﻿ATMOSPHERE IN RELATION TO HUMAN LIFE AND HEALTH. 145 



windward whether the obstacle consist of a mountain or of a galva- 

 nized iron screen. 



SYMONS'S BRITISH RAINFALL. 



An examination of the means for fifteen years at a number of stations 

 in England shows that such cases are not isolated. At Saltash, on tlie 

 southwest side of Dartmoor, the rainfall was 53.87, at Lee Moor (800 

 ieet), on Dartmoor, 68.96, and at Bovey Tracey, east of Dartmoor, on 

 low ground, 46.08. At Clyst Hydon, the mean was only 34.21 5 at Exe- 

 ter, 36.61; and at Exmouth, 34.74. Similarly, at Tavistock (316 feet), 

 near the western edge of Dartmoor, the fall was 54.18; while at Tiver- 

 ton (450 feet), at some distance northeast of Dartmoor, it was 44.35. 

 At Kingsbridge, to the south, where the influence of Dartmoor was not 

 conspicuous, owing to its position with regard to the prevailing winds, 

 only 37.15 was registered. Taunton, protected apparently by the pre- 

 cipitating influence of both Dartmoor an-d Exmoor, as well as by the 

 nearer Blackdown Hills to the southwest, recorded only 29.75, against 

 Tavistock's 54.18 and Barnstaple's 41.95. 



In Sussex we find that the South Downs, mostly 600 to 700 feet high, 

 and the ranges of hills on the southwest border of Surrey, have an appre- 

 ciable effect, though they do not exceed 800 feet, except at a very few 

 points. Thus, Arundel registered 34.29; the rising ground north of 

 Chichester, 34.90; Petworth, 36 19; Midhurst, 39.65; Fernhurst, 32.19, 

 against 28.41 at Dunsfold, near Godalming, some miles to the northeast 

 of the hills; 26.55 at Weybridge, still farther east, and 26.13 at Green- 

 wich. At Alton, on high ground (496 feet), the fall was 35.58, against 

 26.73 at Reading. At St. Lawrence, Isle of Wight, and Osborne, the 

 record gave only 31.20 and 29.91, respectively, and the seacoast from the 

 Isle of Wight to Dover has an average of less than 30 inches. On 

 the low ground of the eastern counties, where the air would no longer 

 be forced upward in crossing the land, the amounts diminish to 24.22 at 

 Eoyston, 23.78 at Peterboro, 22.81 at Cambridge, 22.63 at Ely, and 21.85 

 at Shoeburyness. But the low hills of Norfolk and Lincoln raise the 

 amount to 28 and 29 inches. 



In the Midlands and northern counties the distribution of rain is 

 similar. Thus, while at Sedbergh, Penistone, and Dunford Bridge, the 

 amounts were 55.26, 56.76, and 55.75, stations at a moderate distance 

 eastward of the hills registered as follows: York, 26.93; Doncaster? 

 27.33; Leeds, 27.70; Sheffield, 35.02; Stockwith, 23.66; Lincoln, 23.83. 

 The rainfall of Carlisle is remarkable, only 30.07, owing to its position 

 to the northeast of the mountains in the same county, where the 

 amounts reach 80 and 100 inches. In the neighborhood of Sheffield the 

 fall varies from 43.26 at 1,100 feet at Redmires to 33.03 at Broomhall, 

 not many miles distant. Buxton, at 989 feet, has 57.14 inches, and 

 Chatsworth, about 20 miles distant, 36.66. Tunstall, a little eastward 

 of the mountains of the North Riding of Yorkshire, has only 28 inches 

 against 55.26 at Sedbergh on their western side.. 

 230a 10 



