16 REPORT—1849. 
Accompanying this map, Dr. Buist gave curves of horary oscillations from the 19th 
to the 25th of April at Bombay, Madras, Aden, Calcutta, Lucknow and Mangalore, 
and at none of these places were the daily oscillations of the atmosphere, with their 
two maxima and two minima, in. the slightest degree interrupted; and with refer- 
ence to the uniformity of these horary oscillations and the annual maximum and 
minimum pressure, Colonel Sykes called the attention of the Section to the singular 
coincidence of these movements of the atmosphere; with similar movements, at 
nearly the same hours and periods, of the electric intensity, as determined by Mr. 
Birt in a paper recently read by him in the Section. In the storms of the 15th and 
22nd of January, 20th to 23rd of February, and 1st to 3rd of May, Dr. Buist gives 
the simulianeous reading of the maximum and minimum pressure of the barometer 
at various places. These readings show that the horary oscillation at places on 
the level of the sea may have different ranges; for instance, at Calcutta and Bombay, 
on the 18th and 19th of February, the horary oscillation at Bombay is respec- 
tively 0°104 and 0°132, and at Calcutta 0°159 and 0°165. Carrying the comparison 
to Aden, the discrepancy is yet greater—0‘072 and 0°081. Similar instances occur 
at the other periods. In the meteorological crisis of the 15th of January, Dr. Buist 
considered that the storm was felt all over India; and amongst other places, where 
it fell severely, he mentions Jaunah in the Deccan, where, on the 14th of January 
1849, there was a hail-storm, the hailstones being lenticular, and from two to two 
and a half inches in diameter, and weighing from one to two ounces each! On the 
whole, Dr. Buist is of opinion that meteorological disturbances extend over very _ 
considerable areas. Dr. Buist’s papers were not accompanied by tables of tempe- 
rature or moisture. 4 
On a Rainbow seen after actual Sunset. By the Rev. Prof. CHEVALLIER. 
The rainbow was seen at Esh, six miles west of Durham. The latitude of the 
place, determined by Bessel’s method of observing the transits of stars over the 
eastern and western prime vertical, is 54° 47’ 25”; and its longitude 6™ 45° west. 
The elevation above the sea is 700 feet. The time of the setting of the sun’s upper 
limb could not be observed, in consequence of clouds ; but the computed time, allow- 
ing 33! for the horizontal refraction, was 8" 36" 2°. At 8 31™ 43° the bow seemed 
to be a portion of an are greater than a semicircle, approaching to the form of a Sa- 
racenic arch, both sides being visible to an elevation of about 40°. At 8* 34™ 435 
the southern end had faded; but at the northern end the primary and secondary ~ 
bow were both visible at an altitude of about 5°, the sky being sensibly darker be- 
tween the two bows. This northern end of the rainbow continued visible until 
8h 37™ 48°, or 1” 42° after complete sunset; and at 8" 38™ 43°, or 2" 41° after sun- 
set, an irregular portion of the southern part of the bow was visible at an altitude 
of about 15°. 
The time was accurately obtained by comparing the watch with a transit-clock 
immediately after the observation. The barometer at the time, at the Observatory 
at Durham, 347 feet above the level of the sea, stood at 29°48, the attached ther- 
mometer 61°, the external thermometer 57°°5, the wind S.W., force 4. In order — 
to account for this appearance, it seems necessary to suppose either that the hori- 
zontal refraction was much greater than its ordinary value, or that the rainbow was _ 
formed in a very elevated region of the atmosphere. b 
tote 

Notices of Mirage on the Sea Coast of Lancashire. By T. Horxws. 
In this paper Mr. Hopkins represented that he had observed the phenomenon — 
called Mirage on certain parts of the sea coast of Lancashire, and had at different 
times examined the state of the atmosphere on various parts of the shore, but more 
particularly near Southport. Here he found that whilst the sky was cloudy, ap- 
parently threatening rain, evaporation in the air near the surface of the wet shore 
was very active; but at other times, when the sun was shining brightly, evaporation 
at the same short distance from the surface was checked or entirely stopped, and at 
such times mirage might be seen. : 
On the morning of July 9th mirage appeared at a certain distance to the north of 
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