506 Meteorological Observations. 



tells him that he remembers having taken notice of the plant fifty 

 years since ; another man vouches for forty years. 



The plant occupies a space of about 20 feet by 5 or 6, and is 

 not found in any other part of St. Agnes, nor, as far as Mr. Mayne 

 knows, in any of the other islands. Twenty years since St. Agnes, 

 as he has ascertained, could not boast of even one garden, and there- 

 fore floral culture could hardly have caused its introduction more 

 than fifty years since, when potatoes and rye and an occasional 

 cabbage were the only things grown in the island by people who 

 lived wholly by the sea. 



Strange birds often visit the Isles during the south-easterly winds, 

 and may, as Mr. Mayne justly suspects, have brought seeds from 

 the continent. He adds, that " a brother clergyman, living at 

 Marazion, near Penzance, has some plants of it growing in his 

 garden. He has never seen the plant elsewhere, and is quite at a 

 loss to account for their presence." Can this be Dr. Penneck's 

 station noticed in ' Cybele Britannica/ vol. ii. p. 232 ? 



I leave it to other botanists to discuss the curious question of the 

 rank of this plant as "alien" or "colonist." I have no authority 

 for supposing that it is found upon the Atlantic coasts of France, 

 but it inhabits damp and stony or rocky places in the south of 

 that country. The peculiarly mild winter climate of Scilly is not 

 unfavourable to it, and it may therefore be an old if not " the oldest 

 inhabitant." — Charles C. Babington. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR OCT. 1851. 

 Chiswick. — October 1. Densely clouded : rain. 2. Overcast: showery. 3. Fine: 

 showery. 4. Rain : very fine : clear. 5. Fine. 6. Rain early : very fine. 7. 

 Rain. 8. Very fine. 9. Foggy: drizzly : rain. 10. Cloudy. 11. Foggy: 

 very fine. 12. Cloudy. 13. Very fine: rain. 14. Very fine. 15. Constant 

 rain. 16,17. Clear : very fine. 18. Fine: rain: cloudy. 19. Fine : overcast. 

 20. Slight drizzle : uniformly overcast. 21. Foggy : fine. 22. Slight fog : hazy. 

 23, 24, 25. Overcast. 26. Fine. 27. Overcast : exceedingly fine. 28. Over- 

 cast : rain. 29. Fine : clear. 30. Clear : fine. 31. Very fine. 



Mean temperature of the month 51°*25 



Mean temperature of Oct. 1850 44*32 



Mean temperature of Oct. for the last twenty-five years . 50 '50 



Average amount of rain in Oct 2'66 inches. 



Boston. — Oct. 1. Fine: rain p.m. 2. Fine. 3. Rain: rain a.m. and p.m. 

 4. Cloudy: rain a.m. 5. Fine: rain a.m. and p.m. 6. Fine: rain early a.m. 

 7,8. Fine. 9. Cloudy : rain a.m. and p.m. 10,11. Fine. 12. Cloudy. 13. 

 Cloudy: rain p.m. 14. Fine. 15. Cloudy: rain early a.m. and p.m. 16— 

 19. Fine. 20. Cloudy. 21. Rain. 22. Fine. 23— 25. Cloudy. 26, 27. Fine. 

 28. Cloudy : rain p.m. 29. P'ine : rain p.m. SO. Cloudy : rain a.m. and p.m. 

 31. Fine : rain p.m. 



Sandwick Manse, Orkney. — Oct. 1. Bright: clear: aurora. 2. Rain : clear : 

 aurora. 3. Bright: clear. 4. Rain: clear: large lunar halo. 5. Bright: 

 showers. 6. Cloudy: showers. 7. Cloudy: rain. 8. Bright: lunar rainbow. 

 9. Bright: showers. 10. Showers : cloudy. 1 1. Clear : .showers. 12. Cloudy : 

 damp. 13. Cloudy: showers. 14. Bright: showers. 15. Rain: bright: 

 showers. 16. Bright : clear. 1 7. Showers : drops. 18. Showers : rain: aurora. 

 19. Clear : showers : aurora. 20. Bright: cloudy: rain. 21. Bright: cloudy. 

 22. Bright: clear: aurora. 23. Damp: drops: aurora. 24. Fog: fine. 25. 

 Fog : rain. 26. Drizzle: rain. 27. Fine : cloudy : rain. 28. Rain : showers : 

 aurora. 29. Sleet-showers: aurora, 30. Cloudy. 31. Rain : showers : aurora. 



