Joseph Baxendell, F.R.S. 37 



of Dr. Wolfs by the method of least squares, he deduces 

 a mean period of 11 '086 years. The mean epoch of mini- 

 mum frequency being 1732-96. — "Rain near Whitehaven" : 

 "Luminous Fogs"; "On the Irregular Oscillations of the 

 Barometer at Lisbon." From the titles it appears that the 

 maximum amount of oscillation occurs in January and the 

 minimum in July, precisely as in the British Islands, and 

 therefore agreeing with the law of disturbance announced 

 by the author in a former paper. 



Session 1861-62. — " Observ^ations of Comet i in 1861"; 

 " Remarkable Solar Spot"; "Rain Following Discharge of 

 Ordnance." In this note he refers to the disputed point 

 whether in a thunderstorm a discharge of lightning is the 

 cause or the consequence of a sudden formation of 

 a shower of rain. — " On the Influence of the Seasons on 

 the rate of decrease of the temperature of the atmos- 

 phere with increase of height in different latitudes in 

 Europe and Asia." In this paper he states that from 

 numerous observations made at elevated stations in Europe 

 and India it has been concluded — ist, that the general rate 

 of decrease of the temperature of the atmosphere with 

 increase of height, is least in low, and greatest in high 

 latitudes ; and, 2nd, that the rate of decrease is greatest in 

 the summer and least in the winter months. Some of his 

 results, obtained in the course of an investigation of the 

 relations which exist between the falls of rain and changes 

 of barometric pressure, and of the decrement of temperature 

 of the atmosphere in different localities, led him to doubt 

 the general correctness of the second of these conclusions, 

 and he therefore examined all the observations that were 

 accessible to him that seemed likely to throw any light on 

 the subject ; he obtained some results which seem to 

 prove the existence of a belt in the temperate latitudes of 

 Europe and Asia, in which the decrease of temperature for a 

 given ascent in the atmosphere is greatest in the winter 



