If the poet Seneca was well informed, mankind, in the infancy of
navigation, had no particular names for distinguishing the principal
winds[661]. This is not at all incredible; because with their rafts and
floats, which were the first vessels, they for a long time ventured
out to sea only so far that they could easily return to the shore; and
therefore while navigation continued in this state, they had little
reason to trouble themselves about the direction of the winds. It is
more certain that those nations respecting whom we have the oldest
information, distinguished by names the four principal winds only. This
is generally proved by a passage in Homer, where he intends to mention
all the winds, and names only four[662]; but this proof is of little
weight; for what poet at present would, with the like view, think of
boxing the compass, or of introducing into a poem the names of all the
thirty-two points? Would he not rather be satisfied with the names
of the four chief winds alone? If more names, therefore, were usual
in Homer’s time, he would not consider it necessary to name them. In
another passage he names only two winds[663]; and from these some have
endeavoured to prove that no more were then known; but this assertion
indeed is completely refuted by the passage first quoted. It can,
however, be easily proved, that for a long time names were given to the
four principal winds only.
It is easily seen what at first gave rise to this distinction. The sun
at noon stands always over one point of the horizon, which appears
to the observer as a circle, having the place where he himself is at
its centre. This point is called the meridian or south, and the one
opposite to it the north. If the observer turns his face towards the
north, he will have on his right-hand the east, and on his left the
west. The space between these principal winds contains ninety degrees,
or a right angle. The number, however, must soon have been raised to
eight, and this division was usual in the time of Aristotle[664].
Afterwards twelve points in the heavens were adopted, also as many
winds; and in the time of Vitruvius twenty-four were distinguished and
named, though this division was very little used. To determine the
names, however, employed in the last two divisions is attended with
some difficulties; and it almost appears as if writers did not always
apply to them the same meaning.
The Greeks considered Æolus as the first person who made navigators
acquainted with the winds. He is said to have ruled over the Volcanic
islands, afterwards named the Æolian; and if this be true, he would
certainly have a good opportunity of observing the weather, and marking
the winds by the smoke continually rising up there from burning
volcanoes. This celebrated personage, who received Ulysses on his
return from the Trojan war, by the knowledge thus obtained may have
assisted navigators, who afterwards made known the services which he
rendered to them.
The antiquity of the division into thirty-two points, used at
present, I am not able to determine. Riccioli thinks that they have
been employed since the time of Charles the Great, but I do not know
whether this can be proved. That assertion perhaps is founded only on
the opinion, that this emperor gave German names to the winds and the
quarters of the world. This indeed is stated by his historian Eginhart,
who mentions the names, which I shall here insert, together with the
Latin names added by Eginhart, and those usual at present[665].
Subsolanus _Ostroniwind_ EAST.
Eurus _Ostsundroni_ East-south-east.
Euroauster _Sundostroni_ South-east.
Auster _Sundroni_ SOUTH.
Austroafricus _Sundwestroni_ South-south-west.
Africus _Westsundroni_ South-west.
Zephyrus _Westroni_ WEST.
Corus _Westnordroni_ West-north-west.
Circius _Nordwestroni_ North-west.
Septemtrio _Nordroni_ NORTH.
Aquilo _Nordostroni_ North-north-east.
Vulturnus _Ostnordroni_ North-east.
It has however been long since remarked, that these names are much
older than Charles the Great[666]; and it is highly probable that
they were only more accurately defined, or publicly confirmed by this
prince, or that in his time they came into general use. How often have
early inventions been ascribed to sovereigns, though they were only
made in their reign! Even whole nations have been said to be descended
from those princes under whom they first became known to foreigners;
as, for example, the Poles from Lech, and the Bohemians from Zech.
Charles, however, did not give names to thirty-two, but to twelve
winds. Nor was he the first who added to the four cardinal points eight
others, for the same thing is asserted of many. But it deserves to
be remarked, that in Charles’s names one can discover traces of that
ingenious mode of denoting all the winds with four words; that is to
say, by different combinations of East, West, South, and North. It is
certain that the names of the different points and winds used by all
the European nations, the Italians only excepted, are of German origin,
as well as the greater part of the terms of art employed in navigation
and naval architecture.
It appears to me not improbable that the division used at present was
introduced soon after the invention of the magnetic needle; at least
Honorius, surnamed _Augustodunensis_[667], who must have flourished
before the year 1125, speaks only of twelve winds; as do also Gervasius
in 1211, and Vincent de Beauvois in the middle of the thirteenth
century, who gives from Isidorus, who lived about the year 636, the
twelve Latin names used by Eginhart[668].
It can scarcely be doubted that means for indicating the winds were
invented at a very early period. I here allude to vanes, flags, and
every other apparatus by which the direction of the wind can be
conveniently and accurately discovered, and similar to those erected
at present on many private houses, on most of our church steeples, and
on board ships. I must however confess that I have hitherto scarcely
observed any trace of them among the Greeks and the Romans. I can
find no account of them in works where all the parts of edifices are
named; where ships and everything belonging to them are expressly
described; nothing in Pollux, and nothing in any of the poets. I
am unacquainted also with any old Greek or Latin word that can be
applied to an apparatus for pointing out the wind. In the edition
of Kirsch’s German and Latin Dictionary, printed in 1754, we find
_Wetterhahn_ (a weathercock) _petalum_, _triton_; but the latter
term is borrowed from the tower of Andronicus, of which I shall have
occasion to speak hereafter; and neither this word nor _petulum_,
or _petulæ_, _arum_, which Kirsch gives also, occurs in this sense
in any ancient author; and the case is the same with _pinnacella_,
_ventilogium_, _aurologium_, and other names which are to be found in
some dictionaries.
I am acquainted with no older information in regard to an apparatus for
observing the winds, than what is given by Vitruvius respecting the
tower built at Athens by Andronicus Cyrrhestes, that is, of Cyrrhus, a
town in Syria. This tower, which was built of marble, in an octagonal
form, had on each side a representation of that wind opposite to which
it was placed. Its summit terminated in a small spire, on which was a
copper triton, made to turn in such a manner as to present its front to
the wind, and to point with a rod held in its right-hand to the image
of the wind blowing at the time[669]. This tower is still standing; and
a description and figure of it may be seen in the travels of Spon and
Wheeler, and in those also of Pocock[670]. The figures representing the
winds, which are larger than the life, are executed in basso-relievo,
and correspond to the seasons at which they generally blow. At the
top of each side, under the architrave, the name of the wind is
inscribed in Greek characters. Boreas, the North wind, holds in his
hand a mussel-shell, which seems to denote his peculiar power over the
sea. The Zephyr has its bosom full of flowers, because it prevails in
March, at the time when the flowers chiefly blow in Greece; and similar
attributes are assigned to the rest.
Varro had an apparatus of the same kind at his farm[671]. Within the
building was a circle, in which the eight winds were represented, and
an index, like that of a clock, pointed to that wind which was blowing
at the time. Nothing therefore was necessary but to look at the ceiling
to know from what quarter the wind came. I have seen an apparatus of
the same kind on some exchange, either at Lubec or Rotterdam. Varro
calls the tower of Andronicus _horologium_, a word which Salmasius
wishes to change into _aurologium_. But it contained also a sun-dial,
as we are assured by Pocock, who observed the necessary hour-lines; and
therefore it is not improbable, that the people, who through the want
of clocks would oftener look to the dial than to the weathercock, gave
to the tower a name alluding to the former rather than to the latter.
Du Cange says, that a triton, by way of weathercock, was placed on the
temple of Androgeus at Rome; but I am unacquainted with the source from
which he derived this information, and of that temple I have not been
able to obtain any account[672]. Whether the tritons placed on the
temple of Saturn at Rome were indicators of the wind, or whether they
had a learned signification, as Macrobius asserts, I will not venture
to determine[673]. It is probable that the pillar, some remains of
which were found at Gaeta (_Cajeta_), in the kingdom of Naples, and on
which the names of the winds were cut out in Greek and Latin, served as
a wind indicator also.
But it is more than probable that an apparatus for pointing out the
wind, similar to that at Athens, was erected also at Constantinople.
At least I consider as such what was called by some _anemodulium_, and
by others _anemoderium_; the information respecting which has not,
as I conceive, been hitherto understood, not even by Banduri. In my
opinion it was not a building or tower, but a column furnished with a
vane, somewhat similar to what is still seen in many places on the sea
coast, where a high pole is erected with a flag. This pillar, if I may
be allowed the expression, consisted entirely of copper; it was square,
and in height not inferior to the loftiest columns in the city. Its
summit formed a pyramid, and, as I conjecture, an octagonal one, upon
which stood a female figure that turned round with every wind, and
consequently was a vane, only not a triton, as at Athens. Below it,
on each side of the pyramid, were seen a great many figures, which
I will venture to assert were attributes or images of the winds, to
which the female figure pointed. Nicetas says, that there were observed
among them birds, agricultural implements, the sea with shipping,
fishing-boats, and naked cupids sporting with apples, which in my
opinion denoted the different seasons in which each wind was accustomed
to blow[674].
It is not improbable that the whole pillar was constructed of different
pieces of copper, cast singly and then joined together; and it appears
that neither Nicetas, nor Cedrenus, nor the Latins, who in the
thirteenth century pulled down and melted the numerous objects of art,
plundered from various cities by the emperor Constantine to ornament
his capital, were acquainted with the purpose for which this pillar
was originally destined, or the meaning of the emblematical figures
represented upon it. Nay, there is even reason to think that the Greeks
themselves, at this time, were so ignorant as to believe such objects
to be the productions of magic. According to Cedrenus, this costly wind
indicator was erected by Theodosius the Great, and according to others
by Leo Isauricus. Were the first assertion true, it would belong to
the fourth century, and in the second case to the eighth; but I cannot
help suspecting that it was constructed before the time of Theodosius.
The female figure which indicated the wind, was, according to Nicetas,
called _anemodoulon_, but according to Cedrenus _anemoderion_. The
former denotes a person who belongs to the wind; the latter one who
contends with the wind; and both these appellations are well suited to
a vane or wind indicator. If my explanation be correct, this work of
art at Constantinople had nothing in common with the statue of Jupiter
constructed by Lysippus at Tarentum[675]. The latter was forty cubits
in height; and what excited great astonishment was, that though it
would shake when pushed with the hand, it withstood the force of the
most violent storms. I should rather compare the statue of Lysippus to
those moveable masses of rock which are mentioned by various authors,
both ancient and modern.
It is not improbable that there may have been wind indicators of
this kind in other places, and that more passages alluding to them,
not hitherto remarked, may be found in different authors. Professor
Michaelis, who was desirous to assist me in my researches, pointed out
to me an account, undoubtedly written before the year 1151[676], in
which it is stated that there was at Hems, in Syria, formerly called
Emessa, a high tower, on the summit of which was a copper statue of
a horseman that turned with every wind. It is worthy of remark, that
under the vane there were figures, among which was that of a scorpion;
in all probability the emblem of some season.
In Europe, the custom of placing vanes on the summits of the
church-steeples is very old; and as these vanes were made in the figure
of a cock, they have thence been denominated _weathercocks_. In the
Latin, therefore, of the middle ages, we meet with the words _gallus_
and _ventilogium_. The latter is used by Radulphus, who wrote about
the year 1270[677]. Mention of weathercocks occurs in the ninth[678],
eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth[679] centuries. There is no doubt that
the cock was intended as an emblem of clerical vigilance. In the ages
of ignorance the clergy frequently styled themselves the cocks of the
Almighty, whose duty it was, like the cock which roused Peter, to call
the people to repentance, or at any rate to church[680]. The English,
therefore, are mistaken when they suppose that the figure of a cock
was first made choice of for vanes in the fourteenth century, under the
reign of Edward III., in order to ridicule the French, with whom they
were then at war; and that the custom of _cock-throwing_, that is to
say, of throwing sticks at a cock exposed with his wings tied, as then
practised, took its rise at the same time.
In France, in the twelfth century, none but noblemen were allowed to
have vanes on their houses; nay, at one time this was the privilege of
those who, at the storming of a town, first planted their standards
on the ramparts. These vanes were painted with the knights’ arms,
or the arms were cut out in them, and in that case they were called
_panonceaux_[681].
Flags or vanes on ships occur very early, but they are always mentioned
on account of their use in making signals. They were of various forms
and colours; were sometimes drawn up, and sometimes taken down; placed
sometimes on the right and sometimes on the left side of the ship, and
were changed in various other ways, directions for which may be seen in
the Tactics of the emperor Leo. They were named _vexilla_, _flammulæ_,
also _flammula_ and _banda_, and the last two appellations occur in the
works of the younger Greek writers[682].
But though the oldest writers on the art of naval warfare, such as
Vegetius, recommend a knowledge of the winds, I have not yet met with
any certain account of apparatus for determining the direction of them
on board a ship. Before the discovery of the magnetic needle, such
accuracy as is necessary at present would have been superfluous; yet
naval commanders must long before have had some means of distinguishing
at least the twelve winds then defined, though no traces of them are to
be found in the works which have been accidentally preserved to us.
Scheffer[683], who, as is well-known, collected from the works of the
ancients all the terms of art applicable to navigation, thinks that the
band, _tænia_, affixed to a pole at the stern of the ship[684], did not
serve so much for an ornament as to indicate the course of the wind.
He is, however, able to produce no other authority for this opinion
than a passage in one of Cicero’s letters, which has been changed and
amended, till it at length seems to say that Cicero had resolved to
embark, because the vanes had announced a favourable wind[685].
I must acknowledge that at present I can produce no older information
in regard to vanes used on board ship, to indicate the course of the
wind, than of the eleventh century, taken from the life of Emma, the
consort of Canute the Great, king of Denmark, Norway and England, the
author of which was an eye-witness of what he relates. Describing the
magnificent Norman fleet sent to England in the year 1013, he says that
birds, which turned round with the wind, were placed on the top of the
masts[686].
At that time, therefore, instead of the flags used at present, a vane,
shaped like a bird, was placed at the summit of the mast; perhaps also
the figure of a cock, as the emblem of vigilance, but in this case not
of clerical vigilance. In the cathedral of Bayeux, in France, is a
piece of tapestry, representing the actions of William the Conqueror,
executed with the needle, either by his consort or under her direction,
in which vanes are seen at the top of the masts in many of the
ships[687].
[Anemoscopes, or instruments for showing the direction of the wind, are
now in constant use in meteorological establishments; the indications
are made upon dials, and the apparatus does not differ in principle
from that described by Beckmann.
Anemometers, or instruments for measuring the power or force of the
wind, have also been contrived of various kinds. The first was invented
by Wolf. In this the wind acted upon four sails somewhat resembling
those of a windmill, the motion being communicated by cog-wheels to a
lever loaded with a weight. When the wind acted upon the sails, the
bar rose, this motion continuing until the increased leverage of
the weight counterpoised the moving power of the wind. Others on a
different principle have been made by Lind, Regnier, Martin, and a very
beautiful instrument for this purpose, constructed by Mr. Dent, may be
seen at Lloyd’s room in the Royal Exchange.]