EAIXFALL IX HERTFOEDSHIEE IN 1876. 229 



not yet sufficient data. Moreover these and other questions of 

 considerable interest are fully treated of in Mr. Symons' excellent 

 annual publication 'British Eainfall.' As, however, a few ob- 

 servers have sent me the annual rainfall at their stations for some 

 years past, and two have communicated the monthly fall for several 

 years, I hope to embody these, and any other returns of past years 

 that I may receive, in a future report. 



Appendix. 



As it is necessary for strict comparison that all obseiwations be 

 made upon one uniform plan, and as I have received returns which 

 evidently were not carried out in accordance with Mr. Symons' 

 rules, which all observers should comply with in order to secure 

 uniformity, I here append, in a condensed form, those to which 

 adherence is indispensable, referring observers, for full instruc- 

 tions, to Mr. Symons' ' British Eainfall.' 



Gauges should be examined at 9 a.m. daily ; or if read monthly 

 at 9 a.m. on the 1st. [If weekly always also on the 1st of each 

 month.] 



The amount measured at 9 a.m. on any day is to be entered to 

 the previous day. (This rule has been approved by the Meteoro- 

 logical Societies of England and Scotland and cannot he altered.^' 



There must always be two figures to the right of the decimal 

 point; thus seven-hundredths of an inch is to be entered as -07, 

 and ten-hundredths, or one-tenth, as '10. 



The amount should always be written down before the water is 

 thrown away. 



The unit of measurement being -01, if the amount is under -005, 

 it should be thi-own away; if it is -005 to -010 inclusive, it should 

 be entered as '01. 



When snow falls, melt what is caught in the funnel and enter as 

 rain ; or, where the snow has not drifted, invert the funnel, and, 

 turning it round, lift and melt what is enclosed ; or, take one- 

 twelfth of the average depth of snow as the equivalent of water 

 (but this method is not to be adopted if it can be avoided). f 



Small amounts of water deposited by fog or dew should be 

 added to the amount of rainfall. 



* It is to be regretted that all the observers in our county have not adhered to 

 this rule. Where this has without doubt been the case the necessary correction 

 has been made. 



t " SnoTvdon pattern gauges are much the best." — SjTnons. 



