Excerpt from Annals of the Dudley Observatory, Vol. 2

The chief Obstacle, hitherto, has been in the imperfection of the methods Of observation. The results, in order to be Of value as data from which to construct a science, should present a continuous record of the phenomena during a considerable period Of time, and taken at as many different stations as possible. By the ordinary method Of personal Observation, this is well nigh impracticable. It would demand at every station the services of several Observers, at great expense; and their results could only, at best, be more or less Of an approach to what is desired. TO Obtain this, the only alternative is to substitute some mechanical means for the labor of personal Observation in short, to make the instrument record its own changes. If this can be done in a Single instance, it can be done continuously.

The only method by which this has been hitherto attempted with success has been by the application Of photography.viii introduction.

This, though a very considerable advance, and probably all that could be desired in respect Of continuity and accuracy of the record, is liable perhaps to the Objection that it is too complicated a process for general use. If we consider the skill requisite in the preparation of the paper, the delicacy Of manipulation involved by the apparatus, and the labor of interpreting the results, as compared with the average capacity and means Of the great number of Observers desired and likely to volunteer or be employed for such a purpose, it would seem that a simpler process is both desirable and necessary. This it has been my intention to furnish, and with what success remains for time and experience to deter mine.

The problem to be solved was, to cause any meteorological instrument, by means of suitable mechanism, simply and effectually to record its own changes. The instrument selected for experiment was the barometer. When any delicate instrument is made to record its own changes by mechanical means, the chief difficulty is that Of getting sufficient power for the mechanism attached to make a distinct and continuous record, without taking a perceptible amount of force from the instrument itself, and thereby vitiating the results. The use Of electricity naturally sug gested itself as the best means Of overcoming this Obstacle. This agency has not as yet been made economical or certain as a motor, but is chiefly valuable in controlling power obtained through some other means. By it, as may be seen in its application to clock work, and in the telegraph, the movements Of one machine may be reproduced in another, with no greater expenditure of force than is requisite for electrical contact. In the cases cited, however, the motion to be reproduced is sensibly uniform and in the same direction. For the solution of our problem, a mechanism is demanded that shall repeat the changes of the original in every form.

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