232 



To crown all, this extraordinary beat of the summer was followed by one 

 of the severest Christmas frosts ever known in these parts. On the morning of 

 December 31st the thermometer at Kocklands, near Ross, went down to zero, at 

 Leominster, to one degree above zero, and at Hereford the reading was 2*1. 



At Whitfield, I am informed by Dr. Bull, several thermometers, watched 

 through the night by the gardeners, gave 4° below zero for their lowest reading. 



This severe frost began on the 21st of Decomber and ended on the 5th 

 of January. My minimum readings were as follows : — December 21st, 28 '9; 

 22nd, 20; 23rd, 13 4 ; 24th, 89; 25th, 68; 26th, 19 ; 27th, 13 '8 ; 28th, 20; 

 29th, 27-5 ; 30th, 12 5 ; 31st, 21 ; January 1st, 7 ; 2nd, 26 ; 3rd, 19 8 ; 4th, 25 ; 

 5th, 14-5. 



The very low temperature at Whitfield on the morning of December 31st 

 need not surprise anyone, for Whitfield House stands on ground more than 400 

 feet higher than Hereford. 



Before I quit the subject of the frost I must state that the Wye was frozen 

 across, and " bore " well on January 1st. On the 2nd I walked with a party up 

 the centre of the river from the boat station above the bridge to the railway 

 bridge, and am told that I might have safely extended my walk to Belmont. 



The yearly mean of 9 a.m. barometer readings during 1870 was slightly 

 above the average. The hightest reading was registered on December 2nd 

 (30*443), and the lowest on January 8th (2S'64S) ; the mean of all readings during 

 the year being 29 '785. The barometer cistern is 187 feet above sea level so that 

 it will be necessary to add 20 inch to the figures given above in order to compare 

 the Hereford observations with those made on the sea-shore. 



In the spring of 1870 the Woolhope standard barometer was set up at Mr. 

 Southall's house at Boss (The Graig, Archenfield), probably 100 feet above the 

 river, and simultaneous observations were made during March and April, in 

 order to ascertain the difference of level. On comparing all the readings, the 

 difference between Hereford and Archenfield amounted to 0115 inch ; the mean 

 of the March readings being exactly the same as that of the April ones. There 

 was, however a slight difference of mean temperature between the two months 

 so that the calculation for Maich made the Boss cistern 10322 feet higher than 

 the Hereford one, and the April work made the difference 104 39. A very close 

 agreement considering the distance. 



The Boss cistern stood probably 10 or 12 feet above the lawn where Mr. 

 Southall places his instruments. My cistern stands 5 feet above ground, and 

 is 187 feet above sea-level. 



The Woolhope standard was afterwards placed at Sellack Vicarage, and 

 the difference of the level between the two cisterns was found to be 67 5 feet. 



It would be well if those members of the Club who keep rainfall or 

 thermometer observations and wish to know their height above sea-level would 

 take charge of the standards belonging to the Club in turn and eompare their 

 observations with those made at Hereford, where the height of the barometer 



