umes which their descendants naiurauy 
treasured. But, as wemow see, from the very 
nature of things, these huge volumes throw 
little practical light upon the subject, and 
really proved a hindrance rather than a help, 
for by them "wise" sons had learned what 
they had supposed was, wisdom from their 
fathers. They had supposed themselves to 
be on a sure and enviable road, and through 
this, supposed wisdom they were blind and 
neglectful of the new revelations From 
1870 the weather map quietly advanced. At 
first it did not reveal much, and'it was not 
expected it would or could. The territory 
was new and it necessarily took a number of 
years to accumulate a sufficient number of 
facts and to present th'ein in such a shape as 
to be of value. .. r. 
About 1876 the map had reached an ap- 
preciable degree of perfection. But those in 
charge of it, like true men of science, were 
not satisfied. With more and more light 
upon the subject came more and more de- 
grees of perfection, until the present satis- 
factory .was reached. All who 
have studied the text books on the subject 
will remember the explanation of the cause 
of rain, and how it was illustrated by a fipe 
engraving of a mountain, across the top of 
which clouds were being blown by the wind, 
which on the other side were by colder cur- 
rents converted into rain. 
This is a fine illustration of the ingenuity 
of man ; if he does not know of any good 
and true reason he will often invent one. 
If there was anything in this mountaiu 
chain theory we would need mountains in- 
terspersed with plains at every hundred 
miles or less. When we come to learn 
something definite in regard to the weather 
we learn that in this respect the mountain 
chains have little or no effect; that the storm 
center " low " (low barometer) interspersed 
with "high" (high barometer) is the ■while 
moving over the country, and that neither 
mountain nor valley produces any such re- 
sult. The topography cf the country un- 
doubtedly has its effect on the factors wb 
term " high " and " low," but no such effect 
as the old school'illustration would imply,.. 
Through the weather map we learn of the 
movements of high and low barometer, and 
that these move on general lines from the 
west toward the eust, sometimes moving in 
The Weather Map.-The weather 
map was a late acquisition to the scientific 
knowledge of the world-and well demon- 
strates the fact of the inductive methods of 
science. We could no v more under- 
stand our weather phenomena until 
the facts in regard b to 'them had 
been accumulated and formulated than 
we could have our complete ship until all 
the necessary material had been gathered 
and fashioned by the hands of the master 
builder. The map was started in 1870, but 
like all new things, it was of little value 
until it had acquired a certain state of per- 
fection. ' 
In one sense this map may be termed one 
of the grand rnsults of the late war, and to 
the signal a bureau of the War De- 
partment, are we indebted chiefly for it. At 
the close Of the war, the signal service had 
little or nothing to do, but after a few years 
the idea was conceived of making it usefuj 
in the arts of peace. The field was new*. 
They had something of the kind in Europe, 
but there was no such favorable field for 
their labors aS we had hefe. Our territory, 
in the rough comprising a paralellogram of 
1,500 miles from north to south and 3,00® 
iniles from east to west, all under one gen. 
eral government, with a'network of tele- 
graph wires, whereby messages could be 
sent from all parts of th:s wide domain to 
some one center like Washington was in- 
deed most favorable. The world never be- 
fore had such an opportunity for obtain- 
ing information in .regard to that strat- 
um of nature which lies between the 
heavens and the earth, and which is the 
medium whereby the earth is blessed and 
its productive qualities made available. 
Years ago the wise men thought they knew 
something about meteorology. They pub- 
lished huge volumes on the subject-vol- 48 
THE JO UJiNAL 
Jiwy 
a northerly, or even a southerly direction, 
;bUt always advancing toward the rising sun. 
The mount »in chains, relatively to us, may 
be very high and:f8rmida'blb, but relatively 
to these tlfey h'rd of no more account 
than the unevenness of the world to the 
globe if s a flraW? 
The1 vdlue of the weather map consists in 
telligent people of this country realized the 
value of these stations, not another 'session 
of Congress would pass without au ample 
appropriation for such additional stations in 
the extreme West, from southwest to north- 
west, as would make our system more com- 
plete, at least so far as our own territory is 
considered. 
following it up day by day, month by month, 
and year by yea'-. It takes us up, as it 
wtere, to an exceedingly high pinnacle and 
show's us the weather conditions Of the 
earth, and the limit is only bounded by the 
range of the signal stations. The more 
numerousare they,and the greater the extent 
of territory they cover, the greater the prac- 
tical benefit to be derived therefrom, If thein- 
The system could be made further bene, 
ficial to us by stations in Mexico, and by 
ocean stations in the Gulf of Mexico, and off 
the Pacific coast 500 to 1,000 miles, the fur- 
ther to the westward the better. .Indeed, 
we should like to have them around, the 
wrrld, and to this the future will undoubt- 
edly see. Our present [system,( so far as it 
goes, is quite as perfect as it can be, 1888.] 
AND SCIENCE OF HEALTH. 
49 
Now, as herein stated, the weather map 
is the only medium whereby we can under- 
stand and 'appropriate 'this .useful knowl- 
edge, but the weather map is only published 
at Washington, and can not, like a news- 
paper (except at enormous expense), be re- 
produced in the cities of the country. Be- 
sides, a map published here can not be of 
fuff value very far away, and the farther 
away, and the more"the time required 
to receive it the less the practical value. 
If, however, we can'not have the map itsejf 
we can have, and that at slight cost, a val- 
uable substitute. 
Let maps of the United Sta'es be printed 
in blank form which shall be 'divided into 
convenient sized squares, formed by lines of 
latitude and longitude. As to the size of 
these squares let that be determined by the 
convenience of those who have the matter 
in charge ; the all important thing is to 
have the system uniform, and all maps, 
whether large or small, should be divided 
into the same relative number of squares. 
These squares to be lettered or numbered,as 
most convenient; it may be the better plan 
to combine figures and letters. The signal 
office at Washington receives the reports 
from the various points throughout the 
country, and after preparing its regular 
map and noting how the lines of barometric 
pressure are distributed,'report the same by 
telegraph all over the country. The lines of 
" high " and low in such and such squares, 
or on such and such lines. The old "low", i. 
e., the " low" that has passed the farthest to 
the eastward, is in such a square, or on 
such a line. ' ' High " is marked in such and 
such other squares. The new " low " in the 
west, north', or southwest is indicated. 
The most convenient plan might be to 
have the squares numbered,"and the angles 
of the squares lettered. This would permit 
us to locate the lines of " low " and " high '> 
and to describe fine points with very little 
trouble. 
Let the public once become accustomed to 
this system and it will operate mutually to' 
the benefit of themselves and the signal 
office. From it they will imperceptibly 
learn something positive about the weather? 
All such humbugs as " weather prophets" 
will be driven from the field, for then the 
public will perceive how vain and presump- 
tuous are their attempts to forecast tha 
weather for weeks and months in advance. 
Something 'after this nature. ;I am sure-, 
will undoubtedly be the meteorological sys- 
tem of the future. Not only may we have, 
the Skeleton map in our offices, but it may 
be on a large scale at prominent central 
places throughout the country. At these 
places we may have a large skeleton map of 
the United States on a blackboard or slate- 
some material on which lines may readily be 
drawn. When a report is received a handy 
person with a piece of chalk'can, by making 
a few lines on this map, reveal to the ob- 
server the meteorological conditions of the 
hour. It would be well to have these reports 
at least three times a day, morning, noon, 
and evening. 
Again the map may be on a very small 
scale, sufficiently small so to be set in a col- 
umn of the daily newspaper. In place of 
the present indications underneath the map 
let the report of location of "high" and 
"low" appear. ; When 'the public be- 
come familiar with the new system I do 
not think they would willingly go back to 
the old. They will not only be warned as 
to the next twelve or twenty-four hours, but 
will see what new storms are developing in 
the West, and the better note the effect of a 
storm as it ad vane as toward the east. 
There is nothing impracticable or visionary 
about this i llx ; it is simple and instructive. 
It is to be hoped that the public will become 
interested in the matter and sanction and 
support the steps necessary to make it a 
reality. 
ISAAC P. NOYES. *