Proceedings. 61 



noon on Tuesday, May 11th, and continued in some places 

 without intermission from 60 to 70 hours. The heaviest fall 

 was in Shropshire, where during three days more than 6 in. 

 fell. At Burwarton more than 7 in. fell, and at Church 

 Stretton, 4-12 in. on the 13th. 



The amount of rain varied much, according to whether the 

 localities were favourable to the deposit of i-ain or not. In 

 Scotland very little fell, the greatest fall, on the 12th, being 

 at Nairn, and the amount only -29 in. 



The heavy rain caused great floods, especially in the valley 

 of the Severn. In the Severn the flood rose higher than at 

 any period since 1770. In that year the flood occurred in 

 November, and was 2^ in. higher than the one of last May. 

 The flood of May was not only high, but the water rose 

 rapidly, and continued for several days. In Worcester the 

 flood had the effect of depriving the inhabitants of their usual 

 supply of water. They suffered scarcity in the presence of 

 superabundance. The flood invaded the premises of the 

 Water Company, and put out the fires used for the steam- 

 engines which worked the pumps giving the water-supply to 

 the town. 



At Sheffield many mills were stopped by the flood reaching 

 the furnaces and workshops, and between 700 and 800 men 

 were thrown out of employment for several days. 



As to the height of the flood in some places, the following 

 record is worthy of attention ; — At Worcester the water rose 

 17 ft. 10 in. above the summer-level ; at Boss, on the Wye, 

 14 ft. 3 in. ; at Gloucester, 22 ft. 3 in. ; at Nottingham, 

 12 ft. 6 in. 



With regard to rain, Mr. Arthur W. Clayden, of Bath 

 College, has made investigation, as reported in the ' Meteoro- 

 logical Magazine,' as to the thickness of clouds, and the 

 influence the thickness has upon rain-drops and hail. He 

 estimates the thickness of clouds at from 600 to 10,000 ft., 

 and states that in proportion to the thickness of rain-clouds 

 is the size of the rain-drops. Thus, when the thickness of a 

 cloud is under 2000 ft., either no rain falls or the drops are 

 very small. With a thickness of 3000 ft. the rain-drops are 



