DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20140#0040
16
meteorological materials.
Many of the scientific periodicals having no registers sufficiently detailed, my
looking them through for such materials took up much time; but finally I could not but
be perfectly satisfied with the variety of data I had found. Shorter notices about climate
which I could no more enumerate in the following list, may be met with in other local
publications, such as Medical topographies, Statistics, Records from the revenue depart-
ments; I left them out for abbreviation, and chiefly because most of the information they
contain may be considered as included already in the communications I quoted. Also in
Thomson's "Gazetteer" most of the articles on "provinces" contain some notes on
climate.
The history and the great variety of Ancient Indian Literature might allow one to
expect that some data could be met there in connection with the question whether
or not changes in the climate could be traced. Nothing precise in form, naturally,
could be expected; even in Europe everywhere science had made many a profound
discovery before the pagan form of prediction of wind and weather had been
limited by the study of the physical causes upon which they depend. What I looked
for, at least, was to find some data for exceptional meteorological phenomena; but in
vain, and Jyotisha, the sacred Vedaic calendar, arose simply from the necessity of
teaching how to fix the proper time for sacrificial acts, and what it contains of lunar
and solar astronomy is of very little value, even fully allowing for its antiquity.
For study and information, particularly for those of my Indian readers who may be
inclined to add to the stock of our materials by taking an active part in observations
and researches, I quote for physical geography in general Mrs. Sommerville's and Sir
John Herschel's recent works; for meteorology exclusively we have in German the
well-known larger works of Kamptz1 und Schmid, and various Handbooks of recent
date.
In the arrangement of the list of Literature the provinces and stations are given in
alphabetical succession; in the quotations the year, as the most important of the details,
is put first; in many instances, such as Tear-books, even in some of the regular periodical
publications, pages could not be quoted because several parts of the same volume begin
1 Kamtz, "Handbuch," 4 vols. 1836; E. E. Schmid, "Lehrbuch," 18G0; Muhry, "Allgeineine geogr. Meteorologie,"
1860; Cornelius, "Meteorologie," 1863, &c. In French, Martins, "Cours complet de Meteorologie de Kamptz," 1858.
An appendix on graphical representation by Lalanne is added. — Compare also Fh. Galton's "Meteorographica,"
London, Macmillan and Co., 1864.
meteorological materials.
Many of the scientific periodicals having no registers sufficiently detailed, my
looking them through for such materials took up much time; but finally I could not but
be perfectly satisfied with the variety of data I had found. Shorter notices about climate
which I could no more enumerate in the following list, may be met with in other local
publications, such as Medical topographies, Statistics, Records from the revenue depart-
ments; I left them out for abbreviation, and chiefly because most of the information they
contain may be considered as included already in the communications I quoted. Also in
Thomson's "Gazetteer" most of the articles on "provinces" contain some notes on
climate.
The history and the great variety of Ancient Indian Literature might allow one to
expect that some data could be met there in connection with the question whether
or not changes in the climate could be traced. Nothing precise in form, naturally,
could be expected; even in Europe everywhere science had made many a profound
discovery before the pagan form of prediction of wind and weather had been
limited by the study of the physical causes upon which they depend. What I looked
for, at least, was to find some data for exceptional meteorological phenomena; but in
vain, and Jyotisha, the sacred Vedaic calendar, arose simply from the necessity of
teaching how to fix the proper time for sacrificial acts, and what it contains of lunar
and solar astronomy is of very little value, even fully allowing for its antiquity.
For study and information, particularly for those of my Indian readers who may be
inclined to add to the stock of our materials by taking an active part in observations
and researches, I quote for physical geography in general Mrs. Sommerville's and Sir
John Herschel's recent works; for meteorology exclusively we have in German the
well-known larger works of Kamptz1 und Schmid, and various Handbooks of recent
date.
In the arrangement of the list of Literature the provinces and stations are given in
alphabetical succession; in the quotations the year, as the most important of the details,
is put first; in many instances, such as Tear-books, even in some of the regular periodical
publications, pages could not be quoted because several parts of the same volume begin
1 Kamtz, "Handbuch," 4 vols. 1836; E. E. Schmid, "Lehrbuch," 18G0; Muhry, "Allgeineine geogr. Meteorologie,"
1860; Cornelius, "Meteorologie," 1863, &c. In French, Martins, "Cours complet de Meteorologie de Kamptz," 1858.
An appendix on graphical representation by Lalanne is added. — Compare also Fh. Galton's "Meteorographica,"
London, Macmillan and Co., 1864.