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Spanish Jesuits in the Philippines:Geophysical Research and Synergiesbetween Science, Education and Trade,1865–1898Aitor Anduagaab

a 1Basque Museum of the History of Medicine and Science,University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Leioa, Spainb 2IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, SpainPublished online: 15 Oct 2013.

To cite this article: Aitor Anduaga (2013): Spanish Jesuits in the Philippines: Geophysical Researchand Synergies between Science, Education and Trade, 1865–1898, Annals of Science, DOI:10.1080/00033790.2013.841289

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Spanish Jesuits in the Philippines: Geophysical Research andSynergies between Science, Education and Trade, 1865–1898

AITOR ANDUAGA1,2

1Basque Museum of the History of Medicine and Science, University of the BasqueCountry UPV/EHU, Leioa, Spain

2IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, SpainEmail: a.anduaga@ikerbasque.org

Received 7 May 2013. Revised paper accepted 3 August 2013

SummaryIn 1865, Spanish Jesuits founded the Manila Observatory, the earliest of the Far Eastcentres devoted to typhoon and earthquake studies. Also on Philippine soil and underthe direction of the Jesuits, in 1884 the Madrid government inaugurated the firstMeteorological Service in the Spanish Kingdom, and most probably in the Far East.Nevertheless, these achievements not only went practically unnoticed in the histori-ography of science, but neither does the process of geophysical dissemination thatunfolded fit in with the two types of transmitter of knowledge identified by historians inthe missionary diffusion of the exact sciences in colonial contexts. Rather thanregarding science as merely a stimulus to their functionary and missionary tasks,Spanish Jesuits used their overseas posting to produce and publish original research ––a feature that would place them within the typology of the ‘seeker’ rather than the‘functionary’ (in stark contrast to what the standard typology sustains). This paper alsoanalyses examples of synergies between science, education and trade, which denotes,inter alia, the existence of a broad and solid educational structure in the ManilaMission that sustained the strength of research enterprise.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12. Mission and education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33. The Ateneo de Manila Observatory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64. Scientific-educational symbiosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95. The Meteorological Service of the Philippines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106. Sections and personnel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127. Publications and research fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148. International prestige . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

1. IntroductionThe reestablishment of the Society of Jesus in 1852 brought with it substantial

changes in the social and political life in peninsular and overseas Spain. The Society wasre-established as a consequence of the Concordat between the Spanish Kingdom and the

© 2013 Taylor & Francis

ANNALS OF SCIENCE, 2013http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00033790.2013.841289

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Holy See in 1851.1 On the one hand, the treaty, signed by Queen Isabel II and Pope PiusIX, guaranteed Vatican recognition for the Isabelline monarchy and, on the other, therecovery of economic and educational power by the Catholic Church. Consequently, theSpanish State permitted Jesuits to legally train missionaries, as well as carry outeducational and missionary work in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. However, theJesuit participation not only played an important role in evangelising and training tasks,but also allowed them to become very active in science. In the Philippines, thisparticipation produced results of considerable importance in the geophysical sciences.Jesuits founded the Manila Observatory in 1865, one of the earliest Far East centresdevoted to the study of typhoons and earthquakes. Also on Philippine soil, though twodecades later (in 1884), the first official Meteorological Service in the Spanish Kingdom,and most probably in the Far East, was inaugurated.2

It is well known that science served the geopolitical interests of the European powersin their overseas dominions. In the nineteenth century, fields of knowledge such asdescriptive geology or public health were priorities in France, Germany and Great Britain.But the exact sciences were even more so. In a synthesis on the dissemination of thesesciences, Lewis Pyenson holds that there are two types of transmitter of this knowledge:the ‘functionary missionary’ and the ‘seeker missionary’. While the ‘functionary’ one(and this includes the Jesuits) aspired to fit their original European institution into thesocial fabric of the place of their posting, science being a mere stimulus for him, the‘seeker’ aspired to using his host institution for producing and publishing originalresearch –– for the seeker, research was prime.3 Pyenson has identified the functionaryand seeker transmitters in the colonial contexts of France and Germany, respectively.4 Inother studies, he added a third axis of imperialist strategy, the mercantilist one, in whichhe encompassed the Dutch overseas activity regarding the exact sciences.5 In the Frenchexperience (both civilian and Jesuit), the strategy in the direction of the functionary axisimplied a tight union of academic, military and religious interests. According to him, theFrench Jesuits in Shanghai remained entirely subordinate to their metropolitan superiors,whether religious or secular. As peripheral scientist functionaries, their desire to create

1 Teófanes Égido, Javier Burrieza and Manuel Revuelta, Los jesuitas en España y en el mundo hispánico(Madrid, 2004), 302.

2 In nineteenth-century Spanish vocabulary, the expression (meteorological) ‘Servicio’ was synonymous withthe French ‘Bureau’ and the English ‘Office’. The term denoted a centralized governmental body of a national/colonial character that was responsible for reporting and coordinating atmospheric situations and conditionsthrough a telegraphic network of meteorological stations. Although one should give credit to the work of AndrésPoëy in Cuba, the Observatorio Físico-Meteórico de La Habana (created in 1860 by the Madrid Government)never had this role.

3 Lewis Pyenson, ‘Functionaries and Seekers in Latin America: Missionary Diffusion of the Exact Sciences,1850–1930’, Quipu, 2 (3) (1985), 387–420 (389). For a constructive criticism of the categorization andterminology proposed by Pyenson, see Thomas F. Glick, ‘Crítica a N. Stepan y L. Pyenson’, Quipu, 2 (3) (1985),437–42 (438–40).

4 Lewis Pyenson, Civilizing Mission: Exact Sciences and French Overseas Expansion, 1830–1940(Baltimore, 1993); Lewis Pyenson, Cultural Imperialism and Exact Sciences: German Expansion Overseas,1900–1930 (New York, 1985); Lewis Pyenson, ‘Pure Research, Jesuit Institutions, and Metropolitan Ambitions:The Evolution of French Policies Overseas, 1880–1940’, in Chine et Europe: Évolution et particularités desrapports est-ouest du XVIeau XXesiècle. Actes du IVe Colloque International de Sinologie de Chantilly, edited byCentre d’études et de recherches interdisciplinaires de Chantilly (Paris, 1991), 249–71. See also Steven J. Harris,‘Transporting the Merton Thesis: Apostolic Spirituality and the Establishment of the Jesuit Scientific Tradition’,Science in Context, 3 (1) (1989), 29–65.

5 L. Pyenson, ‘Pure Learning and Political Economy: Science and European Expansion in the Age ofImperialism’, in New Trends in the History of Science, edited by R. P. W. Visser et al. (Amsterdam, 1989), 209–78 (274–5).

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instruments, explain and theorize about observations, in short, prosecute original researchwas frustrated.

Although Pyenson did not pay attention to Spain, his categorization does not appearpertinent in explaining the Spanish Jesuit experience in the Philippines. It is my purpose toexamine how Jesuits in Manila (most of them from Catalonia), responding to demands fromlocal and commercial sectors rather than to a programme from the superiors of the Society,promoted pure research in the geophysical sciences.6 By examining their scientificproduction, I show how the Jesuits of the Manila Observatory not only viewed science assomething more than a stimulus, they also produced and published (not a few) originalworks. In fact, as we said, Spain founded its first meteorological service in the Philippines ––not on the Iberian Peninsula. In addition to claiming the ‘seeker’ (rather than ‘functionary’)character of Manila Jesuits, this article further analyses some examples of synergies betweenscience and education, which points to the existence (in the Manila Mission) of a broadand solid educational structure that sustained the strength of scientific venture.7

The article consists of seven sections. The first provides an overview of the educationalinstitutions of Jesuits in Manila, as well as the political and religious reasons for suchpostings. Section two describes the establishment of the Manila Observatory, and analysesthe role played by local and foreign traders in the promotion of meteorological studies.Section three offers some examples of synergies between science and education, affectingboth curricular and institutional aspects. Sections four and five look at how the Spanishgovernment founded the Meteorological Service of the Philippines under the direction of theJesuits in Manila, as well as the personnel and sections of this service. Section six focuses onthe publications of the Manila Observatory and on the recognition obtained abroad for thiswork. Finally, section seven reflects on the investigative character of the scientific Jesuits inManila, and on how science was much more than a mere stimulus for them.

2. Mission and educationThe re-establishment of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines had a double aim,

missionary and educational. In fact, it responded to the desire not only to recover themissionary tradition that the Society itself had historically promoted, but also to superviseeducation in favour of the interests of the Monarchy.8 Both goals were frequently

6 On the lack of a specific programme of scientific observations devised by Jesuit superiors, see AgustínUdías, S.J., ‘Meteorology in the observatories of the Society of Jesus’, Archivum Historicum Societatis Jesu, 65(1996), 157–70; Agustín Udías, S.J., Searching the Heavens and the Earth. The History of Jesuit Observatories(Dordrecht, 2003), 1–14. For the development of transnational networks of Jesuit scientists to understandcyclones, see Gregory Cushman, ‘The imperial politics of hurricane prediction: From Calcutta and Havana toManila and Galveston, 1839–1900’, in New Approaches to International Environmental History, edited by ErikaMarie Bsumek, David Kinkela and Mark Atwood Lawrence (New York, 2013), 137–62.

7 For an illuminating review of the criteria used in the studies on the transmission of Western science,including a proposal for the Ibero-American context, see Antonio Lafuente and José Sala Catalá, ‘Ciencia ymundo colonial: el contexto iberoamericano’, in Ciencia colonial en América, edited by Antonio Lafuente andJosé Sala Catalá (Madrid, 1992), 13–24. For an introduction to the relationship between Jesuits and thegeophysical sciences in peninsular and overseas Spain, see Aitor Anduaga, Geofísica, economía y sociedad en laEspaña contemporánea (Madrid, 2009), 143–76; Aitor Anduaga, Meteorología, ideología y sociedad en laEspaña contemporánea (Madrid, 2012), 115–30. As regards the scientific transmission in the Philippines infields such as geology and forestry engineering, see Jorge Ordaz, ‘Datos acerca de los estudios geológicosrealizados en Filipinas en la época colonial’, Llull, 20 (1997), 173–87; and Javier María García López,‘Forestales españoles en Ultramar: La labor de los Ingenieros de Montes en las Islas Filipinas (1863–1898)’,Agricultura y Sociedad, 78 (1996), 237–70.

8 For an overview of the Jesuitical pedagogical tradition, see the introduction by Manuel Revuelta, S.J., LosColegios de jesuitas y su tradición educativa: 1868–1906 (Madrid, 1998), 1–14.

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condensed into a single task –– ‘the civilizing task’. In the prologue of the work, Misiónde la Compañía de Jesús en las Filipinas, the Father Superior, Pío Pi, summed up thistask as: ‘our enterprise in intention and in results was a civilizing one. And it had to be, ineffect, that way: to christianize is to civilize’.9

The Royal Charter of 19th of October, 1852, re-establishing the Society, certainly didnot specify any aims other than missionary ones. Thus, Queen Isabel II stipulated theSociety re-establish itself on the islands of the Philippines, Mindanao and Joló ‘for thesubjection and catechism of their native peoples’, and approved the conversion of theCollege in Loyola into a training centre for missionaries.10 In principle, it can be therebysaid that their work in the Philippines was, not so much educational, as immersion in thepurity of the Faith and Catholic doctrine. In practice, however, what predominated was asupervisory function –– by no means neutral — over education; almost always, moreover,at the service and in the interests of the metropolis. This led to the colonial governorsrequesting the creation of Jesuit colleges on their islands, at times at their own initiative orotherwise at the request of well-off families of Spanish origin.11

Jesuits structured education on some organizational and operational foundationswhich were, if not opposed, at least different to those of the Royal Charter of 1852, inwhich the prime task was the evangelization of the pagan tribes in Joló and Mindanao.The trio forming the educational and scientific structure of the Manila Mission was madeup of: the Ateneo Municipal (1859), a school for primary and secondary education, aswell as for business teaching; the Normal School for Primary School Teachers (1865); andthe Observatory (1865), a centre for studies mainly on meteorology and seismology.

The Ateneo Municipal opened the way. In 1859, Manila City Council requested to theGovernor General of the Islands to entrust the Piarist School to the Jesuit missionaries.The Piarist School was a primary school for boys, subsidized by the City Council but itwas so badly run that it hardly had any pupils.12 At this time, Manila had a population ofmore than 250 000 inhabitants and, due to the lack of schools, well-to-do families tendedto send their sons to Hong-Kong and other non-Catholic countries to be educated.13 Inorder to deal with these problems, the City Council requested Jesuit participation on thebasis of two arguments: boosting the Piarist School (‘aimed at the Spanish poor’), and theneed for primary schools. In its petition, there were many fears about secularization, fearsthat were familiar to the authorities in Cuba and Puerto Rico: ‘In Manila’, they argued,‘primary instruction is entrusted, with very few exceptions, to profitmaking businesses’.14

9 Pío Pi was the Fr. Superior of the Philippine Mission from 1896 to 1905. The quote can be found in BegoñaCava, ‘Misión de los Padres Jesuitas en el siglo XIX filipino. Memoria histórica del regreso a Mindanao y acciónsocio-misional’, in Imperios y Naciones en el Pacífico. Volumen I. La formación de una colonia: Filipinas,edited by M. Dolores Elizalde, Josep M. Fradera, and Luis Alonso (Madrid, 2001), I, 619–40 (619).

10 Royal Charter of 19th of October, 1852, partially reproduced in Cava (note 9), 623; and in its entirety in theColección Legislativa de España, 57, 301–7.

11 Pablo Pastells, S.J., Misión de la Compañía de Jesús de Filipinas en el siglo XIX (Barcelona, 1916), 3vols.; José S. Arcilla, S.J., ‘Jesuit Mission Policies in the Philippines, 1859–1899’, Philippine Studies, 27 (1979),176–97 (176–8); and Horacio de la Costa, S.J., Light Cavalry (Manila, 1997).

12 José S. Arcilla, S.J., ‘The Escuela Pia, Forerunner of Ateneo de Manila’, Philippine Studies, 31 (1983),58–74.

13 Julia Melcón, ‘La geografía en el sistema de instrucción primaria en España, Cuba, Puerto Rico y Filipinas(1838–1898)’, in Ciencia, vida y espacio en Iberoamérica, edited by José Luis Peset (Madrid, 1989), III,267–93 (287).

14 Letter from the City Council of Manila to the Governor General of the Philippines, 5 August 1859,Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Roma (ARSI), Phil, 1001-I, 8–10. For a description in detail of themunicipal request for creating a Jesuit school, see José S. Arcilla, S.J., ‘From Escuela Pia to Ateneo Municipal,1859–1900’, in 150 Years of Engaging the Nation, edited by Josefina Dalupan (Manila, 2010), 2–31 (8–14).

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Although at first they rejected the offer, the Jesuits ended up succumbing to local andpolitical pressure, and in December 1859 they took over the direction of the MunicipalSchool. In 1862 it was renamed Ateneo and raised to the rank of a secondary school.15

In the mid-1860s the Spanish government introduced a series of reforms designed toexpand secondary education to the detriment of vocational education (this is in thecontext whereby the regulations of the 1857 Law of Public Instruction by ClaudioMoyano were put into practice). Minister of Public Works Manuel de Orovio was aconservative politician known for his dislike of mathematics. Orovio is remembered for aconfrontation against progressives as he issued the circular forbidding any teachingcontrary to the catholic faith and the monarchy (the so-called ‘first university question’).From his Ministry, he tried to radically change vocational education, incorporating it intosecondary education.16 He promoted the strategy for controlling education: generalstudies and application studies coexisted at high schools. Orovio tried to reinforce thestatus of first-class high schools (Ateneo was one of them), strengthening it throughtechnical studies. But the arrival of the Revolutionary ‘Sexenio’ (1868–1874) preventedhim from carrying it out. In general, his Ministry had a direct influence over overseasdominions.17

The Ateneo curriculum was a living reflection, a carbon copy, a programme created inthe image and likeness of the Regulations of Orovio of 1867.18 The ‘Program of GeneralStudies’ stood out from the secondary-level curriculum. Spread out over five years, theywere designed to obtain the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The contents of the courses, verydetailed but scientifically conservative, displayed an academic hierarchy wherein thehumanities and religion were the more basic disciplines, while those of science andmathematics in particular seemed to be devalued. Like a secondary main trunk that servedas a shorter alternative to the primary one, what stood out was the ‘Program of AppliedStudies’. These led to four kinds of diplomas: perito mercantil (Master Businessman),perito mecánico (Master Mechanic), perito químico (Master Chemist) and peritoagrimensor y tasador de tierras (Master Surveyor and Land Appraiser). The subjectshere had an important mathematical component. The same primary position keptmathematics together with the humanities and religion but without becoming laicized. Itis difficult to find a curriculum more in keeping with the spirit of the Regulations ofOrovio in any other private school of a religious nature.19

15 On the failed efforts of Governors to organize a system of public schools in the Philippines in the 1850s,see Encarnación Alzona, A History of Education in the Philippines, 1565–1930 (Manila, 1932), 48–51.

16 José Manuel Cano Pavón, Estado, enseñanza industrial y capital humano en la España Isabelina (1833–1868). Esfuerzos y fracasos (Málaga, 2001), 78–9.

17 Regulations for the regime of establishments of secondary education in the Philippines were adapted fromthe Cuban plan. Schools were classified as public (only the University of Santo Tomas), and private (Ateneo andLetrán). Private ones might be first class (if they offered a full programme leading to the B. A. degree), or secondclass (if not). See Fundación Santa María, Historia de la Educación en España y América. Vol. 3. La educaciónen la España contemporánea (1789–1975) (Madrid, 1994), 510.

18 For the provisions relating to the studies of application, see Regulations on secondary education on 15th

July, 1867. Gaceta de Madrid, 206 (198) (17 July 1867), 1–2, art. 118–21.19 For a list of subjects, see Evaristo Arias, Memoria histórico-estadística sobre la enseñanza secundaria y

superior en Filipinas escrita con motivo de la Exposición Colonial de Amsterdam por encargo de la Subcomisiónde estas Islas (Manila, 1883). See also: José S. Arcilla, S.J., ‘Ateneo de Manila: Problems and Policies, 1859–1939’, Philippine Studies, 32 (1984), 377–98 (385); Frederick Fox, ‘Philippine Vocational Education: 1860–1898’, Philippine Studies, 24 (1976), 261–87 (284).

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The commercial orientation was noticeable above all symbolically in the curricularimportance that foreign languages gained. As Fr. José Arcilla S.J., Ateneo de Manilahistorian and head of the archives, so aptly put it:20

‘what is interesting is the fact that the Ateneo was not unaware of the socio-economic needs of the country. For example, English and French were offeredalternately in the last two years of the secondary General Studies Program in aneffort to equip the students with the necessary language skills after the Philippineports had been opened to international trade.’21

The second educational institution entrusted to the Jesuits in the Philippines was theEscuela Normal de Maestros de Instrucción Primaria, which was created to train primaryschool teachers. Behind this governmental decision there were geopolitical factors –– forexample, the difficulties in assimilating indigenous people —, as well as educationalreasons –– the academic success obtained by the Ateneo from 1859. Although these arehistorical issues that we cannot discuss in this work, the decision had an unquestionableeffect. Unlike in peninsular Spain (wherein this task was reserved for the State) or in theoverseas province of Cuba (where it was entrusted to the Piarist Fathers), assigning thetask of training school teachers to the Jesuits resulted in strengthening their institutionalstructure in the Philippines.22

3. The Ateneo de Manila ObservatoryThe Society of Jesus founded the Observatory of the Ateneo Municipal de Manila in

1865. Next came the Observatories of Batavia (1866),23 Zi-ka-wei (1872), Tokyo (1875)and Hong Kong (1884). The Manila Observatory being the oldest one of the existingoperational centres in the Far East devoted to typhoon studies, one should be at leastscrupulous about the diverse underlying reasons for its creation.24 Likewise, one shoulddistinguish the (official) scientific causes, not so acknowledged by the Society, from thedetermining factors behind its creation.25

20 Arcilla (note 19), 385.21 Although the diploma programme was not at first as popular as the General Studies one, it later gained the

importance that the promoters sought. From 1875 to 1924, the Ateneo granted 1509 Bachelor titles, while granting767 in Master Businessman and 115 in Mechanics. Miguel Saderra Masó, S.J., Misiones jesuíticas de Filipinas,1581–1768 y 1859–1924 (Manila, 1924), 94. The first diplomas were awarded in 1875. See Fox (note 19), 284.

22 José S. Arcilla, S.J., ‘La Escuela Normal de Maestros de Instrucción Primaria, 1865–1905’, PhilippineStudies, 36 (1988), 16–35; Melcón (note 13), III, 286–8.

23 Although P. A. Bergsma, as a state-salaried geographical engineer in Batavia, recorded geophysical datafrom 1862, the Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory at Batavia was not officially founded until 1866. See:J. Veldkamp, History of Geophysical Research in The Netherlands and its former Overseas Territories(Amsterdam, 1984), 31, 68; J.A.C. Oudemans, ‘Levensschets van Dr. P.A. Bergsma’. In: Jaarboek (Amsterdam,1882), 98–152 (112).

24 Although there were earlier observatories, such as the Imperial Russian one in Beijing and several customsstations in China and some private stations in Japan, either they did not exist any longer or their observationswere limited to studies of magnetism or local climate. See Miguel Saderra Masó, S.J., Historia del Observatoriode Manila (Manila, 1915), 23. On magnetic campaigns in the period 1830–1850, see John Cawood, ‘TheMagnetic Crusade: Science and Politics in Early Victorian Britain’, Isis, 70 (254) (1979), 493–518.

25 The standard historiography of the Manila Observatory is essentially based on two only sources: SaderraMasó (note 24), who had at his disposal the archives of the Observatory, subsequently destroyed in 1945; andPastells (note 11). For the events until 1870, Pastells made use of the account written for him by Fr. JaimeNonell, S.J. in Manresa in September 1912. See also John N. Schumacher, S.J., ‘One Hundred Years of JesuitScientists: The Manila Observatory, 1865–1965’, Philippine Studies, 13 (1965), 258–86; Costa (note 11), 92–6;and Udías (note 6), 269–72. See also James Hennessey, S.J., ‘The Manila Observatory’, Philippine Studies,8 (1960), 99–129; W.C. Repetti, S.J., The Manila Observatory (Ann Arbor, 1948).

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Scientific-technical reasons embraced geophysics in all its fields: meteorological,climatologic, seismological, and magnetic. Geographically, the Archipelago enjoyed aprivileged, almost unique position. Surrounded by the seas of China and the Pacific,divided into over 3000 islands, encompassing thirteen degrees in the tropics, and whichsuffered baguios every year. These originated among the eastern Caroline Islands and thePhilippines, and then moved to the west, which turned the Archipelago into a parapet wallagainst storms. Manila, at its centre, was the watchtower perceiving the first symptoms ofalmost all the western Pacific typhoons.26

Climatologically, the Manila Observatory could contribute to agricultural andindustrial development. Given its insular distribution, the Archipelago enjoyed a greatvariety of climates, with a peculiar rain pattern in each region. Compiling and arrangingall these regional reports in just one, central institution was, therefore, regarded by Jesuitsas an imperative need. Climate determination and rain distribution in various regions werecardinal for rural development.27

Seismologically, the Archipelago had exceptional conditions, being a region of a highseismicity. The earthquake that destroyed Manila in 1863, whose effects were stillnoticeable, bore witness to that fact. Each of the three kinds of earth tremors distinguishedby seismology at that time frequently took place in the Philippines: those of a volcanicorigin, those of a tectonic origin, and those caused by rock-fall detachments and cavitycollapses. Seismicity emerged as a fascinating challenge.28

From a magnetic viewpoint, position was also privileged. As the magnetic equator lieson Mindanao Island, the lines of zero declination (where the magnetic meridian coincideswith the geographical one) runs from points of the Archipelago. In the rest of the territory,magnetic declination varies little by little. This made Manila a highly valued place by theInternational Committee on Terrestrial Magnetism, as ordinary variations were veryregular whereas extraordinary ones were clearly perceived.29

If I insist on this aspect of the official history of the Manila Observatory ––henceforthexplicit although, from the beginning of this paper, latent –– it is not just a whim. There is atendency to overestimate or exalt the underlying scientific reasons, because historians(usually Jesuits) have distinguished them from the exogenous factors and from theunderlying social and political context which, for these authors, formed a backdrop.However, although commercial complicity could provoke tensions with the essential valuesof Catholic doctrine laying the foundations of missionary work, Jesuit authorities neverrenounced negotiating, regarding both material resources and funds, with elementsexogenous to religion. The intensity of this interaction was rarely publicized or proclaimed.

We have evidence that Jesuit historians at the Manila Observatory (many of them atthe same time scientists) were sensitive to the positive effects that these exogenouselements had on the development of the centre. In his classic history of the Observatory,

26 This privileged situation has been commonly emphasized by Jesuit scientists. See, e.g. the introduction byJosé Algué in Saderra Masó (note 24), 5–6; or Ángel Hidalgo, S.J., El P. Federico Faura S.J. y el Observatoriode Manila (Manila, 1974), 4.

27 On this variety and the importance of having a central institution, see José Algué, S.J., The Climate of thePhilippine Islands (Washington, DC, 1904).

28 Miguel Saderra Masó, S.J. and Warren D. Smith, ‘The Relation of Seismic Disturbances in the Philippinesto the Geologic Structure’, The Philippine Journal of Science: A. Chemical and Geological Sciences and theIndustries, 8 (4) (1913), 199–233 (199–200). See also William C. Repetti, S.J., ‘Catalogue of PhilippineEarthquakes, 1589–1899’, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 36 (3) (1946), 133–322.

29 On the favourable situation for the magnetic installation in Manila, see Saderra Masó (note 24), 7–8; andespecially, Ricardo Cirera, S.J., El Magnetismo Terrestre en Filipinas (Manila, 1893), 3–4.

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Saderra Masó began the prologue highlighting the causes that had ‘contributed powerfullyto the gradual and beneficial development of the centre’.30 Amongst these he recognizedthe aegis provided by the civil and naval authorities, the support from local and foreigntraders, and the decided aid from the ship-owners, both from the Philippines and fromJapan, China and neighbouring colonies.31 However, all these factors appeared very oftenas a mere backdrop, and rarely influenced its creation (rather its development).

The standard version of the early history of the Observatory reproduces the social andscientific environment of the period and provides some interesting clues about thepromoters of the centre. In his account of the Manila Observatory, Father Juan Salcedopointed out that, ‘despite the precariousness of the apparatus’, Brother Francisco Colina‘was able to predict a strong typhoon which passed very close to the north of Manila inSeptember 1865. This particular event was announced in the Diario de Manila and, as aresult, aroused the interest of the merchant and ship-owning community.’32 FatherWilliam C. Repetti is more explicit, adding that some readers requested the Superior ofthe Mission, Juan Vidal, that ‘regular observations be made and recorded’, in the hope of‘finding a way of forecasting’ the typhoons.33 Vidal spoke with Colina, according toRepetti, and with the author of the graphs, Father Jaime Nonell, who ‘claimed that thepetition from the businessmen could not be met unless better equipment was available’.Perhaps the most powerful evidence is given us by Pastells, on stating that ‘the tradersresponded that they were prepared to meet the cost of all the apparatus, if the Fatherspromised to assemble and direct a fully-fledged observatory’.34

These proposals were fulfilled to a great extent. With the funds donated by thesebusiness people and others, the Jesuits purchased a Secchi meteorograph in 1869 for thecontinuous recording of observations. Later (in 1872), they erected new buildings for theastronomic instruments. Although the 1870s were years of routine and managerialchanges, the appointment of Fr. Federico Faura as director of the Observatory(1878–1897) brought prestige and institutional stability. His efforts soon satisfied thedemands of maritime and merchant businesses on the island. On 7 July 1879 he predictedthe course of a baguio in the north of Luzon; this was the first typhoon forecast in the FarEast. From 1880, typhoon forecasting became the principal task of the Observatory.35

In short, the evidence is unequivocal: the creation of the Manila Observatory wasmade possible by the existence of an ‘exogenous’ commercial element which led theJesuit authorities to be aware of the importance of cyclonic forecasting, while the formermet the costs of the necessary means of the latter in their pursuit of scientific ends.

30 Saderra Masó (note 24), 5.31 Pastells (note 11), I, 171–83, was less emphatic and preferred to stress the autonomy of the Jesuits.32 Juan Salcedo, S.J., ‘The Manila Observatory and Philippine science, world science, and Nationalism’,

Science, Bulletin of the Science Foundation of the Philippines, 10 (1965), 4–11 (5).33 Manila Observatory Archives (MOA), INS S1, ‘The Manila Observatory’ by William C. Repetti, 7–34

(7–8).34 Pastells (note 11), I, 172.35 Born in the province of Barcelona, F. Faura (1840–1897) studied at the College of the Overseas Missions in

Loyola and the seminaries in Vich, Balaguer and Tortosa, before being assigned to the Philippines in 1866. InManila, he taught physics and mathematics, and was the director of the Manila Observatory from 1867 to 1870.Having taken Holy Orders in 1874 and finishing Theology in France, Faura was trained at the JesuitObservatories in Rome and Stonyhurst. As regards Faura, see: Hidalgo (note 26); J. Oriol Cardús, ‘El P. FredericFaura, S.J. Meteoròleg a Filipines’, in III Jornades de Meteorologia Eduard Fontserè (Barcelona, 1997), 63–8;José S. Arcilla, S.J., ‘Faura, Federico. Misionero, científico’, in Diccionario histórico de la Compañía de Jesús:biográfico-temático, edited by Charles E. OR’Neill and Joaquín Ma Domínguez (Madrid, 2001), 1381–2; SaderraMasó (note 24), 121–3; Udías (note 6), 148–50.

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This exogenous factor also became prominent when donations were called for aimed atthe maintenance and improvement of the Manila Observatory.

4. Scientific-educational symbiosisThe relationship between the Observatory and education was reflected at different

levels: curricular programs, school syllabi and practices, the teaching functions of theObservatory directors, funds received, and strategies adopted to defend Jesuit institutions.As we shall see, the synergies between education and science included both curricular andinstitutional aspects.

Jesuits regularly included scientific contents in their seven-year schooling programme;above all in the courses of secondary education (called Superior and Suprema). The fact thatstudents of the Superior class were required to study botany, zoology and mathematics, andthose of the Suprema class studied physics, mineralogy and geology indicates the level ofscientific knowledge at the Ateneo.36 Moreover, it was common for the subject of geographyto include scientific contents such as celestial bodies and meteorological phenomena, and formany of these subjects to be taught by the different directors of the Observatory –– who, inturn, taught physics and mathematics.37 In addition to the Ateneo, the Normal Schoolincluded in its syllabus of 1863 the essentials of the physical and natural sciences, as well asbasic mathematics.38 The professor-directors gave the practical classes of sciences with thesame standards of precision and rigor required for meteorological observations, and thiscontributed to increasing the quality of scientific teaching. Perhaps this is why they alwaysregarded the Observatory as an auxiliary service of educational activity.

At another level, the institutional one, the symbiosis between science and educationwas palpable. An anecdote well illustrates the all-encompassing character of thisrelationship. In June 1889, Faura met in Madrid with Overseas Minister Manuel Becerrato discuss various important matters. The reason involved the reforms thatthe government intended to introduce in the Philippine missions, and that affected theObservatory and the Normal School. In particular, the government aspired to handling thenormal teaching. The content of the meeting can be discerned from the letter Faura wroteto Father Juan Ricart.39 Faura explained that he had achieved ‘more than what we couldhonestly have expected.’ He added the minister was ‘insistent in giving me a lot of moneyand I was adamant about not accepting it.’40 However, since he so vehemently insisted,Faura was forced to suggest that additional funds should go to salaries and maintenance.The minister accepted this and was even willing to give him more. Faura left satisfied.The Observatory, he said, ‘is a means to achieve for our missions and colleges what couldnot be achieved through other means.’41

36 These students were boys ten to twelve years old. See Arcilla (note 19), 381–2; for a list of the subjectstaught at the Ateneo, see Arias (note 19).

37 Miguel Saderra Masó, S.J., ‘El Observatorio de Manila’, Cultura Social, 2 (1914), 421–31 (422–3).38 Melcón (note 13), III, 267–292 (291); and Arcilla (note 22), 19.39 Juan Ricart was Fr. Provincial of the Jesuit Province to which the Manila Mission belonged, that of Aragon.40 F. Faura to J. Ricart, 12 June 1889, Archivo Histórico de la Provincia de Aragón de la Compañía de Jesús,

Barcelona (AHPA), CF 4/5/48.41 Ibid. Another example illustrates the importance of this symbiosis. In a letter dated December 1878, José

Batlle, the head of Inspection of Telegraphers in the Philippines, informed Faura that all the meteorologicalobservations made at the telegraphic stations in Luzon would be placed at the disposal of the ManilaObservatory. In making this decision, Batlle took into consideration the scientific and educational skills of theManila Jesuits. Batlle to Faura, December 8, 1878, according to MOA, INS S1, ‘The Manila Observatory’, byWilliam C. Repetti, 7–34 (14).

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The previous evidence confirms that along the road followed by the ManilaObservatory to consolidate itself at an international level, the educational structure(Ateneo and Normal School) was essential. The scientific-educational symbiosis was thelegal expression of two features of the Observatory jealously guarded by Jesuits: the factof being didactic and of being a concerted centre (i.e. private but subsidized by thegovernment). This means that the Observatory followed a process of institutionalizationunusual in the private scientific centres. This process implied that the professor-director ofthe Observatory was aware of the ground rules for the missionary community to which heincorporated. This entailed mastering instruments and techniques, but also knowing theentire reality of the Mission: what educational needs existed, what values, what links withthe Normal School and the business education, etc. The process basically created bonds ofcooperation, integration and union that were essential for the internal dynamics ofeducational and scientific institutions. This is not a specified quality of the PhilippineMission. What is certainly specific is that, unlike other Jesuit observatories, the ManilaObservatory was fully integrated within a complex and interrelated scientific-educationalstructure. The Manila Jesuits were indispensable for the training of primary schoolteachers –– an essential issue for the evangelization plans of the Spanish Monarchy — aswell as for business teaching. On the contrary, the educational structure at Zikawei duringthe nineteenth century was simpler and had less political weight.42 The assignment of astate scientific service to a religious community (such as the Jesuits) was certainly easierif this community could engage the government by appealing to the socio-educationaldimension of the mission. As we shall see below, this was the case with theMeteorological Service of the Philippines ––no such service existed in China.43

5. The Meteorological Service of the PhilippinesIn 1884 the Spanish State created a meteorological service on the island of Luzon. Attended

to by the Society of Jesus, which maintained it (with money from the State) until 1898, itwas the first official Meteorological Service of Spain and very probably in the Far East.44

The Meteorological Service of the Philippines was created (by the Royal Decree of28th of April, 1884)45 unofficially due to geopolitical reasons and officially as a responseto a request for cooperation from the Governor of Hong-Kong. John Hennessy invited hisFilipino counterpart to ‘a daily and reciprocal exchange of meteorological observations

42 The French Jesuits at Zikawei established a boarding college, a seminary and two orphanages. It was notuntil 1903 that they founded the Aurora University at Zikawei, offering instruction in mathematics and civilengineering, among others. Udías (note 6), 158.

43 Although officially associated with the Marine Department of Chinese Customs, the Zikawei Observatorynever played a similar role to that of the Manila Observatory. This Department was in reality run by Britishadministrators. They installed and paid for the first class meteorological stations established in all the Treatyports. Under this plan, Zikawei received and handled the weather observations made at these stations. In 1890, itbegan making weather maps for the entire coast of China. Although the Imperial Chinese regime officiallyrecognized Zikawei’s status, the plan was initiated, driven and fueled by British administrators. Fr. MarcDechevrens, its first director, proposed to the British authorities of Hong Kong a project of collaboration amongall the meteorological stations in China, centralized in Zikawei, a proposal that was not accepted. See Wu Yan,‘Zi-Ka-Wei Observatory (1873–1950). Under the territorial expansion of European modern science’. Ph.D.thesis, Shanghai Jiaotong University, 2009, 50–86.

44 In drafting this section, we have particularly drawn on the file ‘Establecimiento y organización de unservicio meteorológico en las Islas Filipinas’. Archivo Histórico Nacional, Madrid (AHN), Overseas 603, file 14;and Saderra Masó (note 24), 63–86.

45 Signed by the Overseas Minister, Manuel Aguirre de Tejada, R.D. of 28th of April, 1884, Gaceta deMadrid, 223 (121) (30 April 1884), 263–4.

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between the ports of Hong-Kong and Manila’.46 The British Government wanted to extendthis service to all the China Sea, more so since the laying of the submarine cable betweenHong Kong and Manila in 1880. Hennessy’s petition to convert the Manila Observatoryinto the official agency, had its effect. Spain had a network of telegraphic stations in theArchipelago, equipped with meteorological apparatus and run by the engineer José Batlle.Encouraged by the British invitation, the Spanish Government extended this network andstructured it around the Manila Observatory, the body where all the functions ofcoordination and recording of observations were centralized. The Observatory came todepend on the Spanish civil Administration and its principal objective was forecastingcyclones and weather. It also took over control of thirteen new secondary stations installedat existing telegraphic stations.47 The network was thus made up of a telegraphically wellcommunicated structure, and was of great practical utility to the military and merchantnavies, which was precisely what the Spanish authorities sought.

The Service was based on an institutional triad quite different from that of the servicecreated later on in the Antilles, in which the activity was led by a Navy disassociated fromthe Society of Jesus. The Board commissioned with the organization of the Service waspresided by the Commandant-General of the Marine Department, and was made up ofFaura, Batlle, the Captain of the frigate Felipe Canga Argüelles, the Captain of ManilaPort, Alejandro of Churruca, the Inspector-General of Public Works, Manuel Ramírez,and the Provincial Procurator of the Augustinians.48 The Board, thus, brought threesensibilities into play: the Navy, the Jesuits and the telegraphists.

Faura, the brain behind the project, conscientiously adapted the structure of theService to the preventive needs of the Spanish Navy. As he subtly stated in his favourablereport which he wrote at the request of Governor-General of the Philippines:

I should advise that the meteorological service although improved in this, wouldbetter serve for the neighboring Colony rather than for our Archipelago. Thegyratory storms always travel from the Philippines to China and never from Chinato the Philippines, and likewise, independently of the scientific advance in theknowledge of these phenomena that this Service has necessarily to produce, and oflittle use to our Navy if, at the same time, the methodical and regular organizationof an internal meteorological service is not attended to with preference.49

The Report that the Board presented in 1880 is the only document I know that clearlyexemplifies the pact that enabled an agreed solution to the threat of baguios in theArchipelago.50 The project conciliated the competing forces, entrusting in one of them(the Jesuits) all the management and organizational weight. Its contents ought to be taken

46 John P. Hennessy to the Governor-General of the Philippines, 25 May 1880 (a letter translated in Manila byRamón Blanco on June 7, 1880), AHN, Overseas 603, file 14. See also the favourable response by Faura toHennessy about cooperation, 3 July 1881, in Saderra Masó (note 24), 65–6.

47 There were three stations on the Western coast (Laoag, Vigan and Bolinao), six south of Manila (Albay,Daet, Atimonan, Tayabas, Punta Santiago and Restinga), and four in northern Luzon (Aparri, Tuguegarao, LaCruz de Caraballo and San Isidro). A new station was later added in Tabaco, and, in 1897, after establishing thecable between Luzon and Visayas, the stations in Tuburan, Cebú, Hoilo and Cápiz. See R.D. of 28th of April,1884, Gaceta de Madrid, 121 (30 April 1884), 263–4.

48 Ed. Bustillo, Governor-General of the Philippines, 27 August 1881, AHN, Overseas 603, file 14. See also‘Organización del servicio meteorológico en Filipinas’, Revista General de Marina, 7 (1880), 907–11.

49 F. Faura to the Director-General of the Civil Administration, 22 June 1880, AHN, Overseas 603, file 14.50 ‘Memoria-proyecto y presupuesto de la red eléctrico-meteorológica en la Isla de Luzón’, signed by Rafael

Rodríguez of Arias and José Batlle, president and secretary, respectively, of the Board. Manila, 10 November1880, AHN, Overseas 603, file 14 — also reproduced by Saderra Masó (note 24), 174–82.

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to the letter. The intention of the Board regarding employing officials to carry outmeteorological observations beyond Luzon corroborates Faura’s comment that the Navywas de facto essential to this pact.

The reference of the Board to the commercial world was subtle and allusive to the publicsphere, but not with the intention of excluding the private one. He advised that the Governmentshould ‘always look after the lives of their subordinates’ and for the conservation of allinterests. Not in vain, ‘the Public Treasury has abundant interests…how many times has thepublic purse greatly felt the loss of large amounts of tobacco which had not been sufficientlysafeguarded!’51 And this could have been avoided only through a network of observers; anetwork which would be, on the one hand, ‘meteorological’ and on the other, ‘telegraphic’;and, above all, ‘centralized’ by a religious community ‘which has many subjects on theIsland’. The Service is the culmination of efforts of collective science, in which telegraphyofficials on the island of Luzon and Navy officers in the rest of the Archipelago participated.52

Both in the Board’s Report and in the founding Decree of 1884 we find allusions,quite explicit in fact, to the need to develop an ‘American-style’ service similar to that ‘ofWashington’. To a certain extent, the Service was conceived thinking of this model, dispatchingtelegrams to the rest of the stations in Southeast Asia.53 Nonetheless, a subtle analogy shouldbe noted, both in the first writings of Faura as well as in those of the Board, on the one handbetween the need to modernize the meteorological activities, to centralize them with the USSignal Office, extending them beyond their confines and, on the other, the similarity of thecyclones of the Pacific and those of the Atlantic. As Faura said, ‘both are subject to the samelaws and have the same regularity’, ‘against which there is a general belief’.54 Drawing aparallel with the US case, it can be said that the authorities in the Philippines, based on thesimilarity of the Atlantic and Pacific cyclones, transferred this analogy from a scientific level toan institutional one by means of the organizational centralization of observations.

6. Sections and personnelOn its creation, in 1865, the Manila Observatory was a private meteorological station,

being a modest installation with one or other seismic and astronomic apparatus. Withofficialization in 1884, when it came to lead the Meteorological Service of thePhilippines, the Observatory lost certain economic and administrative autonomy, butgained in scientific and technical scope. Some years later, it had four sections: magnetic,seismic, meteorological (‘charged with forecasting typhoons’) and astronomic (‘of greatimportance as very few existed in these latitudes’).55 Moreover, it had at its disposal thetime and signal service for the port of Manila.56

51 Saderra Masó (note 24), 174.52 The Royal Order of 22nd of December, 1883, stipulated that naval and semaphore stations in the Philippines

should communicate their observations to the Manila Observatory.53 For example, the mentioned report of the General Board says: ‘were the telegraphic network to be spread

throughout the Archipelago and beyond […], with relatively insignificant expenses, it would attain the sameresults that Washington achieves by expending millions of pesos’.

54 F. Faura to the Director-General of the Civil Administration, 22 June 1880, AHN, Overseas 603, file 14.55 Saderra Masó (note 24), 110. For the collections of instruments in the Manila Observatory magnetic and

seismic sections, see: Josep Batlló, Catálogo inventario de magnetómetros españoles (Madrid, 2005), 271–87;Josep Batlló, Catálogo inventario de sismógrafos antiguos españoles (Madrid, 2004), 341–61.

56 Like other observatories, the Manila Observatory installed a Dollond meridian telescope (from London),indicating when the ball should be raised and dropped; then the cannon enabling the synchronization of theclocks of Manila and the boats in the bay with that of the Observatory, was fired. This service also included thecomparison of the chronometers of the seamen and the daily dispatch of the time to telegraphic stations. SaderraMasó (note 24), 82, 127; Pastells (note 11), II, 81.

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The foundational decree of 1884 at the Manila Observatory distinguished between thecategories of director (held by Faura from 1878 to 1897, and by Algué from 1897 to1924) and Sub-director. Both had to be proposed by the Superior of the Mission andaccepted by the Spanish Government. At a lower level were the subaltern personnel, withobservers, calculators, mechanics, draftsmen, students and orderlies. In 1890, directors fortwo sections were added, the magnetic (Ricardo Cirera, José Coronas) and the seismic(Juan Vives, Miguel Saderra Masó, Sebastián Vives).57 While the posts in the directionwere entrusted to the Jesuits, the subalterns fitted the ‘docile character of the indigenouspeople’.58 In the nineties this structure hardly varied. In 1896, shortly before the Filipinorevolution of 1898 and the ceasing of the Observatory as an official Spanish institution,the staff was made up of Faura (Director), Algué (Sub-director), John Doyle (Director ofthe seismic section) 59 and Coronas (Director of the magnetic section).60

Normally the Jesuit academics taught in the Ateneo and worked part time at theObservatory, although from 1887 there was full time working. For some academics, suchas F. Colina (1837–1893), J. Nonell (1844–1922) and José Murgadas, the activities of theObservatory were a stage in their training process. But for many others, such as JuanRicart (1838–1915), R. Cirera (1864–1932),61 J. Coronas (1871–1938),62 M. SaderraMasó (1865–1939), Miguel Saderra Mata (1852–1938), Baltasar Ferrer, Marcial Solà orYachita Thischihachi,63 it was an initiation into their long scientific apostolate. Others,such as Alphonse Renkin (1851–1886) and Martín Juan (1850–1888), young men with asolid scientific training abroad, met early deaths hardly a year after arriving in thePhilippines.64 The records from the Manila Mission show considerable mortality due tothe climatic conditions and threats of epidemics.

The demands for qualified personnel came from the Observatory itself, rather thanfrom its superiors in Spain. An anecdote clearly illustrates the high level of scientificrequirement. In October 1882, Faura wrote a press release on a baguio in Manila, a notethat was highly appreciated in Manila and Madrid and among his superiors. Building onthese praises, Faura wrote a letter to the Provincial Superior of Aragon, complainingthat it was impossible for him ‘to continue working at this rate’, and urging him to send

57 Udías (note 6), 147–52; and Saderra Masó (note 24), 94–100.58 As stated in the mentioned report of the Board. AHN, Overseas 603, file 14.59 John Doyle was an Irish Jesuit who had been trained and ordained in Spain, and worked in the seismic and

geomagnetic sections.60 ‘Presupuesto de 1896–97: Nómina de los haberes que corresponden en el citado mes al personal del

Observatorio de Manila’, 30 September 1896, National Archives of the Philippines, Manila (NAP), ‘ServicioMeteorológico’.

61 The author of the first magnetic map of the Philippines, Cirera, would be the founder and director of theEbro Observatory (1904–1919) and the editor of the journal Ibérica (1913–1917). See E. Galdon, ‘Cirera Salse,Ricardo’, in Diccionario histórico de la Compañía de Jesús. Biográfico-temático, edited by Charles E. O’Neilland Joaquín M. Domínguez (Madrid, 2001), I, 819.

62 Coronas was the director of the meteorological section in 1897–1901 and 1907–1931 (at the WeatherBureau). His most important contribution to meteorology in the Philippines is: José Coronas, S.J., ‘The Climateand Weather of the Philippines, 1903 to 1918’, in Census of the Philippine Islands, 1918 (Manila, 1920), I, 291–474. As regards his life and works, see ‘Coronas, Fr. José’, in E. Arsenio Manuel, Dictionary of PhilippineBiography (Quezon City, 1955), II, 129–31.

63 Y. Tsuchihati, the first Japanese Jesuit, worked in the geomagnetic section (1894–95), and he was later thepresident of the University of Sophia. Solà worked in the seismic section (1897–1903). See ‘Scholastics of thePre-1945 Manila Observatory’, by Víctor L. Badillo, MOA, Ins S2.

64 The Dutch Jesuit A. Renkin became the Manila Observatory Deputy Director during his brief stay (1885–1886). His successor, M. Juan, helped to establish the geomagnetic section between 1887 and 1888, and he wasthe author of the posthumous work, Observaciones magnéticas verificadas en la Paragua, Joló y Mindanao(Manila, 1890). See Saderra Masó (note 24), 94–5.

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an assistant.65 The Provincial Superior replied offering his full support, and adding that hedecided to send two young men to specialize abroad.66 In addition to thanking him for hishelp, Faura wrote back precise instructions regarding the specialists. According to him,they must spend two or three years at Stonyhurst Observatory; then go to Florence fortraining in the study of earthquakes, which was ‘equally or more useful in the Philippinesthan hurricane studies’, as well as in mathematics, physics and chemistry; and finally dopractice work on magnetism and meteorology at the Kew Observatory.67 The Superiorsusually followed Faura’s instructions.

The Manila Observatory staff was also composed of a good number of Filipinoofficers and employees. They provided for a considerable degree of autonomy and a lowexternal dependence. This staff included first-, second-, third- and fourth-class observers,first- and second-class calculators, first- and second-class draftsmen, mechanics, assistantsand porters. Mechanics had the task of repairing and comparing all kinds of barometersand barographs.68 Many were trained and posted to inland and coastal stations, wherethey were empowered to make synchronous observations and to telegraph local conditionsto the Observatory. The result was that a religious-run observatory could behave as apublic service (a state-subsidized institution, according to Spanish standards). This statuswas reinforced by the fact that its employees received a stipend from the government.69

7. Publications and research fieldsThe productive character of the Manila Observatory with respect to the Navy and other

similar observatories was particularly visible in the publications. The Jesuits began to publisha monthly bulletin from the very start –– in 1865. This was no small achievement. It was notuntil 1874 that the first monthly bulletin of the Zikawei Observatory appeared;70 and in 1884the first results from the Hong Kong Observatory.71 Moreover, unlike these centres, theManila Observatory published a series of extraordinary publications of some significance.

The Manila Observatory had their own organ of dissemination which informedmonthly of observations, graphs and atmospheric phenomena. Although in the firstdecade only the activities of the Observatory were collected, from 1884 it included theobservations of fourteen secondary stations. The beginnings of the Boletín had anexclusively meteorological focus, but in the nineties it was expanded to three journals(meteorological, magnetic and seismic).72

65 Faura to Juan Capell, Fr. Provincial of Aragon, n.d. ––reproduced by Costa (note 11), 146.66 Juan Capell to Faura, 10 January 1883 ––reproduced by Pastells (note 11), I, 182.67 Faura to Juan Capell, 30 April 1883 ––reproduced by Pastells (note 11), I, 182–3.68 The comparison was made with the normal instruments of the Observatory. This service was free for the

public, in particular for seamen and naval officers. See El Archipiélago Filipino (Washington, 1900), II, 16.69 In 1890, the salaries of the Observatory employees were (in Filipino Pesos): director (1,500), assistant

director (1,000), first-class observer (800), first-class calculator (300), first-class draftsman (300), mechanic (300)and porter (96). National Archives of the Philippines, ‘Manila Complex’, SDS 019167, 019161.

70 Bulletin des observations magnétiques et météorologiques, Observatoire de Zikawei, 1874–1904. Asregards this Observatory, see Udías (note 6), 276–8.

71 Hong Kong Observatory Magnetic Results (monthly), 1884–1939.72 The Manila Observatory Boletín grew in size and contents: from 1865 to 1869, it was a simple sheet

providing tables, six graphs and a summary of atmospheric phenomena; from 1870 to 1879, four pages includingtables and a plate with data from a Secchi Meteorograph; from 1880 to 1883, eight pages containing theforegoing data as well as a discussion and a summary of baguios and a map of their trajectories; from 1884 to1890, twelve pages divided into two journals (one concerned with the Observatory, and another with the fourteensecondary stations); and from 1890 to 1897, thirty-two pages containing three journals (meteorological, seismicand magnetic), as well as observations from secondary stations and volunteer observers. Saderra Masó(note 24), 195.

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It is not easy, in any case, to evaluate the quality factor of these first periodicalpublications. The same journal could contain, in different issues, a wide range of newsand graphs. They suffered, moreover, from interruptions and many changes of format, sizeand structure. What is more, it is difficult to find an objective way for comparing ameteorological journal with another that might be, for example, seismic. All this makes itmuch more difficult to compare qualitatively the quality factor of the bulletins from thevarious observatories. Nevertheless, it does make sense to undertake a quantitativeestimate of the productivity of an observatory within a specific field. With the aim ofproviding an approximation of the productivity of the Spanish Jesuits scientists in thePhilippines, we have carried out a count of the studies on typhoons published at the time.

To this end we used the bibliography of typhoons compiled by Fr. Miguel Selga in1936.73 Although this bibliography does not include Pacific cyclonic storm or thecyclones of the Bay of Bengal or of the southern Indian Ocean, it can be stated that it isvery complete in terms of Southeast Asia (the region per se for typhoons). Selga’scompilation is still today an obligatory source for studies on tropical cyclones. Thenumber of references for articles and books is very considerable (the first volume contains2513 entries).74 All the libraries in the region, relevant from the perspective of the theme(Manila, Hong Kong, Canton, Macao, Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore, Madras andBombay), were consulted by Selga.75

The observations of typhoons of the Manila Jesuits in the 1865–1898 period,compiled in Selga’s Bibliografía, are set out in Table 1. It can be observed in this that thereferences in the monthly Boletín were assiduous. The earliest, from 1865 to 1887, werenot signed, although the author of many of them was Faura. José Coronas, with

Table 1. Numbers and authors of the publications included in A Bibliography of Typhoons byMiguel Selga, 1865–1898.

Publication Period Author Number of publications

Manila Observatory (Boletín)Acaecimientos (Incidents) 1865–69 n.a. 19Observaciones Generales 1873–76 n.a. 8Revista Meteorológica mensual 1878–87 n.a. 36Idem 1890–92 Saderra Masó 28Idem 1893 Baltasar Ferrer 1Idem 1894 José Algué 12Idem 1895–98 José Coronas 29Idem 1896 Juan Doyle 9Zikawei Observatory (Bulletin)Revue du mois … 1878–85 Marc Dechevrens 17Idem 1887–93 Stanislas Chevalier 26Idem 1894–98 Louis Froc 15Hong Kong Observatory (Report)Director’s Annual Departmental Report 1881 H.S.M. Palmer 1Idem 1884–86 W. Doberck 8

73 ‘A Bibliography of Typhoons’, by M. Selga, 31 December 1936, MOA.74 Selga was able to gather 4676 files, containing the source and a summary of their contents. A part of this

material was used in his work, Miguel Selga, S.J., Charts of Remarkable Typhoons in the Philippines, 1902–1934. Catalogue of Typhoons, 1848–1934 (Manila, 1935).

75 Ángel Hidalgo, S.J., ‘Miguel Selga, 1879–1956: Priest and Scientist’, Philippine Studies, 15 (2) (1967),307–47 (322).

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29 compiled publications, is the most productive author. Other very prolific Jesuits intyphoon matters were Saderra Mata (28), Algué (12) and Doyle (9). But the barefigures, in themselves, do not tell us much. One way of quantitatively weighting its valueis to count the number of works published in the journals of the observatories located inthe Southeast Asia region. In Table 1 it can be seen that, in the period studied, themonthly Bulletin Mensuel of the Zikawei Observatory published 58 works on typhoons,and that only nine came from the Hong Kong Observatory in its Annual DepartmentalReports.76 As a point of reference, Selga’s Bibliografía includes 154 publications ontyphoons from the Manila Observatory, making it the most productive centre for cyclonicstudies of the nineteenth century in Southeast Asia and the Far East.

A ‘peculiar’ thing the Manila Observatory had is a good number of studies from theseismic section: one of the three at Manila (the other two sections, meteorological andmagnetic, being more common and often connected), and which had its own space, not justin the Boletín, but also in the extraordinary publications. Such is the case of La Sismologíaen Filipinas by Saderra Masó, La actividad seísmica en el Archipiélago Filipino durante elaño 1897 of Coronas, and up to a total of twelve titles (Table 2).77 These works were ananomaly with respect to what happened in other, neighbouring observatories, where thefocus was exclusively on meteorological and magnetic recordings.78

Another interesting fact that Selga’s thematic bibliography does not enable us to seeis the existence of an important section of extraordinary publications: studies that dealwith important phenomena or events otherwise worthy of mention (such as congressesand expeditions), and which deserve ample and monographic space. Faura and Algué,with five works each, are two of the six Jesuits who contributed to this series between1880 and 1898. The others are Martín Juan, Cirera, Saderra Masó and Coronas, with onework each (Table 2). This fact once more contrasts with what is observed in other,neighbouring observatories, where production was greatly linked to periodicalpublication.79

The Manila Jesuits did not try to avoid ’theory’ in physical science. Quite thecontrary, they tended to extol the works of those theorists who developed central modelsto understand meteorological and seismic phenomena. As ciclonistas, they were notoriginal theorists, but rather skilful disseminators.80 The following anecdote reflects theirfamiliarity with the thermal theory of cyclones. On the occasion of the preparation of histhesis on the formation of whirlwinds at the Faculty of Sciences in Paris, Félix H. Hébertremitted a draft report to Faura.81 In this, the physics professor from Paris analyzed the

76 Selga also includes references from the Bulletin of the Japanese Meteorological Observatory of Kobe(created in 1896), though all of them date from the twentieth century. See Masaya Nakatsu, ‘The FirstInstrumental Meteorological Observation at Kobe’. Kobe University, an unpublished document.

77 For a list of the Manila Observatory seismological publications, see ‘Seismology in the ManilaObservatory. Manila, P.I. 1865–1934’, by W.C. Repetti, MOA, INS S2, p. 21.

78 It was not until 1921 that the Hong Kong Observatory began to publish the Seismological Bulletin monthly(1921–1970).

79 In this period the Hong Kong Observatory published four monographic works on meteorology, all of themauthored by its director W. Doberck. See Kevin MacKeown, Early China Coast Meteorology: The Role of HongKong, 1882–1912 (Hong Kong, 2010), 231–4.

80 José Algué summarized meteorologist Julius von Hann’s physical theory of cyclone propagation in hischapter ‘On the origins of baguios or typhoons’, as well as Fr. Benito Viñes’ laws of cyclone circulation.See J. Algué, S.J., Baguios o Tifones de 1894 (Manila, 1895), 143–5, 148–51. Algué is considered to be theprincipal disseminator of the nephological-predictive ideas of Viñes at the turn of the century.

81 Hébert to Faura, December 5, 1881 ––quoted in Hidalgo (note 26), 21. The dissertation, Études sur les loisdes grands mouvements de l’atmosphère et sur la formation et la translation des tourbillons aériens, waspublished by Hébert in Versailles in 1882.

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Table 2. Extraordinary publications from Manila Observatory, 1882–1900 (Source: Saderra Masó(1915, pp. 196–7)).

Year Title Author

1880 Observaciones sismométricas de los terremotos del mes de Julio de1880. Manila: Imprenta de “La Oceanía”. 8 pp.

Federico Faura

1882 Los ciclones del 20 de Octubre y 5 de Noviembre de 1882. Manila:Imprenta de “El Comercio”. 16 pp. with plates.

Federico Faura

1882 Señales precursoras de temporal en el Archipiélago Filipino. 14 pp. Federico Faura1884 Reglamento interino e Instrucción práctica para uso de las

Estaciones Meteorológicas Secundarias de las Islas Filipinas.Manila: Imprenta de Manuel Pérez. 40 pp.

Federico Faura

1886 El Barómetro aneroide aplicado a la previsión del tiempo en elArchipiélago Filipino. 14 pp.

Federico Faura

1890 Observaciones Magnéticas verificadas en la Paragua, Joló yMindanao. Manila: Chofré y Cía. 31 pp.

Martín Juan

1893 El Magnetismo Terrestre en Filipinas. Manila: Chofré y Cía. 130 pp.with maps.

Ricardo Cirera

1894 La Meteorología en la Exposición Colombina de Chicago.Barcelona: Enrich y Cía. 118 pp. with illustrations.

Federico Faura andJosé Algué

1895 La Sismología en Filipinas. Manila: Chofré y Cía. 130 pp., withplates and figures.

Miguel Saderra Masó

1895 Baguios y Tifones del año 1894. Manila: Imprenta-Litografía Partier.190 pp. with plates.

José Algué

1895 Baguio de Gravina. Manila: Imprenta de “El Comercio”. 20 pp.with plates.

José Algué

1897 Baguios o ciclones Filipinos. Manila: Observatorio de Manila.307 p., maps and figures.

José Algué

1897 El Barociclonómetro. Manila: Observatorio de Manila. 66 p. withplates.

José Algué

1898 La erupción del volcán Mayón en los días 25 y 26 de Junio de 1897.Manila: Observatorio de Manila. 58 pp. and plates, figures.

José Coronas

1898 El Baguio de Samar y Leyte, 12 y 13 de Octubre de 1897. Manila:Foto-litografía de J. Marty. 68 pp., plates, illustrations.

José Algué

1899 The Barocyclonometer. Manila: Observatorio de Manila. 8 pp. José Algué1899 Las nubes en el Archipiélago Filipino. Manila: Observatorio de

Manila. 191 pp.José Algué

1899 El Servicio Meteorológico del Observatorio de Manila vindicado yrehabilitado. Manila: Observatorio de Manila. 75 pp.

(s.a.)

1899 Tifones del Archipiélago Filipino y mares circunvecinos. Manila:Observatorio de Manila. 108 pp. with plates.

Juan Doyle

1899 La Actividad Sísmica en el Archipiélago Filipino durante el año1897. Manila: Observatorio de Manila. 131 pp., maps and figures.

José Coronas

1900 Interesting Climatological Data concerning the Weather of Manila.Manila Observatory. 25 pp.

(s.a.)

1900 El Baguio del 8 de Septiembre de 1900. Observatorio de Manila.36 pp. Climatología de Filipinas. Tomo II de “El ArchipiélagoFilipino”. Washington: Imprenta del Gobierno. 265 pp., plates,illustrations.

José CoronasJosé Coronas

1900 Focos Sísmicos de Filipinas. Tomo II de “El Archipiélago Filipino”.Washington: Imprenta del Gobierno. 122 pp., plates andillustrations.

José Clos

1900 Variación Cíclica del Magnetismo Terrestre en Manila. Tomo II de“El Archipiélago Filipino”. Washington: Imprenta del Gobierno.72 pp. with plates.

Juan Doyle

1900 Atlas de Filipinas. Washington: Imprenta del Gobierno. Collectionof 30 maps.

José Algué

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role of the mountain ranges in Europe and America in the formation of the Sirocco, andtheir possible implication in the formation of Atlantic cyclones. In his letter of reply,Faura rejected such a possibility –– ‘I do not see how this can take place’ — and addedwords of clarification for the causes of cyclones: ‘I do not see here any other cause thanthe diverse thermal action of the Asian continent and of the sea, in conformity with thedeclination of the sun, which makes the centres of maximum and minimum pressure varyprogressively and change’.82 Likewise, he explained the recurvature of typhoons and thetendency of their trajectories to gain latitude when the Sun was in the northernhemisphere.83

Several facts placed the Manila Observatory among the leading observatories inseismology in the Far East.84 To begin with, the Observatory was probably the firstinstrumental seismic recording station in this region. As early as 1869, Fr. Juan Ricartbuilt two simple pendulums, whose characteristics fit into the category of seismoscopesrather than that of seismographs. As a point of comparison, the University of Tokyo, oneof the cradles of instrumental seismology, did not begin recording using a pendulum until1873.85 The Observatory was also the only center in the Far East in which the ‘Italianseismological tradition’ was implemented.86 Unlike their colleagues in Japan, the ManilaJesuits adopted the application of meteorological notions to telluric phenomena, asformulated by Italian seismologist Stefano de Rossi. It oriented their studies tomicroseismology and the quest for correlations between seismic phenomena and cyclonicones. Thirdly, the Observatory showed the world what was probably the world’s firstgraphical representation recorded for a large earthquake, as a result of the Manilaearthquakes of July 1880.87 These graphs were lauded in Japan and Europe.88 Finally,from 1881 the Observatory published seismometric observations in their general Boletín.From 1890, they edited a separate journal, the Boletín Sísmico, which publishedmonograph studies on earthquakes and volcanic eruptions of interest, such as those atPangasinán (1892), Agusan (1893) and Mayón (1897). Its value can be found with theseismologists of the time. When the leading seismology journal of the time (Bullettino delVulcanismo Italiano) had to suspend its publication, the Manila Observatory’s BoletínSísmico became, in the words of Fernand de Montessus de Ballore, ‘one of the mostinteresting collections for microseismic movements’.89

82 Faura to Hébert, February 12, 1882, Manila ––in Hidalgo (note 26), 21–2.83 When Algue returned to the Philippines, after a three-year training period in Europe and the US, he

published a monograph entitled Baguios o cyclones Filipinos (Manila, 1897). The first edition contained threeparts. The first was theoretical and dealt with the nature of typhoons (genesis, trajectories, and classification). Healso gave some practical norms to diagnose their presence. The book was well received in Spain and abroad.Shortly after, the meteorological offices of France, England and Germany requested the formal translation of thebook, leading to a revised edition in 1904, The Cyclone of the Far East.

84 Literature on seismology at the Manila Observatory is abundant. Two indispensable sources of that timeare: Miguel Saderra Masó, S.J., La sismología en Filipinas: datos para el estudio de terremotos del ArchipiélagoFilipino (Manila, 1895), 2–16; and W.C. Repetti, S.J., ‘Seventy Years of Seismology in the Manila Observatory’,Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 27 (1946), 15–18. See also Josep Batlló, ‘Sismologia colonial: laintroducció de la sismologia instrumental a les Illes Filipines (1865–1901)’, in Actes de la VI Trobada d’Històriade la Ciencia i de la Técnica, edited by J. Batlló, R. Puig and P. Bernat (Barcelona, 2002), 215–24.

85 The Manila Observatory anticipated by more than fifteen years the regular observations carried out inpeninsular Spain.

86 Batlló (note 84), 222.87 F. Faura, S.J., Observaciones sismométricas de los terremotos del mes de julio de 1880 (Manila, 1880).88 English seismologist John Milne praised Faura’s achievement; and the secretary of the Seismological

Society of Japan, W.S. Chaplin, translated Faura’s work into English and showed his graphs to the Society. SeeSaderra Masó (note 24), 48.

89 Quoted in Hidalgo (note 26), 39; Saderra Masó (note 24), 113.

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Some issues underlying the scientific ingenuity and contribution of the ManilaObservatory were related to matters concerning the elaboration of magnetic charts.Measurements of the magnetic field in its three components (declination, inclination andhorizontal) were linked with plans for increasing safety in navigation, which would satisfysome of the military and commercial needs in the overseas territories. Delimitation ofmines and lands and topographical plans were also of paramount importance for Spanishinterests. In 1890, the Spanish government financed these plans, taking responsibility forthe upkeep of the director of the Observatory’s magnetic section, R. Cirera.90 Previously,the authorities from the Madrid Observatory and the Overseas Ministry assisted thepromoter of this section, Fr. Martín Juan, who had been instructed in Paris by Th.Moureaux, director of Parc St. Maur Observatory, then the central magnetic station forFrance. The Observatory took up the challenge and its results were superior to those fromthe metropolis and even from its region. True, it was the Zikawei Observatory in Chinathat installed the first complete equipment for the study of magnetic variations inSoutheast Asia.91 However, its early works were limited to absolute measurements and itssituation was too northern to fill the gap regarding tropical countries. On the contrary, by1889 not only did the Manila Observatory possess a complete unit of magnetic equipmentand a continuous recording system, but the Archipelago had been covered by a network ofmagnetic observation sites. The fact that the Observatory performed from 1888 to 1892 amagnetic survey comprising 36 stations on the islands and 12 control stations on thecoasts of China and Japan attracted academic attention. The survey of France was carriedout in those years with the equipment of the same model used by the Observatory. AsMaureaux himself acknowledged, ‘I determined [Juan’s apparatus] constants, and togetherwe determined the methods of observation and calculations that should be adopted’ in thePhilippines.92 In any case, Cirera published results in his work El magnetismo terrestre enFilipinas in 1893, which included magnetic charts and the tracing of isogonic, isoclinicand isodynamic lines, as well as the lines of equal horizontal and vertical components. Nosimilar chart of the Iberian Peninsula was carried out in Spain until 1924.93

In the field of astronomy, by contrast, there was a belated and limited engagement.Although Faura promoted an ambitious project in the 1880s, only in 1894 did theObservatory undertake regular observations.94 The fact that Algué was trained at theUniversity of Georgetown under the guidance of Fr. John G. Hagen assured the systematicobservation, update and, ultimately, the acquisition of a large telescope. Algué not only

90 R.O. of 18th March, 1890. Gaceta de Madrid, 80 (21 March 1890), 869. On the work at the ManilaObservatory magnetic section, see Cirera (note 29); Saderra Masó (note 24), 101–9; and Pierre Gouin, ‘Themagnetic field over the Philippines. Part I: The magnetic survey of the Philippines, 1888–1892: an evaluationand a re-assessment’, MOA.

91 A magnetometer regularly operated at Zikawei since 1877. Cirera (note 29), 94, lamented the scarcity ofdata from the Japanese Empire: ‘we only have the [magnetic] variations for the summer months’. As regardsZikawei Observatory, see Udías (note 6), 158–67.

92 Th. Moureaux to Fr. Eduardo Capelee S.J., 18 November 1888 –– reproduced by Saderra Masó (note 24),105–6. Martín Juan died while taking part in the magnetic survey to Mindanao and Joló in 1888.

93 Although the Madrid Observatory carried out magnetic declination and inclination observations from 1879to 1901 and the so-called ‘Comisión Hidrográfica de la Península’ published, with the help of the CadizObservatory, four magnetic reports, these works were all isolated and did not serve as a basis for the peninsularmagnetic map. The first peninsular magnetic chart was drawn up by Johann von Lamont in 1859 in Munich as apart of an impressive program of regional magnetic surveys in Europe. See Batlló (note 55), 17–21, and 271–87for the magnetic instrumental equipment; and José Cubillo, Carta Nacional de Declinaciones Magnéticas(Madrid, 1949).

94 As regards the Manila Observatory’s astronomical section, see Saderra Masó (note 24), 125–31; and MOA,INS S2, Ángel Hidalgo, S.J., ‘El Observatorio de Manila y la astronomía’.

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transferred knowledge, but he also contracted an equatorial telescope from Saegmuller inWashington. According to reports in the Spanish press, this telescope ‘was unrivalled inthe observatories of the Far East, or in those of Madrid and San Fernando’.95 The appealto instrumentation was consistent with the experience gained in observatories of France,Italy and England, where the Spanish Jesuits received astronomical training before joiningthe Manila Observatory. In Washington, Algué invented a zenith reflection telescope,which enabled determining variations of latitude using photographs.96 Astronomicalactivity in Manila was not so much the spectroscopic observation or the survey of variablestars as the study of the variation of latitude, of double stars and of ‘periodical’phenomena (such as eclipses, the transit of Venus and Mercury, comets, meteorites, etc.),which Jesuits regarded as perceptible though the instruments of the Observatory.97

The cartographic practices were reflected in the scientific literature (geophysical,geographical, ethnographic, etc.) of the Jesuits, which included both publications and ex-officio letters to Superiors.98 The former were mainly printed in the 1890s and the years ofAmerican rule, while the latter were spread out over the phase of the Jesuit evangelizationand included a great variety of maps and charts. In 1899, the Manila Observatoryprepared the geographical map of the Philippines (Atlas) under the direction of Algué; itcontained a collection of 30 maps which were drawn up by native Philippine draftsmen.In the introduction to the Atlas, the superintendent of the US Coast and Geodetic Survey,Henry S. Princhett, stated that those maps ‘were superior to anything hithertopublished’.99 In seismology, the cartographic practice was also a novelty. In 1895,Saderra Masó prepared 40 seismic maps with graphic indications regarding the intensityand extension of the tremors from 1865 to 1889.100 In 1893, Cirera performed thecalculation and delineament of the magnetic chart, including the observations gathered byJuan and Saderra Mata in Mindanao, China and Japan.101 In climatology, cartographycame with the American administration. In 1899, Fr. José Coronas combined the Jesuittradition of atmospheric data collection with the newly awakened interest in climatology.His voluminous book on the climatology in the Philippines was published as a part of thework El Archipiélago Filipino, printed in Washington at the expense of the USgovernment.102 Although often identified as an American initiative, such works were ofSpanish inspiration, in that Coronas drew upon observations from 1883 to 1898 to

95 According to Luis Cirera, the brother of Ricardo Cirera, who later became the founder and director of theEbro Observatory. Diario Catalán, 20 February 1897 ––quoted in Pastells (note 11), III, 128.

96 José M. Clotet, ‘P. José Algué Sanllei, S.J.’, Cultura Social, 9 (1921), 311–15 (313). The equatorial of 48cm diameter and 700 cm focal length started working in 1898. The objective was constructed by Merz and themounting by Saegmuller of Washington. The attachments to the equatorial were a Toepfer spectrographconstructed in Berlin (similar to the one at Potsdam), and another by Hilger in London. The Manila Observatorypreviously had a Molteni telescope and Algué’s zenith reflection telescope. For more details, see: W.F. Rigge,‘Jesuit Astronomy’, Popular Astronomy, 12 (1904), 230–9 (238).

97 These phenomena were: the eclipses of the Sun (18 August 1868 and 19 August 1887); the transit ofMercury (10 May 1891); the transit of Venus (December 1882 and February 1894); the conjunction of Venus andJupiter (February 1892); the Sawerthal comet (1888); shooting stars (27 November 1885); the Banahao meteorite(1889); the Mati meteorite (1891), and the San Luis meteorite (1898). See Miguel Selga, S.J., Astronomicalobservations made in the Philippines prior to 1927 (Manila, 1930), 3–33.

98 Ángel Hidalgo, S.J., ‘Philippine Chartography and the Jesuits’, Philippine Studies, 29 (1981), 360–74.99 José Algué, S.J., Atlas de Filipinas: Colección de 30 mapas (Washington, DC, 1900).100 Saderra Masó (note 84).101 Cirera (note 29), chap. 6.102 An English translation of this work appeared in the Report of the First Philippine Commission to the

President, 4 (1901), 113–57. For a summary, see José Coronas, S.J., Interesting climatological data concerningthe weather of Manila (Manila, 1900).

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calculate the average monthly values of the atmospheric pressure, air temperature, relativehumidity and pressure of water vapor. However, maps of climatic zones were not drawnup until 1920.103

At a more modest level of scientific research we can detect some kinds of ‘advanced’geophysical activities. In the book El magnetismo terrestre en Filipinas published in1893, Cirera stated that ‘many years ago the Observatory assembled a galvanometer andinstalled wires’, with which regular measurements of telluric currents were made in N-Sand E-W directions.104 These studies, Cirera stressed, were similar to those carried outlater by the Parc St. Maur Observatory, under the direction of Moureaux.105 Likewise, atthe Manila Observatory archives, we find evidence of some curious observationsregarding surface ozone performed from 1879 to 1882.106 These data, being collectedby means of the Schönbein method, were among the few and earliest measurements of thesurface ozone levels at tropical latitudes –– together with those from the Observatories ofRio de Janeiro and Oaxaca de Juarez.107 Clearly, all these observations could have had alower profile at the Observatory, but subsequent interpretations in the context of moderngeophysics increased their value.108

Finally, the Manila Jesuits turned the invention of apparatus into a means of self-affirmation and social recognition. Invention was a practice rooted at the Observatory andconnecting with the Jesuit entrepreneurial tradition.109 As we saw, Algué invented azenith reflection telescope in Washington, which enabled determining variations oflatitude using photographs.110 An advantage of this telescope was that it did not requiremanual manipulation once it had been set to photograph the stellar paths. A furtherimprovement was made by attaching to it a photochronograph.111 Once in Manila, Alguéapplied this photogrammetric technique to cloud study, devising a new model ofnephoscope, which turned out to be useful for measuring low clouds and to calculatecloud velocity.112 Later he invented the ‘barocyclonometer’, which signaled the presenceand distance of typhoons and the direction in which they were moving.113 However, thisapparatus was not ‘new’, but the sum of two previous ones. To obtain the distance and

103 These included a temperature map, a climate map with average rainfall and a map of meteorologicalstations. José Coronas, S.J., The Climate and Weather of the Philippines, 1903–1918 (Manila, 1920).

104 Cirera (note 29), 150, gives no information about the lengths of these earth current lines.105 In 1892 Moureaux established two orthogonal lines of 15 km each. A year later, he was the first to detect

what is nowadays interpreted in terms of telluric currents channeled east-west in the Seine basin. Th. Moureaux,‘L’installation d’une station d’étude des courants telluriques à l’Observatoire du Parc Saint Maur’, SociétéMétéorologique de France, Annuaire, 4 (1896), 25–38.

106 MOA, INS, S1, ‘Manila observes ozone a century ago’. Philippine Daily Inquirer, 19 June 1994.107 The Manila Observatory used the same method and instrumentation developed at the Montsouris

Observatory in France; its data series extend over the years 1876–1910. See Santino Sandroni, DomenicoAnfossi, ‘Historical data of surface ozone at tropical latitudes’, The Science of the Total Environment, 148(1994), 23–9.

108 Another topic little studied was ground temperature. Underground temperatures were regularly observed atthe Manila Observatory from 1895. See José Algué, S.J., Ground temperature observations at Manila, 1896–1902 (Manila, 1902), 3.

109 As early as 1869, Ricart built two simple pendulums or seismoscopes. Faura was highly skilled atassembly ––in fact, he was able to set up the Secchi meteorograph in 1869.

110 Clotet (note 96), 313.111 A description of this instrument, with theory and results, can be found in José Algué, S.J., and Johann G.

Hagen, S.J., The reflecting zenith telescope (Washington, DC: Stormont & Jackson, 1893).112 The true height of the clouds was obtained from photogrametrical results. For a description in detail of this

nephoscopy, see: Hidalgo (note 26), 15–16.113 For a detailed description of the barocyclonometer, see: Hidalgo (note 26), 22–4; J. Algué, S.J., The

Barocyclonometer (Manila, 1898). In 1912, the USA Government asked Algué to adapt it to the Caribbeancyclones: J. Algué, S.J., The barocyclonometer for use in the North Atlantic (Manila, 1913).

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direction of the cyclone, Algué created a device which combined the properties of the so-called ‘aneroid barometer’ (an instrument invented by Faura in 1885 which gave thepressure and direction of the winds)114 with those of the ‘cyclonoscope’ (an apparatusinvented by Fr. Benito Viñes at the Havana Observatory in 1888 and which identified thecyclonic center).115 The inventive practice at the Manila Observatory not only maintainedthreads of continuity, but also symbolized a means of self-affirmation: this kind ofinventiveness made the Manila Jesuits independent research scientists.

8. International prestigeAn indicator of the quality of the Manila Observatory publications is the existence

of international recognition. When, in 1875, the Signal Office in Washington launchedits project for the Bulletin of international simultaneous observations, requestedcooperation from the Observatory. By then, this had been exchanging observations withthe Smithsonian Institution and with centres in Madrid, San Fernando, Moscow, SaintPetersburg, Paris, Brussels, Rome, London, Mexico, Batavia, Beijing, India, Canada andmany more.116 This could have formed part of a conventional cooperation framework, butit well reflected the great esteem in which the Manila Observatory was already held.

Another, more qualitative example, we find at the international meteorologicalmeetings, and to which the Manila Jesuits were invited. Recognition within geophysics,as within science in general, is won through a long series of small episodes which aresocial, and have much to do with the organization and the manner and rigor of thepresentation of results. One of these merits is the invitation to international events, whichinclude entrusting missions and special tasks and which constitute recognition of the valueof those responsible for the observatories.

The first of these reunions was the third International Meteorological Congress, heldin Paris in 1889, on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition. Faura was one of the 174participants. The meeting was a great success, as it brought together meteorologists fromall over the world for the first time ever (and not only directors of meteorologicalservices).117 At the (Colombian) Universal Exhibition held in Chicago in 1893, thedirector of the Observatory, Saderra Mata, was nominated member of the OrganizingCommittee which had to promote the International Meteorological Congress. Faura, whowas in Spain at the time for health reasons, attended, as did Algué, who had come on astay to the USA. Algué read an extract from Faura’s work ‘Precursor signs of typhoons inthe Filipino Archipelago’, and demonstrated a model of an aneroid barometer constructedat the Observatory.118 He also gave an account of the Cirera’s work, El magnetismoterrestre en Filipinas, and of Saderra Mata’s study, Las turbonadas en Manila.119 Among

114 Federico Faura, S.J., El barómetro aneroide aplicado a la previsión del tiempo en el Archipiélago Filipino(Manila, 1886). The first forty barometers were constructed in Paris and London (Casell), and were warmlyreceived by traders in Manila. Saderra Masó (note 24), 96; Cardús (note 35), 66.

115 Benito Viñes, S.J., Ciclonoscopio de Las Antillas (La Habana, 1888).116 In 1915, the number of observatories and institutions which had established an exchange of scientific

publications with the Manila Observatory came to 309: 165 from Europe –– Spain (19) —; 100 from America; 7from Africa; and 6 from Asia and Oceania. For the list, see Saderra Masó (note 24), 201–10.

117 Hendrik Gerrit Cannegieter, ‘The history of the International Meteorological Organization 1872–1951’,Annalen der Meteorologie, 1 (1963), 7–280 (20); Pastells (note 11), III, 127.

118 Federico Faura, S.J., and José Algué, S.J., La Meteorología en la Exposición Colombina de Chicago(1893) (Barcelona, 1894), 45.

119 On the contributions of Faura, Algué and Viñes to the Chicago Congress, see Ángel Hidalgo, S.J., TheP. José Algué, S.J. Científico, inventor y pacifista (1856–1930) (Manila, 1974), 8–13.

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the 153 authorities invited, there were 8 Asian representatives –– two of them fromManila.120 We also find 5 Jesuit fathers (the mentioned Faura and Algué, as well as Viñes,Chevalier and E. Colin).

We find one of the clearest manifestations of the scientific prestige of the Observatoryin the invitation to take part in international work on clouds. In 1891, a photographicstudy of the clouds was approved at the International Meteorological Congress inMunich.121 But it was not until 1895 that Robert Scott sent out a circular to a series ofsuitably distributed observers. This invitation is highly relevant with regard to the weightof the aforementioned esteem. Scott, who spoke for the International MeteorologicalCommittee, chose the Observatory for technical reasons. This meant that he saw itcapable of undertaking the study of the movement and height of clouds. But it also meantthe recognition of the nephelism work by Faura and Algué. It is highly interesting the factthat, of the 18 stations chosen, that of Manila (together with that of Java) were the onlynon-Western ones.122 Algué directed the observations and published the results in 1898,Las nubes en el Archipiélago Filipino.123 The President of the Committee, H.H.Hildebrandsson, received Algué’s work ‘with admiration and with the liveliest ofenthusiasm’.124

Yet, the invitations to congresses and accolades from Europe, however important,were not the only testimonies giving credit to the Observatory’s prestige. Spain hadlost the war against the US in 1898 and the situation of the meteorological serviceremained in the air. The US government assumed control of the Archipelago andprojected a new administration. The chief of the American fleet, the Admiral GeorgeDewey, had an interview with Algué with the purpose of channeling the creation of aweather bureau. This obviously connoted a tacit acknowledgment of the Observatory’sscientific work. Hence, when Algué submitted –– at the request of Dewey — a planreorganizing the Philippine Meteorological Service,125 the US government trusted inthe Jesuits’ expertise.126 Although they were pressured by the Hong Kong Observa-tory’s authorities to delegate the Manila service of cyclone warnings, they finallydecided to create a new state service, which would remain under the control andownership of the Society of Jesus.127 The new Philippine Weather Bureau assumed themeteorological and seismological networks, and maintained the astronomical andgeodynamic sections. This fact was singular. Unlike in Cuba and Puerto Rico, where

120 Three from India (J. Pogson, from Madras; J. Elliot, from Calcutta; and A. Pedler, from Bengal), one fromJapan (K. Kobayasui, from Tokyo); and two from China (E. Chevalier, from Zikawei; and W. Doberck, fromHong Kong). Faura and Algué (note 118), 17–22.

121 One of the three ‘flagship’ projects was the drafting of the international cloud atlas, which was directedand supervised by H.H. Hildebrandsson and M. Hagström. See Cannegieter (note 117), 25–6.

122 With this purpose, the Manila Observatory received two phototheodolites constructed in Germany byO. Günther (similar to those set up at the Observatory of Potsdam).

123 José Algué, S.J., Las nubes en el Archipiélago Filipino. Colaboración al trabajo internacional demedición de nubes (1° junio 1896 – 31 julio 1897) (Manila, 1898), v–vii, for R.H. Scott’s circular.

124 Hildebrandsson to Algué, 22 September 1898. Hidalgo (note 119), 15.125 The plan was published in the Annual report of the director of the Philippine Weather Bureau

(Manila, 1901).126 Another proof of recognition is the fact that the US Navy adopted Algué’s barocyclonometer as an

instrument aboard vessels in the Pacific, at least until the Second World War. I thank Josep Batlló for thisinformation.

127 Jesuits remained the owners of the Manila Observatory (which became the central office of the weatherbureau), whereas the US government defrayed the costs of the rest of stations.

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civil services were created after the 1898 victory, in the Philippines the US placed itstrust in the Jesuits.128

9. ConclusionsThe scientific Jesuits at the Manila Observatory demonstrated a tremendous capacity

for publishing original research. The missionary and educational task that the State hadentrusted to the Society cannot be called into question, but it is equally true that, at least inthe case of the geophysical sciences, the Jesuits had incentives that drove them to be involvedin such research. This would refute the idea established in the historiography of science thatthe scientific Jesuits acted, not as ‘investigators’, but as ‘functionaries’ committed to thedissemination of the Catholic doctrine, science being a mere stimulus for them.

Lewis Pyenson studied how French scientific Jesuits settled in Zikawei, Beirut andAntananarivo between 1880 and 1940. The French Jesuits undertook genuinelyfunctionary activities, disseminating the Catholic faith and saving souls, and seekingfinancial aid from the civil authorities, receiving funding from Parisian patrons, withoutthis seriously compromising their independence. Nevertheless, although seeking todiscover new knowledge about Nature, it was only with considerable difficulty andinternal conflict that they managed to harmonize their functionary role with the task ofscientific research. Their loyalty was first to doctrine or rather to the demands of theirsuperiors in the metropolis –– an attitude that had led them to consider science as a‘stimulus’, an ‘incentive’, a means –– not an end — to greater goals, often cultivated in an‘almost self-taught’ or circumstantial manner. Even so, the Jesuit functionaries were themost successful French experience in pure scientific investigation overseas.129

The case of the Spanish Jesuits would appear to be different in many aspects. In thefirst place, the demands of their superiors in Madrid or Barcelona to promote the exactsciences do not appear to have taken place in the overseas missions; on the contrary, theyalways seemed to come from the periphery.130 Secondly, the scientific production of theManila Jesuits was comparable to those of European researchers who visited thePhilippines at that time in originality, rigor and quality.131 The Jesuits’ work was noless worthy scientifically with respect to the climatological studies of the so-called‘investigators’ (as opposed to the ‘functionaries’). And thirdly, the financial aid the Jesuits

128 On the transfer of the meteorological service during the difficult period of the changeover from Spanish tothe US sovereignty, see Saderra Masó (note 24), 132–60; Josep Batlló, ‘¿El primer servicio meteorológicoespañol en 1884?’, AME Boletín, 40 (2013), 32–6 (35); James Francis Warren, ‘Scientific Superman: Fr. JoseAlgue, Jesuit Meteorology and the Philippines under American Rule, 1897–1924’, in Colonial Crucible:Transitions and Transformations in American Empire, edited by Alfred Mc Coy and Fransisco Scarano(Madison, 2009), 508–19 (508–10).

129 Pyenson (note 3), 390; Pyenson (note 4), 266–7.130 A letter from the Superior of the Manila Mission to the Provincial Father of Aragon in April 1893 vividly

expresses the vigor of the demands from the Manila Observatory. The matter concerned the purchase of anequatorial telescope from Washington and the construction of a dome from Barcelona: ‘These extraordinaryexpenses in America and in Europe for the Observatory will cost us a fortune […] And Fr. Faura, as [the ManilaJesuits] are willing to spend, is still putting pressure on to purchase everything necessary is bought for a completeand well-equipped observatory. For God’s sake, my Father, help me contain these observers, prevailing uponthem to limit themselves to the purely indispensable terrain’. Pastells (note 11), III, 116.

131 This is the case with Carl G. Semper, a reputed ethnologist and zoologist at the University of Würzburgwho visited Luzon and Mindanao from 1858 to 1865, where he performed climatological observations; or FedorJagor, an ethnologist from the University of Berlin who visited the Archipelago from 1850 to 1861, and informedhis colleagues about the meteorological observations made at the Manila Observatory. See Carl G. Semper andGustav Karsten, Die Philippinen und ihre bewohner (Würzburg, 1869); Fedor Jagorn, Reisen in den Philippinen(Berlin, 1873).

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received from the civil authorities is not definable as ‘neutral’ or ‘European’ sponsorship.Rather it was assistance behind which were clear local commercial interests. Distancingourselves from the Pyenson typology, we can state that the Spanish Jesuits, takingadvantage of the stimulus from society and from the commercial elite of the Philippines,made scientific investigation an end in itself, a duty of conscience and social justice.132

Moreover, the scientific community which was created at the Observatory, in amissionary and educational context, had features distinct from those of the ‘functionary’kind: scientific strategies (and not so much circumstantial choices), learning through staysat European Jesuit centres (rather than fruit of self-teaching), a lot of dedication (at timesexclusive) to science, a predisposition to conceiving science as a social end (not a merestimulus), a conception of the missionary labour that considered research equally (ormore) important than education, and a conception of scientific enterprise which valuedboth production and originality.

Finally, on solid and diverse educational structures –– primary, secondary, business and‘normal’ schooling — was erected the basis of a practical doctrine governing behaviour:diligence in pure research became a necessity. This principle was linked to education, forsince systematic, constant and methodical labour enabled the attainment of success in theeducational mission –– which was one of the goals of evangelization — such a methoditself became a procedure worth implementing in science.

AcknowledgementsThis article is part of a larger study on Jesuits and science in nineteenth-century

overseas supported by the Basque government (SA-2012/00202). I am grateful to theInstitute of Philippine Culture (IPC) and the Manila Observatory, Ateneo de ManilaUniversity, in whose archives and libraries this work crystallized through two short-term fellowships (January-March 2011, and January-February 2012). I am indebted toFather José S. Arcilla S.J., Víctor Badillo, Melissa Lao, Elizabeth J. Macapagal, andShyl Angelica Sales, Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu, Carina C. Samaniego, and Mariel R.Templanza for providing essential feedback and help for this project. This work benefitedtremendously from the insightful and generous reviews of Lewis Pyenson, as well as forthe remarks of two anonymous referees.

132 The Manila Jesuits showed little interest in training Filipinos as independent research scientists. However,social justice has multiple dimensions, and is not necessarily limited to the scientific training of native persons. Inmany texts Faura alluded to the need to help the ‘unfortunate seamen who sail through tempestuous seas’ and thepoor people who suffer the effects of the disastrous baguios. See for example Saderra Masó (note 24), 52–3.Faura regarded typhoon warnings service as a duty of social justice: a service that mainly favored all those whohad no means or resources.

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