442 SCIENTIFIC RECORD FOR 1882. 



H. C. Fox has investigated the laws which regulate the succession of 

 temperature and rainfall in the climate of London, with the following 

 results among others: 



1. A cold spring is very prone to be followed by a cold summer, a cold 

 summer tends to be followed by a cold autumn, and a cold autumn Las 

 a slight tendency to be succeeded by a winter of low temperature. 



2. Warm summers are generally followed by warm autumns. 



3. In no fewer than eight out of the twelve months (that is, in every 

 one except February, March, May, and October), very loic temperature 

 tends to be prolonged into the succeeding month. 



4. If June, July, August, or December be icarm, the next month will 

 probably be a warm one also. 



5. Two months, June and July, tend, when very dry, to be followed 

 by dry ones. On the other hand, a dry August indicates the probability 

 of a icet Sejitember. 



6. A ivet December is apt to be succeeded by a wet January. 



In addition to the foregoing there are also a few instances in which 

 the rainfall of certain months appears to be definitely related to antece- 

 dent extremes of temperature, and vice versa. Thus: 



7. If August or September be warm, the ensuing September or Octo- 

 ber inclines to be wet. If, on the other hand, September or November 

 be cold, the succeeding October or December is likely to be a dry month. 



8. If February, June, or July be very dry, the next month has a 

 strong tendency to be warm. 



9. If January, March, or April be wet, we may also expect the next 

 month to be a warm one. But a wet May or July gives a strong proba- 

 bility of cold weather in June or August respectively. {Nature, xxii, 

 pp. M5, 44G.) 



Buchan has published a paper on the diurnal period of thunder-storms 

 in Scotland. There are two well-marked types of thunder-storms, the 

 one occurring in the summer months, and having its daily maximum 

 frequently from 1 p. M. to G p. M., and the other occurring in the winter 

 months, with its maximum from 9 P. M. to 3 A. M. Stations in the east- 

 ern division of the countrj', where the annual rainfall is small or only 

 of moderate amount, have all, or n'early all, their thunder-storms during 

 the summer months; whereas in the west, or where the climate is wet 

 and the rainfall heavy, a very considerable portion of the thunder- 

 storms occur during the winter mouths, and these are nearly always of 

 short duration, and are the accompaniments of the winter cyclones of 

 Northwestern Europe. {Nature, xxii, p. 594.) 



In a paper on the secular inequalities in terrestrial climates depend- 

 ing on the perihelion, longitude, and eccentricity of the earth's orbit, 

 read by Eev. Dr. Samuel Ilaughton, of Trinity College, Dublin, he 

 shows that the two inequalities in question depend upon terrestrial 

 radiation only, and in no way upon sun heat. 



Having noticed that the hottest and coldest times of the day follow 



