Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1861-07-30


Passers BY the Marine Hospital may have
observed, during the last few days, peou-
liar piece Of apparatus in operation upon
The dome. There is one portion which re-
sembles 4 sohOolboy's windmill slightly
altered and another which has the appear
anco Of Dutch woather-oock, much drawn
out. These arc portions Of q very ingenious
and useful piece Of mechanism called "Bur-
nells Anemograph," whose purpose it is to
record the direction and the force Of the
wind, and to note the exact time Of ell lie
changes. Il Is al once evident that such q
record may prove Of great advantage 10 the
marine Of Lake Erie. The attention Of sci-
entifc men has OF late been much attracted
to this subject, and Il seems not unroasOna-
bic 10 suppose that the time may come when
the secret OF storms viii be made palmer to
us.
II, for instance, We should be enabled 10
say Of gale or q hurricane, ait will pass in
such direction, and will threaten such a
point We could at once send messages by
telegraph to that point, and be the means
of saving life and property to an indefinite
extent. It is the object Of the "anemo-
graph" TO assist US in attaining the power
70 do this BY means Of continuous record
extending through any length Of time.
It is almost impossible to give any des-
cription that can be cOmprehended, and
which will convey any idea of the manner
In which the "snsmograph" works. We
will simply say then that the 'Windmill"
which turns with the wind, is so arranged
by series Of cog-wheels, that for q certain
humber of revolutions (say 96O,) it acts up
on a rod in such manner as TO draw PEN
ell directly across aslip of paper of perhaps
an inch in width. This paper is moved
steadily by elOekwork, and il is evident that
as the pencil passes back and forth across
II at right angles TO its edge, the mark LEFT
will be a succession Of undulatiOns. OF
course as the wind blows gently or 6ercely,
the wheel viii turn slowly or quickly, and
the modulations will be shorter or longer.
In q similar manner does the ''weather-
cock" &C. upon rod which turns as it turns.
At the lower end of tho rod is affixed
small iron circle from the circumference OF
which project four segmonts Of circles OF
90 degrees each. These are not strictly cir
cles, although approaching to them for
they cannot be described with compasses.
Each of these segments acts upon a separate
pencil, representing one of the points of COM
pass, and no more than two pencils can be
affected at the same time. If the wind
blow from the Northeast, the North aud
East pencil will work together; if the wind
blow Southwest, the South and West PEN
ellis are set to work. The lines described are
short zig-zsg marks, which vary with the
wind and report correctly and unceasingly
its changes from hour 10 hour.
Lieut.. MauTy'a Investigations concerning
the direction and periods of winds on the
Atlanta, has been of incalculable advan-
tage, and 50 may similar researches benefit
US. Let all who are interested, or who take
pleasure in inspecting ingenious mechanism
visit tho Marine Hospital and spend few
moments with BurnelRs Ansmograph,
which will be kept under the charge Of Capt.
stannard, of this city.