Meteorological Observations for April 1831. 465 



De Luc's Whalebone Hygrometer. 



Greatest humidity of the atmosphere, in the evening of the 9th .... 95 

 Greatest dryness of the atmosphere, in the afternoon of the 20th... 46 



Range of the index 49 



Mean at 2 P.M. 61-2. Mean at 8 A.M. G9-3. Mean at 8 P.M. 73*5 



of three observations each day at 8, 2, and 8 o'clock 68'0 



Evaporation for the month 3-65 inches. 



Rain in the pluviameter near the ground 2-525 inches. 



Prevailing winds, N.E. and S. 



Summary of the Weather. 



A clear sky, 3; fine, with various modifications of clouds, 15 J; an over- 

 cast sky without rain, 6 ; rain, 5. Total 30 days. 



Clouds. 

 Cirrus. Cirrocumulus. Cirrostratus. Stratus. Cumulus. Cumulostr. Nimbus. 



17 11 28 18 16 13 



Scale of the prevailing Winds. 



N. N.E. E. S.E. S. S.W. W. N.W. Days. 

 2 6| 2 4 6 3 3 3 30 



General Observations. This month has been generally fine and mild, 

 with the exception of a few days. The refreshing showers at intervals, 

 aided by the sun's influence in his progress northward, have quickened ve- 

 getation ; also the blooming of the fruit trees in the order of their time 

 throughout the month, and the blossoms are profuse. Since the late rains 

 the grass fields and young wheat have much improved, and the former 

 have resumed their verdure and gaiety. These operations, now Nature has 

 revived from the sleep of winter, and the vegetable world from torpor to 

 animation, proceed rapidly, and afford to a close observer not only an in- 

 expressible pleasure, but a consciousness of the constancy of an unerring 

 Providence; and we may rely on the promise that has hitherto been an- 

 nually fulfilled, " While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest shall 

 not cease." 



In the evening of the 12th instant, lightning emanated from the clouds 

 from eight till ten o'clock. Soon after sunset on the 13th, the small crescent 

 of the moon was conspicuous about six degrees above the western horizon, 

 being less than twenty-eight hours from the time of her change. On the 

 morning of the 17th a few swallows appeared for the first time since their 

 departure. 



At one P.M. on the 22nd, a storm came on suddenly, and deposited six- 

 tenths of an inch of rain in the pluviameter in less than half an hour : the 

 rain descended in torrents about five minutes, and some of the accompany- 

 ing hailstones were half an inch in diameter, with icy nuclei. The storm 

 was occasioned by two winds, one from the North-east, the other from the 

 South, and the consequent inosculation of clouds of different temperatures 

 from these points of the compass. No rain or hail fell at Portchester, 

 about four miles distant. 



Between one and two o'clock in the afternoon of the 23rd, a storm of 

 rain, hail, and wind came on from the North-east, accompanied with several 

 strong flashes of lightning and reverberating peals of thunder. Some of 

 the hailstones measured seven-tenths of an inch in diameter, but were 

 mostly angular pieces of ice. The storm came on under nearly the same 

 circumstances as that of yesterday. 



The mean temperature of the external air this month is about one 

 degree and a quarter higher than the mean of April for many years. 



The atmospheric and meteoric phsenomena that have come within our 



observations this month, are one solar and one lunar halo, six meteors, 



N. S. Vol. 9. No. 54?. June 1831. 3 O lightning 



