HARD WICKE' S SCIENCE- G OS SIP. 



35 



of these I may quote, as it confirms some of the old 

 and disreputed statements above alluded to. After 

 a severe storm that imperilled their tent, M. Vallot 

 on going out at about 9 P.M. found himself an in- 

 teresting object. His clothes and his head were in 

 the condition of the prime conductor of a working 

 electrical machine. The rock on which he stood was 

 in an opposite electric state to the mist around him, 

 and his body thus became a crepitating sparkling 

 discharger. 



ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 

 By John Browning, F.R.A.S. 



ON February the nth, there will be a partial 

 eclipse of the sun, not visible at Greenwich. 



On February the 20th, Aldebaran will be very 

 close to the moon. 



Mercury will be an evening star in the west, near 

 the horizon, about an hour after sunset. 



Venus will be a morning star throughout the 

 month. 



Mars will be in Virgo. 



Jupiter will be visible early in the morning in 

 Scorpio. 



Rising, Southing, and Setting of the Principal Planets 

 at interz'als of Seven Days in February. 



Meteorology. — There being nothing of popular 

 interest to record as regards Astronomy this month, 

 I shall devote my space to a summary of the Meteor- 

 ology of 1887. 



From the observations published in the daily 

 weather report of the Meteorological Office, it appears 

 that the temperature rose in July to a maximum of 



88 deg. and fell to a minimum'of 15 deg. in January, 

 which was the lowest reading observed for six years. 



The extreme range for the year of 73 deg., was the 

 largest observed for many years. 



The mean temperature was below the average in 

 every month, excepting June and July, and very 

 considerably below the average in March, April, 

 May, September, and October. The mean tempera- 

 ture for the year showed a deficiency of 2 deg., and, 

 with the exception of 1879, was the coldest that we 

 have experienced for at least twenty-five years. 



Respecting rainfall, we find that rain fell on twenty- 

 four days fewer than the average, and that the amount 

 which fell was less than the average in every month, 

 excepting August and November. In January, June, 

 and July, it was about half, and in October it was less 

 than half, while in February it was only one-third of 

 the average. 



The total rainfall for the year was 20 per cent, below 

 the average. For some of the midland and south- 

 western counties, and for parts of Ireland, the year 

 1887 was the driest on record. 



In the neighbourhood of London the number of 

 warm and very warm days was the smallest we have 

 experienced for eight years. The number of cool 

 days exceeded any year since 1879, and to find an 

 equally great number of frosty nights we must go 

 back at least twenty-five years. Owing to the 

 deficient temperature- having occurred mostly in the 

 spring and summer months, the death-rate from 

 diseases of the respiratory organs was not abnormally 

 low. 



The two features of the most striking interest in 

 the meteorology of last winter were the great gale 

 on the 8th and 9th of December, 1886, and the 

 heavy snowstorms in the south of England on the 

 26th of the same month. During the gale on the 9th 

 of December, the barometer sank in London to 28*30, 

 the lowest level recorded in the Metropolis for forty- 

 five years. 



Over the greater part of England, including 

 London, the spring was the coldest on record. 



The summer of 1887 was remarkable for its bril- 

 liancy. From the 5 tft °f J un e to the middle of 

 August there was an almost unprecedented drought. 

 Long spells of heat were experienced in London 

 during July and August. The amount of bright 

 sunshine recorded at Greenwich was greater than in 

 most years, and nearly double that of the summer of 



1879. 



The autumn of 18S7 was cold, changeable and 

 unsettled. Snow fell as early as the loth of October. 

 The mean temperature was greatly below the average 

 in England, but not in Scotland. 



The rainfall in the autumn was less than the 

 average in most places, the deficiency in London 

 being 7 per cent. 



The present winter, so far, has been very change- 

 able and unsettled. There have been no very severe 



