190 Mr Marshall's Meteorological Observations 



The preceding numbers will enable any person to find the positions of 

 the planets, to lay them down upon a globe, and determine their times of 

 rising and setting. 



Art. XXXII. — Summary of Meteorological Observations made at Kendal, 

 in September, October, and November 1826. By Mr Samuel Mar- 

 shall. Communicated by the Author in a Letter to the Editor. 



Previous to the summary of Meteorological Observations which I send 

 for insertion in the Journal of Science, it appears needful to make a few 

 remarks on the situation of Kendal, as they may serve to throw some light 

 on the results of these observations. 



This place has long been a point of considerable interest in meteorologi- 

 cal observations, from the accounts which have been regularly kept for a 

 series of years, and published in many of the literary periodical works 

 which this country produces. Its locality suggests important considera- 

 tions, which may perhaps tend to elicit conclusions, and throw some light 

 on the science of meteorology. 



The height of the town from the sea is little more than forty-two yards, 

 calculating from the canal which is cut between the town and Lancaster. 

 Kendal is situated on the W. side of a valley, bounded on each side by a 

 chain of hills, running from N. E. to S. W. and is at the southern extremi- 

 ty of the mountainous district of "Westmorland and Cumberland. It is 

 subject to an uncommon quantity of rain. The average annual quantity 

 taken for twenty years may be stated at 51.8 inches, an average equalled by 

 few places in England. The prevalent winds in this district are S. W. 

 and W. The vapours carried in these directions from the Atlantic Ocean, 

 and the Irish Sea will be interrupted in their progress by the hills which 

 bound theN. of the town and neighbourhood ; hence the deposit of aqueous 

 vapour will be greater than in places further S. which is the fact. In 

 Manchester, for instance, the annual average quantity of rain is but thirty- 

 four inches. The lowness of the situation of Kendal may also contribute 

 to this circumstance, as it is a fact proved by experiment, that on the top 

 of a hill a less quantity of rain falls than in its surrounding valleys. But 

 little dependence can be placed on observations on the winds in this valley ; 

 and this remark will probably apply to most places situated in mountain- 

 ous districts, as the eminences will most likely give a direction differing 

 from its original one, to any current of the atmosphere. 



