229 



September." * This last statement is confirmed by a correspondent 

 of Messrs. Carter and Co., High Holborn, at Constantinople, who 

 •writes : — '■ Our season here has been simply deplorable ; no rain 

 from April till the month of September." t The same drought 

 was also experienced in other parts of Eastern Europe higher in 

 latitude. There are likewise some singular facts recorded on the 

 subject of " American weather " last November, as contrasted 

 with our own winter here, more especially the high temperature 

 at Manitoba, in the same latitude as London, the mean temperature 

 of November having been there " 25° "73 higher than the average of 

 the month jor the 'past seven years." The comment ends with saying 

 that — " it has been remarked that when the winters in the Old 

 World are very cold, they are very moderate in America." % 



But, perhaps, the most remarkable case in point is that of 

 Iceland, whose very name is suggestive of the idea that, however 

 bad a season we may have in these islands, it must surely be 

 intensified in an island nearly 10 degrees higher in N. latitude 

 than Edinburgh. Yet in a communication from an observer in 

 the North West of Iceland, to the Scottish Meteorological Society, 

 it is stated " that the spring there (1879) was stormy and cold, 

 but that in direct contrast to what has prevailed in the British 

 islands, the summer had been very fine and warm up to the date 

 of Avriting (September 23), and the rainfall very small during 

 June, July and August. Pastures had, in consequence, suffered 

 much, and the hay crop turned out to be generally a very poor 

 one. This has, however, been to some extent conterbalanced by 

 the admirable state in which the hay harvest has been secured, so 

 that most can look forward to the coming \\inter without 

 uneasiness, even though it should prove severe." § 



Let us next regard the subject of sun-spot influence, in connection 

 with wet and dry periods, from another point of view. Confining 



• Times Weather Report, October 13, 1879. t Times. October 16, 1879. 

 X See "Nature" (Vol. xir , p. 266). § " Nature," Vol. xxi , p. 48. 

 . D 



