e of
all classes upon its success, are now in a greater measure appreciated;
and none can fail to see the value of a correct understanding of the
weather to the agriculturist, how short-sighted soever they may be, in
relation to its direct influence upon their own prosperity and happiness.

Our country is, physically, a most favored one. The facts disclosed or
alluded to in this volume show that it is without a parallel on the face
of the globe; and our facilities for meteorological observation, and the
ascertainment and practical application of meteorological truth, are
equally pre-eminent. The great extent and unbroken surface of the eastern
portion of the continent; its excessive supply of magnetism and
atmospheric currents, and the consequent marked character of the
phenomena; the existence and prospective increase of telegraph lines over
most of its surface; the homogeneous and energetic character of a
population united, upon so large a surface, under one government; the
freedom of that government from debt, and the excess of its revenue; the
possession of a National Observatory, with a competent philosopher at its
head; and a national institution, liberally endowed, and adapted to the
collection and diffusion of practical and scientific intelligence, give
us an opportunity and a capacity for connected observation and
investigation, and an ability to profit by it, that no other nation can
boast.

We have, too, a just national pride. Our exploring ships have penetrated
and made discoveries in both hemispheres, and our travelers have visited
successfully every clime; and thus our national interests, and
obligations, and pride, demand an organization, practical and permanent,
in relation to this subject, and the time will come when we shall have it.

When that time comes--when the present _limited horizon_ of each of us is
_practically extended over the entire country_--and when the actual state
of the weather over every part of it is known, at the same time, to the
inhabitants of every other, and every where _read in the light of a
correct philosophy_, prognostication will be comparatively simple and
certain; and A PROGRESS will have been made, productive of an amount of
pecuniary, intellectual, and social benefit to the people, which can not
be overestimated. May it come before the shadows of the night of death
have gathered around us, that we may have a more perfect view of that
atmospheric machinery which distin