Meteorological Observations. 431 



tinuous, but formed patches separated by transparent intervals. The 

 red colour predominated in that portion of the sea which washed the 

 southern portion of China, to the south of the island of Formosa, 

 whilst the yellow colour was observed principally to the north of this 

 island, in the sea known as the Yellow Sea. The water was taken 

 from the portion of the sea which was of a red colour. 



The same plant was received some years since from Ceylon by 

 M. Montague, so that it appears to range throughout the Indian 

 Ocean from the coast of Africa to that of China. M. Dareste also 

 refers to the description of an atmospheric dust by Mr. Piddington, 

 published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for 1846, 

 which he thinks contained minute forms of vegetation similar to, if 

 not identical with, the Trichodesmium erythrceum. — Comptes Rendus, 

 March 6, 1854, p. 461. 



,05, .>d,? iio 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR MARCH 1854. ..,.,^ 



CMswick. — March 1. Frosty : very fine : clear, with sharp frost at night. 2. 

 Frosty : very fine : hazy. 3. Very dense fog : foggy : partially overcast : frosty. 

 4, Frosty, with slight fog : overcast. 5. Overcast: clear: dense fog. 6. Dense 

 fog : foggy throughout. 7. Foggy : fine : overcast. 8, Cloudy : overcast : clear. 

 9. Overcast: very fine : overcast. 10. Cloudy: slight rain. 11. Fine: clear. 

 12. SUght fog: very fine. 13. Clear and fine. 14. Cloudy: slight rain. 15. 

 Foggy: cloudy. 16. Cloudy and fine. 17. Clear throughout : frosty at night. 

 18. Slight haze: rain. 19. Rain : overcast. 20. Clear and cold. 21,22. Fine. 

 23. Cloudy and cold. 24, 25. Overcast. 26. Cloudy. 27. Overcast : very fine. 



28. Cloudy : very fine. 29. Clear : very fine. 30. Overcast : fine. ZlUjol^ 

 throughout. -rn/^i '.rT 



Tj,, Mean temperature of the month i2°-M nu' 



',^^ Mean temperature of March 1853 37*41 .^^ 



Mean temperature of March for the last twenty-eight years . 42 "23 



Average amount of rain in March 1-36 inch. 



jBo5/o».— March 1—3. Fine. 4, 5. Cloudy. 6, 7. Foggy. 8, 9. Cloudy. 10. 

 Fine. 11. Cloudy. 12, 13. Fine. 14. Cloudy : rain a.m. 15. Fine. 16. Cloudy: 

 rain a.m. 17. Fine : rain a.m. and p.m. 18. Cloudy. 19. Fine. 20 — 26. Cloudy. 

 27. Fine: rain a.m. 28. Cloudy. 29. Fine. 30. Cloudy. 31. Fine. 



Sandwich Manse, Orkney. — March 1. Cloudy a.m. and p.m. 2. Bright a.m. : 

 cloudy p,M. 3. Clear, fine a.m. : clear, aurora p.m. 4. Clear, fine a.m. : 

 clear p.m. 5. Bright a.m. : drizzle p.m. 6, 7. Cloudy a.m. and p.m. 8. Bright 

 a.m. : clear p.m. 9. Kain a.m. : cloudy p.m. 10. Bright a.m. : shovs'ers p.m. 

 11. Rain a.m.: cloudy p.m. 12. Bright a.m. : clear p.m. 13. Bright a.m. : 

 cloudy P.M. 14. Cloudy A.M. : fine p.m. 15. Clear a.m.: cloudy p.m. 16. 

 Cloudy a.m.: clear p.m. 17. Cloudy a.m.: drops p.m. 18. Cloudy a.m.: 

 showers p.m. 19, 20. Cloudy a.m. : clear, aurora p.m. 21. Bright a.m. : cloudy, 

 aurora p.m. 22. Cloudy a.m. and p.m. 23. Cloudy a.m. : clear p.m. 24. Cloudy 

 A.M. and P.M. 25. Cloudy a.m. : clear, aurora p.m. 26. Bright a.m. : clear, 

 aurora p.m. 27. Showers a.m. : cloudy p.m. 28. Clear a.m. : cloudy, hazy p.m. 



29. Cloudy a.m. : cloudy, drizzle p.m. 30. Clear a.m. and p.m. 31. Clear a.m. : 

 cloudy p.m. 



Mean temperature of March for twenty-seven previous years . 40^*37 



Mean temperature of this month 45 '14 



Mean temperature of March 1853 38 '24 



Average quantity of rain in March for thuteen previous years 2*59 inches. 



The mean temperature of this month is higher than that of any March for the 



last twenty-seven years, and the barometer on the 4th was as high as on any day 



during the same period except on two, viz. 27th December 1840, when it was 



30-72, and on 1st February 1841, when it was 30-76. 



On the 30th, about 8 o'clock p.m., a comet with a long tail was seen N.W. 

 about 7° above the horizon, and remained visible to the naked eye, and attracting 

 attention for an hour and a half, but has not been seen since then, as the sky was 

 too cloudy for several evenings. 



