30 EIGHTH REPORT 1838. 



It would be interesting to find out, whetlier this reduction of tem- 

 perature indicated a permanent change in the climate of Canada, or 

 whether the years noticed constitute the coldest portion of a cycle of 

 longer duration, and consquently give a result below the actual mean. 

 Dr. Daubeny remarks, that the position selected for meteorological 

 observations at Quebec is so elevated and exposed that it does not 

 fairly represent the mean temperature of the neighbourhood. In the 

 United States the best observations made are those carried on at the 

 several academies in the state of New York, under the direction of the 

 state government. The author has quoted a sufficient number of 

 these to convey a notion of the climate of that portion of the Union, 

 and the " Annual Report of the Regents of the University of the State 

 of New York" for the remainder. The mean temperature of Phila- 

 delphia cannot yet be regarded as settled, though good observations 

 have been carried on for the last three years by Captain Mordecai. 

 These have been quoted in preference to others of longer date 

 reported by Mr. J. Young, stated by him to have been deduced from 

 twenty years observations, as the mean obtained by the latter (58*4) is 

 so much above that of places lying to the south (Washington and 

 Richmond for instance), that we are driven to suppose that the spot 

 selected must have been an unsuitable one. 



