14 REPORT OF THE 



Eight months of the year exhibited a temperature below a 

 mean ; February, March, April, and September were slightly in 

 excess. There was an excess of rain in January, May, June, 

 and November, but a deficiency in each of the other months. 

 The days on which rain fell were 129 against 174 of last year. 

 Westerly winds have been remarkably prevalent, 154 days are 

 marked as W. or S.W. 



The Gentiana verna flowered this year on the 18th of April 

 against the 4th of May in 1853. The month of May was dis- 

 tinguished by the unusual frequency of electric displays — nine 

 occurrences of thunder and lightning are noted in that month. 

 The month of August, mostly noted for storms of this character, 

 in York and its neighbourhood, was nearly exempt this year, a 

 slight display on the 16th of that month being the only one 

 recorded. Full of variety and uncertainty, displaying sudden 

 and unlocked for changes, and having a wide range of extremes, 

 nevertheless the pheenomena of weather when the records of 

 a few years are taken to form a mean, exhibit a wonderful 

 uniformity. This is one proof among many of the beneficence 

 and wisdom of the Creator. Seed time and harvest, summer 

 and winter still hold on their course. The observers of these 

 phajnomena are sometimes questioned as to whether there is not 

 some remarkable change in the lessened severity of winter, the 

 increased or diminished heat of summer, &c. The following 

 table, suggested by a recent inquiry of this kind, presents a 

 striking instance of the uniformity of which we have spoken. 



The temperatures of the three winter months, viz., December, 

 January, and February, for the ten years from 1831 to 1840 

 both inclusive, are as follows : — 



In contrast with this exact uniformity, when one series of 

 years is compared with another, we present the following table 



