A similar exception to the general rule occurred on the 16th 

 September, the air being 53", and the water 55", with the wind also in 

 the X.W. Again on the 17th, with the wind S.E., and weather fine, 

 the air was one degree colder tliau the water. 



From the 20th September to the end of December the new 

 thermometer was in use, and it is observable that from that date to the 

 7th October the temperature of air and water approximated very nearly, 

 the water, as a rule, being the colder of the two. From the 9th October, 

 however, there are several exceptions to this rule, notably on the 13th 

 and 14th, when the water temperature was 4° higher than that 

 of the ail', the latter having fallen some 6" in two days, and the water 

 only 2" during the same interval. The same was the case on the 25th 

 October, with the wind N^ N.W., and the weather fine. In November 

 and December the fluctuations in the relative temperatures of air and 

 water were frequent, but, speaking generally, the water temperature 

 was higher than that of the air, the greatest difference between them 

 being on the 29th December, on which date the air registered 26°.5, and 

 the water 40° 3, a difference of IS". 8. This is the coldest day recorded, 

 with the wind S.W., and weather fine. 



In conclusion, it should be mentioned that the prevailing direction 

 of the wind in Canterbury and neighbourhood for the greater part of the 

 year is from the S.W., veering to W.. and N.W. In the spring of the 

 year it is from the E., veering to E.N.E. and l^.'E. At such period the 

 temperature of the air is invariably colder than that of the water, the 

 atmosphere very dry, and plenty of dust flying about, much to the 

 satisfaction of the farmers, being, in fact, the origin of the saying in 

 Kent, '' A peck of March dust is worth a king's ransom." At other 

 seasons of the year when the wind is from the S. and S.W., the reverse 

 is the case, i.e., the water is the colder of the two. The highest air 

 temperature recorded in these observations was on the 7th June, viz : 

 74°, while the water temperature on the same date was 62°. 



W. H. HOKSLET, Col. 



II. 



NOTES ON THE GROWTH OE A PLANT OF THE GIANT 



HOGWEED (HERACLEUM GIGANTEUM) FROM A 



SEEDLING TO MATURITY, 



BY 



Mk. J. REID, P\R.C.8., Eng. 



Read October 11, 1888. . 



The specimen observed was a Seedling taken from the ground out- 

 side the St. Augustine's Gaol, Canterbury, where the plant, in its 

 successive generations, had been established for more than 20 years. It 



