'The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. From January 1863 to December 1864. (Edited by the Secretary.) Volume XVII.' [‎105] (134/524)

BOMBAY GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.
CV '
to a physical observer, when a fact of so remarkable a nature as this
depression in the temperature of the dry bulb thermometer had been de
duced from a comparison of observations not originally directed to this
point, would be to establish a special set of experiments, by which,
carefully eliminating all possible sources of error, the original conclusion
might be either verified or disproved. Until now, often as he had
heard this statement of Professor Orlebar quoted, he had always been
under the fullest impression that it was given as the result of distinct
observations, and not of mere deduction from recorded observations,
which as now shown were not even simultaneous. The utmost dis
couragement ought to be given to such an easy-going and unphiloso-
phical system of deduction.
Mr. Burgess remarked, that he fully agreed with Dr, Haines in
thinking it was unphilosophical to found any such deductions as Mr.
Orlebar’s on old observations, without submitting the question to the
test of direct experiment, when it could have been so easily done ; but
even if this had been otherwise impracticable, he thought it was unsci
entific to derive any conclusion from the differences of readings of the
two instruments in a comparatively small number of isolated cases,
occurring in the course of a whole year, and among which differences
no sort of consistency existed. He remembered having read somewhere
of the effect Professor Orlebar supposed he had discovered; and though
suspicions of its value, he had never seen it explained, and was glad to
find that Mr. Broun had been able to trace out the somewhat curious
origin of the error, and to dispose of it so satisfactorily. This led him
to remark, that he thought it strange the Bombay Observatory should
have so long persisted in making its observations for the Gottingen day.
Had all other observatories continued to do the same, there would have
been every reason why it should be employed here also j but this was
not the case; and as the Gottingen day does not correspond exactly to
the day either farther east or west, if it is employed there is the disad
vantage that a number of the hourly observations at the end of the week
cannot be compared with others made in neighbouring longitudes, no
observations being made anywhere on the local Sunday.
At the conclusion of these remarks, the Secretary read Mr. Broun’s
second paper, <t On an effect of the Atmosphere upon the Magnetic in
tensity of the earth supposed to be found in the Bombay Magnetical
Observations from 1847 to 1862.”
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