24 REPORT — 1842. 



Merkara is the capital of Coorg, seated at an elevation above the sea of 4500 feet, about 

 65 miles east from Caunanore, in that tract of land lying on the edge of the Western Ghats, 

 between the parallels of latitude 12° andl2°-52 N., and 73°-30 and 76°-10 E., being about 

 58 miles long by 25 broad, the whole tract being a mass of hills and narrow valleys, varying 

 in height from 2500 to 5 700 feet. 



Remarks.— The months of January and February are cold and very dry ; the range of tem- 

 perature is considerable; the morning and evening excessively cold, with dew throughout, 

 aud partial fog in the valleys from 3 to 5 p.m., while the heat of the sun in the middle of the 

 day is tempered by a constant cold breeze from the N.E., frequently blowing with such vio- 

 lence as to raise clouds of dust and become unpleasant. 



In March the cold of the night becomes less sensible, and the days are warmer, while the 

 wind is less violent and is variable ; days clear, the ah still continuing in general dry, but 

 fluctuates occasionally ; evenings occasionally foggy. 



April and May are 'delightful; the heat of the day, which begins to be oppressive out of 

 doors, being tempered by frequent showers and thunder-storms ; occasionally, though rarely, 

 there is some closeness in the air, but the nights are always cool. 



In June the monsoon sets in, but at variable periods of the month ; the commencement 

 is seldom violent, but about the end of the month the rain frequently falls in torrents. 



July. This month is characterised by universal gloom, impenetrable dense mist, high 

 bleak winds saturated with moisture, and incessant rain, the greatest fall in twenty-four 

 hours being inches 11-25 cents ; a faint glimmering of sunshine for a few days. 



The rain continues more or less during August and September, with occasional short in- 

 tervals of sunshine, the air loaded with moisture, and when the rain ceases there is usually a 

 dense fog. 



In October there is an interval of bright and beautiful weather, rendered the more delight- 

 ful by contrast, and by the intense green of the luxuriant vegetation ; about the commence- 

 ment of the month the wind usually settles in the N.E.,and when strong it is piercingly cold. 



November. The weather is extremely bleak and raw, the mornings characterized by dense 

 mist and drizzle, swept along by a strong N.E. wind, the days gradually becoming clearer, 

 but the evenings calm, mild and balmy. 



December is intensely dry, sky clear, strong steady wind from the N.E. ; weather very 

 pleasant ; nights and mornings extremely cold. 



Although the amount of rain recorded in the above register does not equal that 

 which falls at Malcolm pait on the Mahabuleshwar hills, viz. 302-21 in., it still 

 attests the deluge-like character of a monsoon in the Ghats of Western India. 



W. H. Sykes. 



On a Cycle of Eighteen Years in Atmospherical Phenomena. By Luke 

 Howard, F.R.S. Accompanied by a Chart, Plate II. 



In a Cycle of eighteen years, from 1824 to 1841, the seasons are found, by 

 observation at the Friends School at Aclcworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to 

 go througli their extreme changes of wet and dry, of warmth and coldness ; returning 

 at the end to the same (or nearly the same) state again. 



The lower figure of the Chart presents on a scale the mean or average Temperature 

 of each year, adapted by a curve to a mean line, representing the climatic (or eighteen 

 years) average of the heat of the district. The yearly averages differ to the extent in 

 the whole of 4J degrees of Fahrenheit; the spaces by which they exceed the climatic 

 mean are coloured Red — those by which they fall below it, Blue. It will be seen at 

 once that, in point of warmth, the years run through a cycle, the warm side of which 

 lies to the left, and the cold side to the right, of the dividing line in the middle. 



Above are represented, in two columns, first the proportionate appearance (as in- 

 dicated by observations made once a day) of the four classes of winds through each 

 year; beginning at North (coloured blue) and proceeding to the point next the East; 

 thence (coloured yellow) to the point next South ; thence (coloured red) to that next 

 West; and thence (coloured green) to North again; the remainder (left blank) repre- 

 senting the number of days on which no decided wind blew. Secondly, or. the right, 

 the depth of rain for each year, as found by an accurate gauge placed at the level of 

 the ground ; also its depth in each season of the year, shown by a dividing line — the 

 whole of these referrible to a scale of inches on the right. 



The reader may thus compare, by a single glance, the state of different seasons, as, 

 1. in respect of calm and windy days, the white blanks differing greatly among them- 

 selves, and exceeding greatly in amount on the warm side of the cycle ; 2. in respect 



