172 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 
80:40; a rapid fall from that point to 28°50 on the 30th marked 
the widest range of pressure in any month of the year. Inno 
month was the pressure so high, and only on one occasion was it 
lower, viz., on the 5th March, when it was down to 28°30. 
Frost, to the amount of 72°, was registered over thirteen morn- 
ings. The three coldest days were the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, when, 
during the prevalence of the dense, black fogs, the day temperatures, 
as indicated by the maximum thermometer, were 34°, 34°, and 
30°, while the night or minimum temperatures were 20°, 24°, and 
23° respectively. The average maximum temperature was 43° 
and the minimum $3°—the former 3° and the latter 2° higher 
than in December, 1896. 
Whether owing to the want of ripening or a proper period of 
rest, the open weather had no marked effect on those plants 
which are usually charaeteristic of December, as the Jasminum 
nudiflorum, Lindl., and the Christmas Roses were later in 
blooming and less profusely flowered than usual. Autumn- 
planted bulbs, however, started into growth quickly, and in 
sheltered places the buds of the Common Elder (Sambucus nigra, 
Linn.) and its congeners expanded considerably. Many autumn- 
flowering perennials also kept growing and flowering intermittently, 
whilst the grass was remarkably green at the close of the month. 
On comparing the records of previous years, it will be noticed 
that the rainfall of 1897 has been much above the average. The 
amount registered, 40°22 inches, has been only once exceeded 
during the past twelve years, that being in 1894, when the 
rainfall amounted to 41°48 inches. In comparison with what 
was recorded for 1896, when the amount was 33:90 inches, which 
is about the average for the district, the excess is very striking. 
The months in which the highest rainfall was recorded were June 
with 5:67 inches, and December with 5:56 inches. The occasions 
when the quantity which fell within twenty-four hours was much 
over an inch (which is equal to 100 tons per acre), are worthy of 
special note, viz.:—on 16th June, 1:60; on 11th August, 1:50 ; 
and on 27th December, 1:20 inches. The greatest amount for one 
day in 1896 was 1-22 inches on 9th July. 
January proved to be the driest month of the year, its 
rainfall being only 1:22 inches, In the two preceding years May 
