B. TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS AND METEOROLOGY. 53 



and below the average on only eight days, the mean excess 

 for the whole period being 5 1' Fahr. During the whole of 

 this period of more than three months the thermometer fell 

 below the freezing point on four nights only, February being 

 entirely free from, frost. The warmest period was from March 

 1 to 8, when the maximum temperature ranged each day from 

 57 l'to 60 8'. 



On March 19 the temperature again fell below the mean, 

 and continued so for nine days, till the 27th, accompanied in 

 London and the neighborhood by heavy falls of snow. The 

 minimum temperature for March was, on the 21st, 26 2', 

 being the lowest recorded since December 9. There were 

 nine frosty nights in March, against two in the whole of the 

 two preceding months. For the week ending March 26, the 

 mean temperature was 34 Fahr., or 16 lower than the mean 

 for the week ending March 7. The severe frost of March 21, 

 following such a long period of mild weather, has done an im- 

 mense amount of damage to the fruit crops, the pears and 

 cherries having suffered more severely. It is remarkable 

 that, although the flowers were killed in the bud, the centre 

 being turned perfectly black, they opened as if untouched, 

 and presented a mass of bloom looking to the eye entirely 

 uninjured. On the early vegetable the effects were no less 

 disastrous. In the island of Jersey alone, whence large sup- 

 plies are usually obtained for the London market, the dam- 

 age to the potato crop is estimated at many thousands of 

 pounds. A. W. Bennett. 



RELATION OF WEATHER TO COLLIERY EXPLOSIONS. 



A careful collation of meteorological records for (riven lo- 

 calities, and the explosions from fire-damp in coal mines in 

 Europe, has shown that there is a very close relationship be- 

 tween the two, and that alterations in the meteorological 

 condition are proximately the cause of most colliery acci- 

 dents. Out of 550 given explosions investigated, it is thought 

 that 226 may be attributed to the state of the barometer, and 

 123 to that of the thermometer, while the remaining 161 were 

 unaccounted for on meteorological grounds ; thus seventy 

 per cent, of the whole were directly related to meteorological 

 influences. It is suggested that special care should be ex- 

 ercised in mines after a fall of the barometer, although the 



