Transactions. 87 



1893, in which the number was sixty -one. The number of days 

 in which the thermometer fell to and below the freezing point 

 was 48, with aggregate degrees of frost amounting to 206 deg., 

 100 deg. of which occurred in January and 40 deg. in December, 

 as compared with an average of 80 days, and 400 deg. of frost. 

 On the whole the year was favourable to vegetation, for although 

 the month of May and the greater part of June were cold and 

 wet, those of March and April were considerably above average 

 in point of temperature, and were characterised at the same time 

 by an ample supply of moisture, while July was warm, and the 

 autumn months were more than usually mild. 



Rainfall. — The heaviest rainfall of the year occurred on the 

 2nd of August, when 1-34 in. was registered. But there were 

 other three days in which the amount exceeded 1 in., viz., on the 

 16th February, when it was 1-30 in.; the 14th May, when it was 

 1-08 in.; and the 21st December, when it was 1-09 in. The 

 rainiest month of the year was February, with a record of 8*15 in., 

 with 24 days on which it fell. The mean amount for that month, 

 calculated on an average of eight years, is 2-44 in., so that the 

 record for 1894 is quite abnormal, being from three to four times 

 above the average. In January, May, June, and November the 

 rainfall was also considerably above the average. In -January 

 there were 24 days on which it fell, with an excess of an inch-and- 

 a-half ; on May 21, witli an excess of 1 in.; and on June 17, with 

 an excess of 1 -20 in. On the other hand, the rainfall of July, 

 August, September, and October was under average. The 

 driest montli was September, when 0'18 in., less than two-tenths 

 of an inch, was registered, in contrast with an average of nearly 

 3 in. (2-85 in.). There was a marked period of drought indeed, 

 extending from the 22nd August to the 22nd October, fully 

 eight weeks, during which the rainfall amounted to no more than 

 0'58 in , as compared with an average of over 7 in. Notwith- 

 standing this, however, the total rainfall of the year was 

 considerably above the average of the last eight years, 42 '01 in., 

 as compared with an average of about 37 in. — that is, about 5 in. 

 above average. The difference is nearly accounted for by the 

 extraordinary excess in February. The numlier of days on 

 which it fell (rain or snow) was 206, rather above the average ; 

 but on 33 of these the fall did not exceed one hundreth of an 

 inch. There was very little snow during the year, not half as 



