Essay on the Variations of the Atmospheric Pressure over Siberia and Eastern Asia, during the Months of January and February 1890 [Shanghai Meteorological Society. Fourth Annual Report for the Year 1895] CHEVALIER, Stanislas

A rare and groundbreaking work on the meteorology of Eastern Asia and the Eastern Pacific by the French Jesuit missionary Stanislas Chevalier (1852-1930), a scientist, skilled cartographer, explorer and the father of modern meteorology in China. CHEVALIER, Stanislas, S.J. (Director of the Zi-Ka-Wei Observatory, President of the S.M.S.). Essay on the Variations of the Atmospheric Pressure over Siberia and Eastern Asia, during the Months of January and February 1890 [Shanghai Meteorological Society. Fourth Annual Report for the Year 1895] Zi-Ka-Wei (Shanghai), Printed at the Catholic Mission Press, 1896. FIRST and ONLY EDITION. Small 4to, [2], iv, 28 pp., with 2 double-page plates ("Barometric variations and winds observed at N. E. Shantung Promontory, Zi-Ka-Wei, and Pescadores during the month of January 1890" and "Barometric variations and winds. during the month of February 1890") and 30 final leaves of lithographic color plates on both recto and verso for a total of 120 illustrations (synoptic charts). Ex German scientific library copy from the DDR with stamps on t-p (Meteorologischer Dienst der DDR: "Meteorolog. Dienst. d. DDR / Fachabt. Bibl. u. Veröff. / - Zentralbibliothek - Postdam"; KGL. PR. METEOROL. INSTITUT / OBSERVATORIUM POSTDAM). Solidly bound in contemporary quarter cloth and marbled paper, gilt letterings tooled to the spine. Excellent condition. Very rare, printed at the Zi-Ka-Wei missionary education centre in the Xuhui District, Shanghai. "The fourth Annual Report of the Shanghai Meteorological Society contains an interesting essay on the variations of the atmospheric pressure over Siberia and Eastern Asia during the months of January and February 1890, by the Rev. S. Chevalier, S.J., Director of the Zi-ka-wei Observatory, and President of the Society. The investigation was undertaken to elucidate some of the more doubtful points relating to winter storms in the Eastern seas, and for this purpose synoptic charts have been drawn twice daily for the period in question, showing the distribution of barometric pressure over Siberia and Eastern Asia, based chiefly upon the reports issued by the Russian, Chinese and Japanese services. The conclusions arrived at show that while some of the cyclonic storms may make a tour of the globe, most of them experience great difficulty in crossing Western Siberia, and are generally deflected towards the North Pole by the high pressure prevailing over Central Siberia. The depressions over Siberia, though far distant from the coasts of China, affect, at least indirectly, the weather of those parts; and the author finds that the winter storms of China are very generally preceded by the passage of extra-tropical cyclones. The violence of the gales not only depends upon the depth of the disturbance, but also upon the character of the high-pressure areas in the rear of the depression." (Nature, March 11 1897). OCLC shows only 3 locations, one of them in the US: Harvard.