28 



RECORD AND REDUCTION 



The average fall of the temperature for the period from new moon to full moon, 

 from the above comparisons, is 7i°. The separate results may, perhaps, not ap- 

 pear as conclusive as those obtained at Van Rensselaer Harbor (lat. 78°. 6) ; still, 

 the general deduction is confirmed. The following account of the weather for each 

 day, the day preceding and the day following, of the full and new moon, is copied 

 from the record and refers to noon. Beaufort's signification of letters is used. 



In the first winter, the weather appears to have been finer and clearer at full 

 moon ; whereas, in the second winter, there is little or no difference, a misty weather 

 and snow drifts characterizing the locality; under these circumstances, the lunar 

 effect could hardly be expected to show itself as distinctly as brought out above. 

 Captain McClintock makes the following remark (page ix of the 4th number of 

 meteorological papers published by the Board of Trade): "The dense and con- 

 tinued mist over Bellot Strait, caused by considerably warmer water than the air 

 above it, and the strong local winds, perhaps partly caused by this speedy evapora- 

 tion and condensation, are special features." 



No recurrence of cold was noticed, either in 1858 or in 1859, about May 11th — 

 the period Dove has called attention to. 



Temperature of the Winds. — To ascertain the elevating or depressing influence of 

 the various winds on the temperature, the following method of investigation was 

 adopted : — 



The normal temperature of each day was made out by taking the mean of the 

 temperature of that day, the two preceding and the two following days. The ob- 

 served temperature at the hours 6 A. M. and G P. M., and at noon and midnight, 

 were then compared with the respective normal temperature (the mean of five days); 

 the differences thus obtained were tabulated according to one of the eight winds 

 (or calm) N., N. E., E., S. E., etc., blowing at the respective hours. The mean 

 difference for each wind, and for a period extending over a season, very nearly 

 indicates the elevating or depressing influence of each wind, and at each season, on 

 the temperature of the air. The + sign indicate warmer, the — sign colder, than 

 the average. The diurnal variation being generally small, and in the absence of 

 any regularity of a certain wind blowing regularly at certain hours, the effect of 



