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Monthly Calendar of Nature fo}' Scotland. 



46*9°. The average annual mean for the last seven years is 47-7°. In 

 1823, 1829, and 1830 the mean was under that average. The depth of 

 rain in December was near the ordinary fall in that month ; but the annual 

 depth of rain in 1830 was 37*77 in. : the annual average at this place is 

 26-38 in. The following are the results for January : — 



The mean temperature in January is about 0*5° under the ordinary 

 average, and the depth of rain nearly 1 in. below the ordinary fall. The 

 coldest day in December was the 24th : mean temperature of that day, 

 23° ; extreme cold, 20° ; wind N.W. It may be remarked, however, that 

 at the point of observation the thermometer stands about 132 ft. above the 

 adjoining Carse lands, and, less liable to be affected by hoar frost. On 

 swampy soils, in the Low Carse, the extreme cold was 15". The 21st, only 

 three days previous to the 24th, was the warmest day : mean temperature 

 of that day, 43-5° ; wind west ; extreme heat, 47-5°. There were 7 days on 

 which rain fell ; and on 2 days a light sprinkling of snow, not exceeding 

 2 in., which only gave 0-2 of an inch when melted in the rain-gauge. There 

 were 8 days of brilliant and 6 of partial sunshine. On 17 days the atmo-^ 

 sphere was cloudy. The wind blew a loud gale from the north-west on the 

 19th. On the evening of the 25th the aurora borealis appeared unusually 

 brilliant. The wind set in from easterly points on 11 days; from the 

 north on 4 days ; from the south and west on 10 days; on 6 days it was 

 variable. - 



The excessive moisture of last season, with its usual accompaniments, 

 cold and a clouded atmosphere, retarded the ripening of fruits in the open 

 air till a later period than usual, and the quality was less saccharine. In 

 the field the quality of wheat and barley was also much deteriorated. 

 Young wood would have suffered from the same cause, but that little rain 

 fell in the month of October : hence young wood is better ripened, and 

 flower buds more bold and profuse than otherwise could have been ex- 

 pected. 



The coldest day in January was the 31st : mean temperature of that 

 day, 28° ; extreme cold, 25° : this cold was accompanied with a heavy fall 

 of snow, the first of any depth for the season ; a loud north-easterly wind 

 blew it about in the shape of drift. The warmest day was the 9th : 

 extreme heat, 48° ; mean of that day, 45° ; wind west. The wind set in 

 from the west on 10 days ; from the east on 10 days ; and from the north on 

 1 1 days. There were 1 1 days of brilliant and 4 of partial sunshine ; 16 were 

 cloudy, and for the most part misty. In the course of the two months that 

 are past, vegetation could make little perceptible progress. Winter beans 

 that had been sown on the 5th of November, appeared partially above 

 ground on the 10th of January ; a period of 66 days : mean temperature of 

 that period, 38°. Wheat that was sown on the 16th of November began 

 to appear above ground on the 24th of January ; a period of 69 days : mean 

 temperature of that period, 37-2°. While the cold retards the vegetable 

 process in the ground, it is worthy of remark that plants growing in spring 

 water make their usual progress. The Aponogeton distachyon, a green- 



