Abstract
DR. MELDRUM'S name is inseparably connected with the fortunes of the Royal Alfred Observatory. The value of his researches in meteorology, especially in cyclonic movements of the atmosphere, has been repeatedly acknowledged. The simple rules that he has enunciated for the handling of ships during hurricanes in the Southern Seas are based upon rigorous scientific grounds, and though it may be true that no completely satisfactory rule is possible for determining more than the approximate position of the central vortex of a cyclone by any observations at a single station, yet in a majority of cases the mariner who trusts strictly to the instructions provided will find himself in a position of safety. The recent publication of the Mauritius magnetic reductions by Mr. Claxton, the present director of the Royal Alfred Observatory, shows that Dr. Meldrum devoted himself not less energetically to the study of the absolute determinations of the magnetic elements of his station. We may never arrive at the happy condition foreshadowed by Gauss, when trustworthy and complete observations from all parts of the earth shall be obtained, but the possession of a continuous record from a distant outlying station has a value peculiarly its own, and may act as a stimulus to the establishment of other observatories in localities where they are most needed to provide material for the discussion of the amount of change in the magnetic potential of the earth, of which the simultaneous magnetic disturbances afford evidence.
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Magnetic Observations at Mauritius1. Nature 60, 189 (1899). https://doi.org/10.1038/060189a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/060189a0