Proceedings. 27 



freezing, but during 1890 there have been 16 days on which 

 32° was not reached. On 82 days it fell below freezing ; on 

 52 days it rose to 70° and upwards, but never reached 80°, 

 This of course refers to the observations at Oxford Eoad, 

 Eedhill. In other parts of the country there have been lower 

 and higher temperatures. On the whole, while May and 

 June were genial, July and August were ungenial ; September 

 and October were fine. 



Eain. — Eain to the extent of -01 in. and upwards fell on 

 172 days, the total fall in the year being 28*14 in. 



January was a wet month, consequent on the prevalence 

 of W. and S.W. winds bringing much moisture from the 

 warmer regions of the Atlantic. Eain fell on 24 days, but 

 the maximum within any 24 hours was ^ in. only. There 

 were 13 days continuously, from the 21st of January to the 

 2nd of February, on which rain fell. 



February has acquired the name of "Fill ditch." In the 

 year 1890, however, it scarcely deserved that name, nor do 

 I know that it does ordinarily deserve it. In last February 

 less than an inch of rain fell on 11 days only. It is true 

 there were only 28 days in the month, but the proportion of 

 rain iiotwithstanding was very much less than in January 

 and March. Two periods of six days' continuance each were 

 experienced without any rain, from the 6th to the 12th, and 

 from the 21st to the 20th. 



March, which usually is one of the driest months in the 

 year, was in 1890 a wet month, the total fall being nearly 

 3 in. The number of days on which rain fell was not great, 

 namely, 14, but there was a continuous heavy fall of 1*13 in. on 

 the 19th and 20th, Notwithstanding the excess of rain, there 

 were t-wro periods of 7 and 11 days continuously on which no 

 rain fell, viz., from the 11th to the 17th, and from the 26th to 

 the 5th of April ; but tliere were 8 days of continuous rain 

 from the 18th to the 2oth. 



In April the total fall was 2-39 in. on 15 days. It rained 

 each day from the 21st to the 26th, but no rain fell from the 

 27th to the 3rd of May. A heavy fall of 1-04 in. occurred on 

 the 25th. 



