145 



THE EXCEPTIONAL OHAEACTER OF THE WINTEE 



OF 1883—1884. 

 By Mr. H. Southall, F.R. Met. Soc. 



That the winter of 18S3 — 1884 has been an exceedingly warm one, may, perliaps, 

 not require proof, for without reference to any instrumental records the fact is ap- 

 parent. The great absence of frost and snow and of easterly winds up to the end 

 of March, sufficiently demonstrate it. But while nothing is more wearisome and 

 unnecessary than the attempt to prove self-evident propositions, or to argue in 

 favour of foregone conclusions, the object of the present paper will be nevertheless 

 to ijoint out the special characteristics of the past season ; to show in what res- 

 pects it has been really remarkable ; and also the degree of divergence from the 

 average for corresponding periods in a series of years. 



This, it may be seen clearly, can only be correctly estimated by carefully col- 

 lating strictly comparative and accurate observations. 



A much larger number of persons now possess good instruments than formerly, 

 and yet it is surprising how seldom you find observations of any real value made 

 except by professed meteorologists. Either the instruments are placed in situa- 

 tions too much exposed to the effects of radiation, or else in too sheltered posi- 

 tions. Sometimes the column of mercury gets broken up, and a small portion 

 becoming detached causes the reading of the thermometer to be too low, and as 

 regards ' spirit ' thermometers, you often find two or three degrees of spirit at the 

 end of the tube opposite to the bulb, causing the reading to be in error to that ex- 

 tent ; and even when the instrument is a reliable one and correctly placed, it not 

 unfrequently happens that it is not properly read by the observer for want of that 

 training of the eye to exactness and precision, which is so necessary in scientific 

 research. As regards the reliability of my own observations, I may state that my 

 instruments which have been verified in the first instance, have since been several 

 times tested and compared with standards by persons specially appointed by the 

 Meteorological Society for the purpose. The thermometers are placed in a " Ste- 

 venson's " screen of regulation pattern. The barometer, a standard one, is at the 

 height of 213 feet above sea level. The situation of the rain gauge has been ap- 

 proved. Further, the daily observations are regularly sent up to London, where 

 they are carefully cheeked, and thus errors of any consequence would be quickly 

 detected. As a matter of fact my thermometer readings are probably not in error 

 more than one-tenth of a degree, nor the barometer more than one-thousandth of 

 an inch. I mention this because the Club have already printed so many of my 

 figures, the value of which depends entirely upon their truth. The question may 

 however be asked— What necessity can exist for the publication of less authorita- 

 tive local records, seeing that at Greenwich Observatory every phase of weather is 

 noticed and recorded, and the results published regularly— what scientific value 



