Meteorological Observations. 271 



tina with sulphuric acid and peroxide of lead, but this process did 

 not always succeed. The narcotina is not acted upon by the per- 

 oxide of lead alone ; but when dilute sulphuric acid is poured upon 

 a mixture of the peroxide and narcotina, the mass becomes hot, ac- 

 companied with a rapid escape of carbonic acid gas ; the solution 

 which remains after the reaction possesses a yellow colour and a very 

 bitter taste ; dependent upon the nature and duration of the reaction, 

 the liquid contains cotarnina, opianic acid, and probably other pro- 

 ducts. The carbonic acid disengaged sometimes has the smell of 

 cyanogen, but the presence of this substance was not proved. — 

 Ann. de Ch. et de Phys., October 1844. 



NEW COMET. 



A large comet was discovered at Nevis (West Indies) on the even- 

 ing of the 5th of January last, at sunset, in the constellation Grus. 

 It is described as a very splendid object, the nucleus being distinctly 

 visible, and the tail extending to a length of 10°. On the 6th of 

 January it was near h Gruis ; on the 9th it made a near approach to 

 the star 9 in the same constellation. In the four days, from Jan. 6 

 to Jan. 10, its motion in right ascension was +46™, and its motion 

 in south polar distance +52'. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR JAN. 1845. 



Chiswick. — January i. Foggy. 2. Cloudy : frosty. 3. Frosty : cloudy. 4. 

 Overcast. 5. Rain. 6. Very fine. 7. Thick haze: very fine. 8,9. Foggy. 

 10. Thick haze: boisterous at night. 11. Boisterous, with rain. 12. Hazy: 

 rain : fine. 13. Overcast: clear. 14. Rain : drizzly : heavy rain. 15. Rain: 

 fine. 16,17. Overcast. 18. Densely clouded : heavy rain. 19. Clear : hail- 

 shower at noon : constant heavy rain at night. 20. Boisterous. 21. Clear and 

 frosty. 22. Sharp frost : hazy : fine : overcast. 23. Overcast: rain. 24. Fine: 

 rain : frosty. 25. Clear and frosty : overcast : boisterous. 26. Boisterous : clear. 



27. Rain : boisterous : cloudy. 28. Slight snow : fine, with sun : rain. 29. Over- 

 cast. 30. Hazy: frosty. 31. Frosty: cloudy: frosty. — Mean temperature of 

 the month 2°*36 above the average. 



Boston. — Jan. 1. Foggy. 2. Snow. 3,4. Fine. 5. Cloudy : rain early a.m. 

 6 — 10. Cloudy. 1 1. Windy : rain early a.m. : rain p.m. 12. Foggy. 13. Foggy : 

 rain A.M. 14. Cloudy. 15. Cloudy: rain early a.m. 16. Cloudy. 17. Fine. 

 18. Cloudy : rain PM. 19. Cloudy. 20. Stormy: rain early a.m. 21. Fine. 

 22. Rain. 23. Cloudy. 24, 25. Fine. 26. Stormy. 27. Snow : rain a.m. 



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



Sandwich Manse, Orkney. — Jan. 1. Bright: cloudy. 2. Clear: frost: cloudy. 

 3. Clear : frost : showers. 4. Showers : rain. 5. Showers : cloudy. 6. Showers : 

 clear. 7. Bright : clear : aurora. 8. Clear : frost : clear. 9. Clear : cloudy. 

 10. Cloudy. 11, 12. Bright: clear. 13. Cloudy: drops. 14. Cloudy. 15. 

 Bright : clear. 16. Clear: cloudy. 17. Showers. 18. Bright: cloudy. 19. 

 Bright: frost: clear: frost. 20. Bright: frost: cleSr : aurora. 21. Cloudy: 

 frost : drops. 22. Bright : showers : halo. 23. Showers. 24. Showers : clear. 

 25. Rain. 26. Showers : hail-showers. 27. Cloudy. 28. Snow-showers : clear : 

 aurora. 29. Snow-showers : drift. 30. Clear. 31. Showers. 



Apjdegarlh Manse, Dumfries-shire. — Jan. 1. Frost : dull. 2. Slight frost. 

 S. Thaw: frost A.M. 4. Frost a.m. : rain p.m. 5. Rain a.m. 6. Dry and mild. 

 7. Rain early a.m. 8. Fair, but dull. 9. Fair : slight frost. 10. Fair, but dull : 

 rain P.M. 11. Heavy rain a.m. : flood. 12. Fair and mild. 13. Rain : frost. 



14. Fair. 15. Dull and cloudy. 16. Frost. 17. Slight frost: thaw p.m. 18. 



Rain. 19. Snow: rain p.m. 20. Frost: clear. 21. Frost: thaw p.m. 22. 



Thaw : fog. 23. Rain. 24. Rain early a.m. 25. Frost early a.m.: rain. 26. 



Rain : flood. 27. Snow : slight frost. 28, 29. Frost, severe : snow \fvag. S0» 



Frost, severe : snow. 31. Very hard frost. 



