onies were all of one mind, no matter from what section they came; there was no disaffected West and loyal East, as might have been the case under other geographical conditions. The spirit of union that animated them can be attributed in no small degree to their close contiguity, while their occupation of a contracted area with their two and a-half million population enabled them to operate in a solid mass against the enemy. They braced themselves against the mountains and fought towards the sea. The bulwark at their back protected them from the onslaughts of the western Indians who were stirred up to hostility by the British agents. Only the few settlements beyond the mountains in Kentucky and Tennessee were exposed to this danger; but, as they were debarred in general from participation in the eastern campaigns against the British, they could give the Indians their undivided attention, and that with highly gratifying results.

For a hundred and fifty years the American people were dammed up against the mountain barriers. The British government, taking its cue from the natural features of the country, forbade all permanent settlement beyond the water-shed of the Alleghanies, for the purpose of keeping the western country as a reserve for the fur trade. Furthermore, the political supremacy of the Mother Country, combined with her selfish commercial policy towards the colonies, operated to keep the population confined to "the Europefronting shore." But the energies aroused by the prosecution of a successful war, and the snapping of the cords which held the colonies in leash to England, enabled the mass of American life to widen the old breaches in the mountains and rush down to the Mississippi valley and beyond, till in half the time it had taken the people to reach the crest of the Alleghanies they were planting their towns on the genial coast of the Pacific.

ELLEN C. SEMPLE.

LOUISVILLE, KY.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS IN SCHOOLS.

Meteorology, or the science of the atmosphere, is a subject that has not been as well or as much taught in our schools as its interest and usefulness fits it to be. Many teachers have hesitated

to attempt the study because of lack of preparation for the work. Much can be done, however, in a simple way, in the study of the weather elements, and the purpose of this paper is to offer some suggestions of a practical nature to those who would be willing to undertake the elementary consideration of the weather and its laws.

There is surely no need to explain at length, on this occasion, the great practical interest and importance of the subject of meteorology; to show how readily it lends itself to teaching, or to set forth how much even an elementary knowledge of it does to make our daily life more interesting. One who knows something of meteorology sees in our ordinary daily weather changes, which to most persons are merely a succession of fair and foul days, constant opportunities for study and ever-recurring examples of the working of the same great physical laws. To such an one the weather ceases to be a tiresome, though most convenient subject of conversation; it becomes an ever-widening field for research. Whoever has given this matter even the most casual thought is aware of these facts. The task for him who wishes to improve and extend meteorological instruction in our schools is not now to argue concerning the importance of his subject. The subject can be left to do that for itself. It is rather to make suggestions that may be of assistance to those who have already begun to teach meteorology, as well as to those who are only waiting for such suggestions in order that they may also begin.

Instruction in meteorology may well commence in the earliest school years, and no teacher need feel that her scholars are too young to make this beginning. At the start the task of the teacher is a very simple one, for it consists only in talking to the children about the weather conditions and changes from day to day, and in asking them a few questions. These changes they unconsciously notice as they come to school, as they go out at recess and on their way home. They cannot help noting that the day is hot or cold, wet or dry, but they do so unconsciously. It is the part of the teacher to draw out from the children the facts as to the weather characteristics of each day, to call attention to important phenomena they have not seen and to lead them to become interested and intelligent, instead of blind and unconscious observers. These preliminary steps are by no means to be con

sidered unimportant or useless. In the hands of a teacher who undertakes this work with interest the children will very soon become trained in intelligent non-instrumental weather observation; they will become familiar with our principal weather types; they will appreciate our larger seasonal changes; and the brighter ones may be able to make simple weather forecasts for themselves, based on wind direction and the condition of the sky. Only a few minutes a day need be given to this work, and it can well be taken just before school or at some other odd moments.

This simple method of gaining an appreciation of some of the fundamental facts of diurnal and seasonal changes is an important step towards a rational understanding of the larger facts of meteorology, to be learned later. It should be followed by observations with instruments, but should by no means be altogether discontinued when the instrumental work is begun. On the contrary, the more extended the latter the more complete and accurate should the former be.

In simple instrumental meteorology, such as can be taken up in the lower grades of any grammar school, there is to be found a most attractive and useful addition to the other school studies. The work is of a different character from the rest, and therefore affords recreation as well as instruction. It requires, if well done, punctuality in taking the observations, neatness in keeping the record, and accuracy in making the readings and finding the averages. Indeed such work gives admirable training entirely apart from the benefit derived from the meteorological knowledge thus gained. It is well to begin with very simple records only, such as temperature, wind directions and velocity, and rain or snowfall. Current observations without the use of instruments should be made in addition to instrumental records, and both sets should be carefully preserved. Such non-instrumental observations should include the state of the sky (clear, fair, cloudy); the kind of precipitation (rain, snow, hail); the time of beginning and ending of the precipitation, and any other notes as to phenomena of interest that may occur.

Temperature is measured by means of the thermometer. For this work a good mounted mercurial thermometer, costing $2.00 or $3.00, should be secured. Cheaper instruments are usually very

inaccurate and are not worth the time spent in reading them. The thermometer ought, if possible, to be hung in an ordinary latticework thermometer shelter, away from buildings, and about four feet above a grass-covered surface. If this is impracticable, as it very likely will be in most cases, it will do sufficiently well to have the instrument fastened outside of a north window as far away from the glass as is possible, allowing for the scale to be read from the inside. The window should never be opened before making the reading.

Wind directions may be taken from a neighboring vane, but care should be exercised to see that the vane is in good working order and swings easily. There is no simple and inexpensive instrument adapted for school use, which gives the velocity of the wind, so that it is usually possible only to estimate the velocity roughly as calm, light, moderate, strong, gale.

The amount of rain or snow may be very roughly ascertained by means of an ordinary tin can, with a sharp, clean-cut upper edge, placed on level ground away from buildings and trees, and fastened so as to prevent its blowing over. A foot rule marked off into inches, halves, quarters and eighths may be used to measure the depth of water in the can. The amount of snowfall is difficult to measure in form of gauge. any It is often easier and more accurate not to try and catch the snow in the gauge, but, selecting some flat space where the snow has not drifted, to press the inverted can down upon the snow, cut out a circular section of snow of exactly the diameter of the gauge, and then melt that quantity of snow. The depth of water produced by the melted snow is the amount of the precipitation.

These observations are most simple and crude, but they are well worth attempting if no better outfit can be provided. If the teacher and scholars are especially interested in the work, and if the means are forthcoming with which a more extended supply of instruments may be purchased, many others may be added. A standard rain-gauge, with its ingenious device for ensuring a more accurate measurement of the rainfall than is possible by means of the rude method above described, should be secured first of all. Then, instead of having only one "ordinary" thermometer, as it is called, a set of maximum and minimum and of wet- and dry-bulb

thermometers should be bought. The former register the highest and lowest temperatures which occur, and should be set every day, while the latter serve to give the dew point and relative humidity of the air. These instruments must be hung in a standard shelter, specially provided for them. A mercurial barometer is a most useful addition to the school-room, and any teacher who is fortunate enough to have one should see that the scholars make good use of it. The reading of a mercurial barometer is by no means an easy matter, and only the older scholars can be expected to use it with any approach to accuracy. The principle of the instrument ought to be thoroughly explained before any readings are made. Should there be opportunity, a Richard self-recording barometer and thermometer might also be added to advantage. These machines, made in Paris and costing about $35.00 each, give continuous records of pressure and temperature. A pen, rising or falling with increase or decrease of temperature and pressure, is held against a sheet of paper placed around a revolving drum. The drum is run by clockwork and the sheet is made to receive the record for one week. By a study of these barograph and thermograph curves, many interesting relations between pressure and temperature can be discovered and, if the curves are studied in connection also with the non-instrumental observations made from day to day, a large number of additional relations between wind direction and velocity and pressure, wind direction and temperature, etc., will be seen. The barograph has the great advantage that it can be kept indoors, for the pressure is the same within as without. The thermograph must, of course, be placed in the thermometer shelter out of doors.*

It is not the intention of the writer to explain the uses of these instruments. Any teacher who takes up this work is advised to secure from the Chief of the Weather Bureau, Washington, D. C., a copy of the "Instructions for Volunteer Observers,"

* Standard Weather Bureau instruments of the kinds above mentioned, with the exception of the two last named, can be purchased of H. J. Green, 1191 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y., at the following prices: Maximum and minimum thermometers, $7.50 to $8.75; wet and dry bulb thermometers, $7.50 ; rain gauge, $5.25; wind vane, $8.00; anemoneter, $22.50, with batteries and attachments complete, $24 extra. The Richard barograph and thermograph can be obtained of Glaenzer & Co., 80 Chambers St., New York.