Transition Studies 43
the leading English meteorologists. The history of weather forecasting in England starts from Admiral R. Fitzroy of `storm cone' fame'. By his exertions the English Meteorological Office was founded in 1854. Fitzroy had more enthusiasm than science. . On his death in 1865 the Board of Trade appointed a small departmental committee to consider the whole subject. It consisted of Mr (afterwards Lord) Fairer, then permanent secretary of the
~~~_ 1 t ROUGH
1 i
I 1
<n 1
3 I
410 0 Clear iI
I I
420 /SJ_IGHT
Ar_~ Clear
340
Snow
350
Clear
TR
A
\ 430 Fog
10
Du
3B"
Bar:
1k 410 Rising 440
out ~~ 3W
400
i
Dull
4 ; , 11
Clear 29,9
J 11
520
aio
SEA
The dotted lines indicate the gradations of barometrical pressure, the figures at the end showing the height, with the words " Rising," " Falling," &c., as required. The temperature at the principal stations is marked by figures, the state of the sea and sky by words. The direction and force of the wind are shown by arrows, barbed and feathered according to its force. O denotes calm.
Galton's Weather Map, The Times, April 1, 1875.
Board of Trade, Captain Frederick Evans, the Hydrographer, and Francis Galton. They reported in 1866, and as a result of their report the Meteorological Committee was appointed in 1868 with Galton as a member. This committee worked for some years, but it was felt that a wider scope of action was desirable, and after a second Government committee appointed by the Board of Trade and Treasury conjointly, Galton again being a member, it emerged as the Meteorological Council, and of this Galton was a member until 1901.
1 Better known to some of our readers as the Captain Fitzroy of the Beagle; the surveying ship on which Charles Darwin sailed as Naturalist.
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