184 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June 



carried by the wind eastward. These together formed round 

 the moon a corona of golden light 5'^ in diameter, encircled by a 

 concentric ring or halo of bright prismatic rays of about 1° in 

 breadth. The red ray was nearest the moon, then the orange, — 

 and next respectively the yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet 

 shades. A second but much larger circle or halo was also visible 

 during part of the time, about 1 5° in diameter, and tinted with 

 faint prismatic colours. Cirrus and cumulus clouds were seen 

 floating from the west eastward, and were very visible and well 

 defined within the concentric rings. 



These appearances lasted for nearly an hour. The formation 

 of cumulus clouds became more dense, and at a less altitude began 

 to obscure the distinct outlines, and seemed to co-miuglc and to 

 obliterate these appearances from view. 



At 9h. 40m. p.m. heavy cumulus clouds spread rapidly and 

 covered the whole horizon. A very high wind prevailed during 

 the whole of the night. 



At 7 a.m. the next day (the 26th) the barometer had fallen 

 to 29.646 inches, with a slight rise in temperature. The ther- 

 mometer at the same hour stood at 1°. A small amount of 

 snow fell at 8h. 20m. a.m. 



It might be stated that a partial eclipse of the moon occurred 

 on the evening of the 27th. Its appearance was unsatisfactory, 

 owing to the presence of clouds and to the hazy state of the 

 atmosphere. 



ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF RAIN. 



By C. Smallwood, M.D., L.L.D., D.C.L. 



The geographical distribution of rain over the surface of 

 the globe may be said to be proportioned to temperature, its 

 humidity to the tides or fluctuation in the atmosphere, as 

 indicated by the barometric variations, to changes ol temperature, 

 and to the configuration of the earth's surface. 



The conditions necessary to the formation of rain are the 

 presence of clouds, (although some observers have recorded 

 rain falling from a cloudless sky,) to that of the cirrus (or snow 

 cloud) at a high elevation, and at a low temperature (some 

 40° degrees below zero), together with the cumulus (or 

 vapour cloud). These co-mingling by moist air-currents being 

 forced into the higher region of the atmosphere by colder. 



