The Meteorology of Whitehaven. 367 



and 6°.429 under the temperature of February 1842. Frost occurred 

 on nineteen nights. On the night between Jan. 31. and Feb. 1., the ther- 

 mometer again fell to 16'.5, and on the grass-plot to 7°. On the same 

 night, the thermometer at Carlfsle fell to 11°.5, whilst at Edmonton, the 

 miu. was 26°. On the nights of the 11th and 12th, the thermometer at 

 Greenwich, fell to 1°J below zero, at Edmonton, to minus 4°, and at 

 Dorking, to minus Qi°.5, whilst at Whitehaven, the min. was 28°.5, being 

 35° above the min. at Dorking, and 32°.5 above the min. at Edmonton. 

 This extraordinary depression of temperature seems to have been con- 

 fined to the southern counties. 



The thrush and blackbird began to tune their notes about the 21st. 

 March. — The coldest on record, though the March of 1837 very nearly 

 approached to it. Temperature 6°.065 under the mean, and 7^.355 un- 

 der the corresponding month of 1842. On the 12th and 13th, the ther- 

 mometer at Wigton, fell to 11° on each night, being 15°.5 and 10° re- 

 spectively below the min. temperature at Wliitehaven. Although the 

 frosts were nightly very intense from the 12th to the 21st, yet little or 

 no rime formed on the grass, owing to the low hygrometrical state of the 

 atmosphere, which, in other respects, was highly favourable to the pro- 

 duction of dew, the radiation varying from 8° to 11°. 



On the 2d, gathered primroses ; and on the 26th the cabbage butter- 

 fly, the earliest species, made its appearance. 



Apnl. — This month is 1°.19 above the mean temperature, and is nearly 

 the same as that of April 1842. The thermometer was only once below 

 the freezing point, and then only to the extent of half a degree. Frost 

 occurred on three nights only. This is the mildest April within the last 

 twelve years, except those of 1833 and 1844. The cuckoo was seen at 

 Grasmere, as early as the 7th, but was not heard until the 21st, a day or 

 two after it was heard in this neighbourhood. This vernal visitor would 

 seem to make its appearance at various places in the north simultane- 

 ousl}', without much regard to their difference of temperature. It is 

 generally heard in the Lake district as early as at the sea coast, or nearly 

 so. This year it was heard at Ennerdale on the 16th, at Gatesgarth on 

 the 22d, and at Buttermere on the following day, being two days earlier 

 in the season than it has ever been heard in those sequestered districts. 

 On the 1st, the tortoise-shell butterfly began to appear. On the 2d, 

 au immense flock of wild geese, consisting of several hundreds, were seen 

 proceeding along the coast in a northerly direction. 



It may here be remarked, that an usual number of wild fowl have been 

 seen during the past winter. 



May. — The weather during the whole of this month was very cold and 

 unseasonable ; indeed, it is the coldest Maj'^ within the period of my ob- 

 servations. The corresponding month of 1835, which approaches the 

 nearest to it, was about three-quarters of a degree higher. The tempe- 

 rature is 3°.35 under the average ; 4^086 under the same month of 1842, 

 and S°.247 under that of 1833. 



A succession of cold easterly winds, with occasional hail showers, 

 thunder, and lightning, in the country. The thermometer did not de- 

 scend to the freezing point within 5°. The evaporation is less than in 

 the corresponding month of last 3'ear by 2.635 inches. 



Swallows did not make their appearance in this neighbourhood until 

 the 2d, much later than usual. Indeed, so cold and ungenial was the 

 atmosphere in this month, that those vernal visitors kept close to their 

 hiding-places ; even so late as the 20th, the sight of a swallow was quite 

 a rarity. Butterflies, which were noticed in March, almost entirely dis- 

 appeared during this month ; until the 30th, I scarcely saw a single spe- 

 cimen. 



On the 6th, a partial eclipse of the sun seen under pretty favourable 



