146 METEOKOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 



General Observations. 



January. — The mean temperature was nearly 3 degrees above 

 the averag-e. S., and more especially .S.W. winds, were expe- 

 rienced for more than half the days in the month, yet the amount 

 of rain was very little above the average. The 10th was bois- 

 terous. The nights of the 14th and 21st were boisterous, with 

 rain. The 27th was exceedingly fine through tlie day, with 

 wind direct from S., but heavy rain fell in the evening and at 

 night. 



February. — The mean and extreme heights of the barometer 

 in this month were very extraordinary, especially with the wind 

 from S.W. during sixteen days. The average height of the 

 barometer was fully 30yV i'ldies ; the extreme height occurred 

 on the evening of the 11th, when it stood at 30'880, or nearly 

 SOyfi^- inches — a height unprecedented since the register was kept 

 at the Garden. The day was clear and very fine, and the night 

 calm, clear, and frosty. The weather was calm and generally 

 fine till the 20th. On the evening of the 22nd there was a 

 peculiar redness in the sky, and also a whitish luminosity. 

 Lightning occurred on the evening of the 24th. The 25th was 

 stormy, and much rain fell at night. 



March. — The barometer stiil averaged high. Very little rain 

 fell till the 27th, and altogether the quantity was limited. The 

 mean temperature was a little below the average. Half the 

 number of nights were more or less frosty. Vegetation was 

 consequently rather backward. The 1st was clear and windy. 

 A hail-shower fell on the 8th, and some snow on the 9th and 

 25th. 



April. — This month was cold, wet, and unfavourable to vege- 

 tation. The mean temperature was 3^ degrees below the 

 average ', and fourteen nights were more or less frosty, fre- 

 quently 6 or 7 degrees below freezing. The blossoms of fruit- 

 trees in the open ground were, in consequence, mostly destroyed. 

 There was a sharp frost on the 17th, and a fall of snow on the 

 afternoon of the 18th. The mean height of the barometer in 

 tills month was nearly as much below as it was above the average 

 in the two preceding. 



May. — The mean temperature was fully equal to the average. 

 The amount of rain was nearly double the usual^ quantity. The 

 5th was very fine in the morning, but at 2 p.m. a storm of 

 thunder, lightning, rain, and hail commenced. Heavy rain fell 

 on the 28th. 



June. — The mean temperature was 1^ degrees below the 

 average. Rain fell only on four days, and altogether the quan- 



