Abstract
THE provision for observational work in terrestrial magnetism is different in kind in different countries, and in some countries—Great Britain, for example—the provision made is of more than one kind. The object in view may be purely utilitarian, or purely scientific, or partly both. Originally the provision of information necessary for the use of the compass was the one utilitarian object generally recognised. To secure this object to the best advantage, the natural course is to make a single department responsible for the running of magnetic observatories, the taking of field observations and the preparation of charts. Thus, in the United States the Coast and Geodetic Survey controls the whole of official terrestrial magnetism. The number and position of the observatories—Sitka, Cheltenham, Tucson, Vieques (Porto Rico), and Honolulu—is determined primarily by survey considerations. The same idea prevailed to a certain extent in India, but the oldest magnetic observatory, Alibag-regarded as the continuation of Colaba, Bombay-represents a more usual form of development.
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CHREE, C. The Geographical Distribution of Magnetic Observatories. Nature 118, 273–275 (1926). https://doi.org/10.1038/118273a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/118273a0