362 Mr. J. Glaisher's Remarlcs on the Weather 



The excess of rain in the quarter in the counties of Cornwall 

 and Devonshire is owing to two remarkable falls which oc- 

 curred in Cornwall on September 22 and on September 26. 

 The observer at Helston mentions the falls on the nights of 

 those days as very remarkable. The observer at Falmouth 

 says, " a greater quantity of rain fell on the nights of the 22nd 

 and 26th of September than I have measured in the same 

 time for tv/elve years, viz. 1*925 and 1*964 inches respectively." 

 The observer at Truro says, " the quantity of rain for Septem- 

 ber is most extraordinary, amounting to 9*25 inches, particu- 

 larly the amount which fell on the 22nd, viz. 4*24' inches. 

 On the 26th a large quantity also fell, viz. 3*00 inches. The 

 total for the month exceeded that registered in any previous 

 month during the period of our observations (eleven years), 

 except in one instance, which, in the same month of Septem- 

 ber, slightly exceeds the present amount. The largest fall in 

 any one day previously noted was 2*10 inches (in December 

 1848); so that the quantity on the 22nd of September is 

 double that on any former occasion, and is rendered more re- 

 markable by being followed in four days by another far ex- 

 ceeding all except itself." These remarkable falls seem 'to 

 have been confined almost entirely to the county of Cornwall. 



The directions of the wind at Greenwich were S.W. and 

 N.W. till July 8; was N.E. from the 10th to the 16th; and 

 it was mostly S.W. from the 17th to the end of the month. 

 From August 2 to 6 was N.W. and N.E. ; it was S.W. from 

 the 8th to the 17th; and was chiefly N.W. till the end of 

 August. It was mostly N. from September 1 to the 8th ; 

 S.W. from the 10th to the 16th; and N. and N.E. after this 

 time. From the observations of the direction of the wind 

 which have been taken daily at most of the principal railway 

 stations, and published in the " Daily News" on the following 

 day during the whole of the past quarter, it appears that the 

 general direction was the same all over the country when the 

 air has been in quick motion ; but that at other times its 

 direction has been variable, and very frequently in a calm 

 state at places whose elevation is inconsiderable. 



The daily horizontal movement of the air in July was 120 

 miles; from August 1 to Uth was 50 miles; from August 12 

 to 16th was 170 miles; and from August 17 to the end of the 

 quarter was about SB miles, except on September 11 and 12th, 

 when it amounted to 190 miles daily. The average daily 

 horizontal movement of the air during the quarter is about 

 120 miles. Therefore during the months of August and 

 September the movement of the ^ir was about one-half the 

 usual amount. 



