended
for any There are in high positions, in every way
eminent who thoroughly convinced of the truth of
these doctrines and to them belong the honor of bestow
ing praise. P.
OTTAWA, SEPTEMBER g. 1854.
DrAR SIR: In answer to your queries concerning
tain predictions Of mine which appeared in the National
neisenoer Of August 14th would refer you to COM
munisaton since sent to that paper explaining their
Soc ,rr;11
publication regarded predictions Of storm, but
simply as example of vortex passing from north to
SOUTH and made dependant certain contingencies
to be observed in deciding the attendant phenomena
such as the magnitude of the barometrical fluctuations
about that time and the general character Of the weather
But these qualifications omitted In order to enable
you to form correct opinion of the theory will now
give you more detailed explanation of the difficulties
standing IN the way OF precise predictions There are
six worthless in each hemisphere-one central and five
lateral further distinguished three inner and three
outer This OF course gives twelve passages over any
middle latitude In one sideral revolution of the moon
more or but the apparent number is diminished by
the frequent occurrence of vortex passing descending
at the time and place another passing ascend
ing At such times the observations do assist in de-
termining the orbit elements Now, the first important
Element is the obquty Of the vortex and the next the
right ascension of the node at given time But these
cannot be determined independently Of the rest for the
passages are the only visible indications to data
mate mean radius for each orbit and mean position
angle Then comes the question: how many of these yor-
tees there? This difficulty is increased by the fact
that consecutive passages of the same vortex differ
ing sometimes nearly degrees in latitude are both
invisible to the observer Again. central passage even
may be made without great arrangement, owing the
non-impressbility OF the atmosphere And, again,
ascending vortex when great arrangement apparent
often clears off with the wind at northwest if it were
descending vortex, although the dim hazy bank to the
northward is sufficiently significant to familiar with
the theory. But suppose the number determined; the
question arises do the rad Of these orbits increase with
the moons distance in direct inverse ratio Are no
inverse and direct? Are the position
angles affected by change of the moons distance and
what rato All these things have to be determined at
the time and years of approximation have been
CURED But there other inequalities, independent of
the moon directly springng from the principles of the
theory Of such enormous value the apo
gees of the several orbits As instance of this will
mention that the particular vortex Of the predictions 1.-THE
first inner descendng passed latitude 44o the 18th
March, when the moons right ascension nine hours
fortyeght minutes, and was still further advanced
the I'd Of May in latitude 400 and in the same longitude
when che moons right ascension only
fifteen minutes; the former passage being probably
connected with the Getty of Glasgow Now ask YOU
in view of these facts, is il reasonable is it liberal
exact precise predictions the test of theory whose
chief characteristic Is ability to divest all meteorolo
gica Of mystery and to refer them to simple
mechanical principles which the whole Of Nature is
shown to be dependant? That there such thus dis
posed is evident from the character of report Of the
weather which appeared in the paper before mentioned
August 28th, in which it is said the whole north
unnterruptedly dry, calm, and very warm, from
August goth to 23d" The Baltimore Sun of the Oath
says: Yesterday was quite agreeable day, being
about eighteen degrees cooler than Tuesday, whilst
cooling breeze from the north blew the whole day Dur
ing the previous night perfect hurricane Of wind was
experienced and heavy storm expected" see,
also by the shipping reports of New York. that many
ships report bad weather ut that tme the British brig
Woodlark, from Cardiff losing both her topmasts off
Block Island, about latitude AZ (See Tribune of Au
gust 29th.)
The theory gives the prediction as an average Of the
direction Of the winds along belt of land including the
line Of passage. This belt is often one, two three
hundred miles wide, according the time of the year
and the impressbity Of the atmosphere; and this belt
again subdvided into and veins Of greatest and
least action and having general progression eastward
in middle latitude and from these inequalities and their
immense extent and the comparatively limited field Of
vision, it requires at least willingness to look at the
evidence OF the theory being true in order to be
WINGED person may be very expert ut reading barome
and analysing past records but it requires the eye
of the sailor and the enlarged views of the
recognise this phenomenon yet familiar with it,
will be looked for regularly the rising Of the sum-
and never disappont the observer 1t may be readily
understood why the scientific are 10th to admit the
cessy of joining the doctrines Of Des Carries with the
system Of Newton this theory requires Nevertheless
it must be done would avail ourselves Of the know
ledge Nature has placed within reach. And those
who advocate the grand key Of physical
science will no doubt oppose theory which insists
the necessity Of entirely remodeng the whole system of
meteorological observations. Do this and in ten or
twenty we may reasonably anticipate that every
storm and every wind will be predicted years beforehand
for the mariner and the time Of drouth and rain in