Abstract
MR. F. Y. EDGEWORTH has, in NATURE of September 22 (p. 482), replied to Dr. Venn's letter from the mathematica standpoint; perhaps a few words from the meteorological side may not be out of place. The gist of Dr. Venn's remarks lies in his statement that the law of error applies to cases where there are “equal and opposite independent disturbing causes” (September 1, p. 412). Now, the excess and defect of barometrical pressure from the average, depend mainly on anticyclones and cyclones respectively, which though in many respects opposite in character are by no means equal, the latter being much more intense than the former; and there is no reason in the nature of the case why they should be equal, as many of their characteristics are so dissimilar.
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BACKHOUSE, T. The Law of Error. Nature 36, 531 (1887). https://doi.org/10.1038/036531a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/036531a0
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