New-York tribune., 1905-12-18
PROGRESS IN METEOROLOGY.

No part of the annual report of Professor
| Willis L. Moore, chief Of the United States
Weather Bureau. the full text Of which is now
available possesses greater interest than his
references to the Mount Weather observatory,
which was established two three years ago.
At that institution q variety Of researches are
In progress. One relates to the movements of
the upper air currents, and is conducted by
means of kites and sounding balloons, some
of the latter reaching an altitude Of fifteen or
twenty miles. Since temperature changes in
the lower atmospheric strata and other phenom-
ena observed at the surface of the earth are
apparently influenced to q certain extent by
forces which are first manifested at a greater
elevation, the wisdom of widening the scope Of
the study of atmospheric mechanics must be
obvious to any intelligent person.
An equally important and much more novel
fine of inquiry undertaken at Mount Weather
is intended to discover whether the suns out
put of heat fiuctuates. 1t has been suspected
that it does, but guesswork is not trustworthy.
What is needed is precise information. With
a particularly delicate bit Of apparatus per-
fected by Professor Langley and with other in
struments this question has recently been at
tackled in more promising fashion than was
practicable q few years ago So vast are the
agricultural interests and allied industries the
prosperity of which is dependent ON sunshine
branch of work at Mount Weather fully justi-
fies the establishment of a special observatory
there.
But still other Investigations are also in
progress at that institution. The hypothesis
that solar disturbances of which sun spots are
symptom might exert an influence ter
restrial conditions except to interfere slightly
with telegraphic operations and excite auroral
display-formerly met with little encourage
Jo1 c. I;c
tinguished a physicist as Lord Kelvin was long
skeptical about the possibility of solar mag
netism affecting the weather on the earth.
Computations from the old formul8 discredited
the idea that, if the sun was magnet
as there is some reason for supposing it to be-
variations in the intensity of it's power could
be felt here. The Swedish chemist Arrhenius,
has evolved doctrine about the electrical con-
ductivity Cor ionization) of gases which seems
to meet the difficulty. At any rate, the mere
chance that it may prove helpful clew to
the mystery of solar influence on the weather
has led the chief Of the Weather Bureau to
institute series of observations of ionizatioD
of the air, thus giving fresh illustration of
his progressive spirit
Professor Moore is to be commended for
recognizing so fully the need of investigation.
In some foreign countries research is deemed
more important than forecasting. In this
estimate is placed on the relative merits of the
two classes of service. All the same it would
be unfortunate TO abandon research altogether.
Like medicine, meteorology is an inexact sci
ence, and many problems remain TO be solved
before its full possibilities can be realized
The United States has undoubtedly contributed
more than other nations to its development,
but that is no reason for stopping. On the
other hand, Americans will feel pride in the
offOT tc holm do IN moi oin fha
One of the latest features of the bureaus
work is an extension of forecasting to the At
lantic Ocean. For that sort of service the
United States enjoys an exceptional geographic
cal advantage. The general direction in which
storms and cold waves travel is to the east
ward or northeastward. The headquarters of
the American bureau, like the most densely
populated part of the country, is situated
near the eastern edge of the continent The
progress of important disturbances on land can
be watched for day or two-sOmetimeS longer
before Washington, New York and Boston
are reached; and something than a
shrewd guess regarding their future course is
then practicable. Many of the storms which
make mischief in and near Europe come from
the west, too Expert meteoroogists there
however. are unable to discover them before
they arrive from sea, and consequently they
cannot give warnings 10 ships on the North
Atlantic. The United States can, because it
has more information. This is not so much
as could be desired. but ii is vastly more than
Europe can obtain. BY degrees wireless teieg-
graphy viii increase the store of available
knowledge about disturbances which appear on
the Atlantic without being originated in this