57 



maxima. The extreme range of the month, was 33 degrees, being below that 

 of any of the preceding nine years' Junes, except 1859, which had only 31 

 degrees. 



The daily raw^rgmean, 15 "13 degrees, is — "17 below the 20 years' mean, had 

 less than all the previous years, since 1855, which had only a daily range of 

 13 '14 degrees, 1863 had 16 "13. The extreme range on any day of the month 

 only amounted to 22 degrees, and was recorded on the 10th. No year since 

 1854, had so small an extreme. The least range on any day was 6 degrees 

 on the 19th. 



The solar temperature mean was, 72*46 degrees, being — 2 "29 degrees below 

 the mean of the previous eight years, but + 1 '46 degrees higher than June 

 1863 had. The highest temperature noted by this thermometer, was on the 

 29th, and 89 degrees ; the lowest was 52 degrees on the 14th. The number of 

 cloudy days, accounts for the small total of mean solar temperature, and at 

 the same time shows, that the sun's rays, on the sunny days, were really hotter 

 than is usual in this month. 



Terrestrial radiation mean was, 37*80 degrees, being + 1"20 above the 

 mean of the previous 8 years, and + 00 '31 above 1863. The minimum record 

 was 28 "5 degrees on the night of the 13th, and that is — 2 '5 below the mini- 

 mum of 1863. The maximum temperature of this thermometer was, 47 '5 

 degrees on the 20th. 



Rain-fall total was, 3 '71 inches, which is + 1'82 above the 20 years' mean. 

 Though January, February, March, and May, had all a rainfall below the 

 average, the half year's total is actually + 00 "12 more than the 20 years' 

 average of the first six months of the year. 2 '70 inches of the present month's 

 fall, was precipitated on the first two days of the month, with fresh southerly 

 winds. Rain was recorded on all the first nine days of the month,except the 4th, 

 and amounted altogether to 3 '54 inches. In this period the fewest number of 

 deaths took place. From the 10th to the 18th inclusive, there was not a sprinkle 

 of rain,and only '17 of an inch fell during the last twelve days of the month, dis- 

 tributed through five of them. The last 12 days of the month had 32 out of 

 the 54 deaths in the month. 



Snow was permanent on Mount Wellington throughout the month, but un- 

 derwent frequent mutations of increase and decrease. 



While spontaneous evapo7'ation exceeded the deposit of rain in May, in 

 this month it was far below it, being only 1'42 inches. 



Elastic force of vapor mean, 273, <vas so near the 20 years' June mean, that; 

 it was only — 1 less. 



Humidity mean, 82, was — Ig below the 20 years' mean. 



Cloud mean was 6 "17, being +0'68 above the 20 years' mean. 



Ozone mean, 6 "90, was the highest recorded for any year of the previous 

 seven, and + '70 above the mean of the whole. To the high atmospheric pres- 

 sure, combined with this abundance of ozone, may be attributed the great 

 prevalence of catarrh this month —Dr. Dongan Bird in his recent interesting 

 and valuable little book, " On Australian Climates" confirms the opinions 

 long'since published by me, that " excess of ozone, particularly if the air is 

 di'y, causes irritation of the mucous membranes, particularly those of the 

 pulmonary and gastic tract, &c. It has, in fact, upon the animal and veget- 

 able organism, an action similar to that of oxygen, in an exaggerated form ; it 

 stimulates the rapid performance of all the vital functions, and their as- 

 sociated operations— respiration, circulation, excretion, secretion, assimulation 

 — the circle of successive repair and destruction in which life consists, and 

 whose coincidence and equality constitute health. It is nature's atmospheric 

 stimulus, which, in an overdose, becomes, like alcohol, a poison." Many per- 

 sons confound catarrh with influenza. In the latter, however, as was signally 

 exemplified in the destructive epidemic that prevailed at this season in 1860, 

 ozone was at a minimum or altogether absent. 



Electricity. — There were only three positive indications recorded, with a 

 maximum tension of five. Negative was noted 41 times, but with only a maxi- 

 mum tension of 4'5, There were 16 nil records. On the evening of the 8th 

 and 9th the aurora australis was seen, and on the first night exhibited a most 

 beautifvil and unusual appearance, a broad arch of tremulous white light, ex- 

 tending across the sky from nearly east to west, and enduring for some time. 



The deaths were 54 this month, being x 7 six-sevenths above the average of 

 the previous seven years, and more than any one of them, except 1861, 

 which had 59 ; measles at that time prevailing epidemically, as catarrh has 



