22 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March 



structure is made up of compressed columns, running the whole 

 length from joint to joint, evidently of a tabular nature, and 

 bound together by very thin tissue. At the base of the stem, 

 the broken ends are visible. 



" Unless Eophyton Linnceanum is proved to have a jointed 

 stem and an internal structure similar to our specimen, it will 

 probably be necessary to make a generic distinction ; but at 

 present it is better to retain this under Dr. Torell's generic 

 name." 



CONTRIBUTIONS TO CANADIAN METEOROLOGY. 



Compiled from the Records of the Isle Jesus and Montreal 



Observatories, 



By Charles Smallwood, M.D., LL.D., D.C.L., Professor of Meteor- 

 ology in the University of McQill College, Montreal. 



The following table has been drawn up for the purpose of 

 showing the respective dates of the setting in and of the 

 breaking up of our Canadian winters for the past twenty-one 

 years, and for illustrating the climatology of Montreal and its 

 vicinity. 



The first column gives the years from 1849 to 1869 inclusive ; 

 The second shows the time of the first fall of snow in autumn in 

 however small quantities. This amount, as a general rule, does 

 not exceed a quarter of an inch in depth on the surface, and 

 invariably disappears, lasting but a very short time, and, in some 

 cases, only a few minutes. The third column shows the date, 

 and the fourth the amount in inches of the heavier snow fall. 

 This snow very seldom entirely disappears ; traces may be seen in 

 sheltered places and on the hills and mountains. The dates 

 in the fifth and sixth columns shows the days of the first frost 

 of autumn, and the earliest date that the thermometer marks 

 32° F. These dates may seem somewhat anomalous, inasmuch 

 as the descent of the thermometer to 32'^ F., (the freezing point,) 

 and the first frost of autumn, do not in all cases coincide. This 

 difference is owing to several causes, such as terrestrial radiation, 

 amount of clouds, direction and velocity of the wind, and the 

 humid state of the atmosphere. The effect of the first frost of 

 autumn is generally perceived on the leaves and flowers of plants. 



