ion was made in general terms, and no notice was taken of it.
Subsequently, he forwarded to the British Association of Science, then
convened at Birmingham, a communication of similar tenor; and at a later
date still, a more particular statement of the advantages of his
discoveries to the navigator and agriculturist, was sent to the British
admiralty. The first of these communications was treated with silent
contempt; the last elicited some unimportant reply. In 1844 a memorial
was presented to Congress, accompanied with a certified copy of
_predictions_ of the weather, written several weeks before the event,
and attested in due form by two impartial witnesses; but neither did
this result in any inquiry as to its truth. During the time since
elapsed, he has been engaged in pursuits which prevented him from
pressing the subject elsewhere, until the spring of 1853, he brought
his theory under the notice of the Smithsonian Institution. This led to
a correspondence between himself and the gentlemanly Secretary of the
Institution, whose doubts of the truth of his allegations were expressed
with kindness, and whose courtesy was in strange contrast with the
conduct of others. In the communications which he forwarded to that
Institution, he gave a detailed statement of the difficulties he had met
with, and expressed the hope that an Institution, created for the
purpose of increasing and diffusing knowledge, would feel justified in
lending the influence of its name to facilitate the completion of a
theory which was yet undeniably imperfect. In view of this, a test was
proposed.[1] "Give us, for example, a prediction of the weather for one
month in each season of the year 1854, for the City of Washington." This
test the author refused, for the reason that he did not consider it
necessary to wait so long; but he informed the Secretary of the
Institution, that he would prepare an outline of his theory, which would
enable him to decide upon the merits of the discoveries claimed. This
outline is contained in the following pages. During the summer of 1853
he called upon Professor Henry, then at Chicago, with his manuscript;
but a sudden indisposition prevented that gentleman from having it read.
He, however, strongly recommended its publication from such impressions
he then received.[2] This the author had resolved on, from a sense of
duty to the world at large, although the promise was rather of
prospective loss than of present benefit