COLONEL SYKESsaid, he wished to ask the President of the Board of Trade, If any and what arrangements are making for taking systematic and permanent Meteorological Observations either at the Board of Trade or at the Greenwich and Kew Observatories, for British objects; and whether Foreign Governments will be invited to co-operate, by causing simultaneous Meteorological Observations to be made with a view to arriving at a knowledge of the physical laws which cause atmospheric changes?
§ MR. MILNER GIBSONSir, after the death of Admiral Fitzroy it was thought desirable to refer the question of the future arrangements for the conduct of the business of the Meteorological Department to a Committee of Inquiry, the members of which should be named by the Admiralty, the Board of Trade, and the Royal Society. This has been done, and the Committee are on the point of making their Report. Until this Report has been received and considered it is not possible to give a satisfactory reply to the Question of my hon. and gallant Friend.