The New York herald., 1879-09-11
A Modern Don auixote.

a
The bad weather that has prevailed on the
other side of the Atlantic during the past
summer seems to have had a very curious
effect on the brains Of q few old fogies in
England. We do not know by what techni-
cal name the lnalady should be designated,
but it is certainly very demoralizing in its
effects. One case, and evidently an aggra-
waited one, is that of man who tries
to overcome the depressing influence of
the moisture laden atmosphere that per-
vades the British Islands by writing long
article on weather Forecasts" for the Au-
gust number of Fraser's Magazine. The
name of tkis distinguished scientist" is F.
X. Laughton. We do not know Mr.. Laugh
ton, and therefore cannot tell where or
how his meteorological training was looked
after, but by the article that comes from his
pen we should judge that his studies we're
confined to gratuitous and instructive drug
store almanacs, containing information of
all kinds, from the coming eclipses to
the history of the discovery of the patent
medicine they advertise. After q close
study of this kind of literature the writer Of
the Hdser's Magazine article has come to the
conclusion that all the acknowledged au-
thorities on meteorology are wrong and that
he has at last solved the great problem of
the heavens. With his reckless way of MAX
ing cyclones turn round and charge down
from the north we have nothing to
do. It is also matter of indifference
whether he thinks that the air is
thrown outward by centrifugal force"
or not. What we would call attention
to is the utter absurdity Of his statements
in regard to the HERALD Weather Bureaus
work and the movements of storms across
the Atlantic. He complains that the
HERALD Weather Bureau has determined to
veil its predictions in mystery, SO that he
cannot speak of them with certainty. He
can, however, boast of having made one
startling discovery; for he tells us ''that NO
cyclone has ever been proved to have crossed
the Atlantic, and that in special cases it has
been proved that cyclone appearing on
the English coasts about the time an Ameri-
can storm might be supposed to be due was
was broken up on the way and
never crossed some stated meridian" The
latter statement only goes to show con-
clusively how ignorant of even the rudi-
ments of meteorology is this critical
scientist" The HERALD Weather Bureau
never stated that all storms crossed the
ocean with the same amount of energy they
possess while moving off the American
coast. On the contrary, storm centres in
the greater number of cases are partially
dissipated while moving in mid-ocean. bat
they redevelop energy when they pass a
certain degree of longitude. There have
been many instances in which cyclonic
storms moved across the ocean with un-.
abated violence, as has been conclusively
proved on the evidence Of captains of ves-
sells who encountered them during their
passage. Perhaps the most ridiculous
statement made by this Frdser's Magazine
scientist" is the following:-"As far
as we know the greater number of
the cyclonic disturbances which come
to this country originate near the
Banks of Newfoundland and still further
east, where the Gulf Stream and the Arctic
current come together" Nothing could be
more absurd than this assertion. Our criti-
cal scientist" fails to see the difference
between the origin and redevelopment Of
storm. A storm has never been experienced
| on the Banks of Newfoundland unless il
came from either the northwest, west or
southwest, as will be seen by q careful
study of the meteorological charts Of that
section of the country. Many storms that
have done great deal of damage through
out the country dissipate somewhat on
approaching the coast and move over the
New England and Middle Atlantic States
| as depression. When they advance into
the ocean, however, they again redevelop
energy and pass as storms to about the for
tieth meridian. In support of his ludicrous
assertions the Fraser's Magazine "philoso-
pher" quotes from Professor Loomis, who,
he says, is the highest Of all American au-
thorities, which certainly is information
to citizens of this Republic. Professor
Loomis opinion may be very good, but un-
fortunately the storms have as little regard
for it as did the meteors of 1866. We
should like to hear intelligent argument on
such subjects as meteorology, because there
is always something to be learned; but we
would inform this scientific Don Quixote
| pronounced Donkey-hote) that when he
attacks o "windmill" or "HERALD storm
mandatory" that has its foundations laid
on solid facts he will meet with reception
similar to that of his erratic prototype OF
romance.