556 Meteorological Errors. 



night, which will account for this bird having wandered so 

 far from its usual haunts. The nearest point of the sea coast 

 is 23 miles distant, as the crow flies. — John Skaife. Black- 

 burn, Lancashire, August 4. 1837. 



Meteorological Errors in Vol. VIII. p 446. (See the present 

 volume, p. 448.) — I am obliged for Mr. Brown's kindness in 

 pointing out the errors in the memoranda on the state of the 

 atmosphere at Berne, in 1755, as given by me in my seventh 

 essay on the connexion of phenomena. 



To prevent any idea of the general incorrectness of the 

 statements contained in the paper in question, it is better to 

 mention, that it was not intended to say that the barometer 

 fell from 21*10 in. to 25*6 in.; but that, being at 21-10in. in 

 the morning, when the earthquake took place, the mercury 

 had fallen in the evening to 25*6 in., the mean height, as 

 mentioned further on; being, at Berne, 26*2 in. Whether any 

 change took place intermediately between the morning and 

 evening, from a gradual rising, I cannot now state, as Ber- 

 trand's work, from which I took the particulars, was only lent 

 to me by, and, when used, returned to, Professor Daubeny of 

 Oxford, and, therefore, I cannot now refer to it ; but I think 

 there is an ambiguity in the expression used by Bertrand, and 

 that I, for the sake of conciseness, wrote "fell to," instead of 

 using other words. I do not recollect the original term. 



The second error pointed out by Mr. Brown, where 

 51° Fahr. should be 19|° Fahr., was occasioned by employing 

 the table [ix. (chap, v.)] in the Appendix to Dr. Lardner's 

 Treatise on Heat (p. 410, 411.) ; and, in the hurry of writing, 

 merely marking down the equivalent of 8}° R., without recol- 

 lecting zero. As to the note (in VIII. 446.), I have no ex- 

 planation to offer : how it got thither, I do not know. If it 

 was intended by me to quote the extreme intensity of cold 

 sometimes felt at Berne, and particularly on the 2d and 3d of 

 February, 1830, the quotation failed. I believe the note was 

 not appended by me, but by a friend who saw the MS. before 

 it went to press. I had myself noticed the errors alluded to 

 by Mr. Brown ; but, as they are all so palpable, carrying with 

 them their own correction, I did not take the trouble to 

 mention them afterwards, as I ought to have done. As, 

 however, being now noticed in print, they may, to some 

 readers, convey an idea of the incorrectness of the facts quoted 

 in my papers on the phenomena of the earth and the air, I 

 think it advisable to acknowledge Mr. Brown's kindness. 



As to the rest, I must reply in the words of Horace (who, 

 no doubt, wrote them in pity to magazine contributors, who 



