The Meteorology of Whitehaven. 



351 



probably been allured from other climes by an instinctive sense of the 

 unusual warmth of the season in higher latitudes. Small flights of lo- 

 custs made their appearance in some counties, and a few specimens were 

 found in Cumberland. The nightingale is said to have been heard in 

 this vicinity. 



Hygrometer. — An inspection of the annexed table will shew the hy- 

 groscopic condition of the atmosphere in 1846, as compared with the four 

 previous years : — 



The driest day in 1846 was the 22d of June. At 9 a.m. the interior 

 thermometer of Daniell's hygrometer was depressed to 45°, or 26'°5 be- 

 low the temperature of the air, without obtaining any deposition on the 

 dark ball ; at 5 p.m. the dew-point was 63*^, having risen 18°, at least, 

 since morning. There was much thunder, lightning, and rain, between 

 five and half-past six the same evening, and on the following morning 

 nearly an inch of rain was measured. This sudden change, after a drought 

 of four weeks, confirms the observation of some meteorologists, that an 

 extremely dry state of the atmosphere is sometimes followed by rain within 

 a few hours. The evaporation indicated by the guage, is within one- 

 tenth of an inch of the quantity in the previous year, and three quarters 

 of an inch more than in 1844. The year 1846 has been the dampest 

 of the last five years. 



