639 



perinientalist in meteorology, 1 took no further steps in the 

 matter, and never furnished the copies required. Conse- 

 quently, the committees were never convened, and thus the 

 subject was dropped, and has ever since remained totally ne- 

 glected, if not totally forgotten. 



" Now, however, that a series of observations on the 

 climate of Ii-eland is about to be undertaken, under the 

 auspices of the Academy, I feel that I should fail in my duty 

 to the body of which I have the honour to be a member if I 

 did not solicit the attention of the Committee to this mode of 

 investigation, the practical value and probable importance of 

 which, insteiul of diminishing, has steadily increased in my eyes 

 ever since I first proposed it. 



" The psychometer which I use is a spirit thermometer, 

 with a cylindiical bxdb about one and a half inch long and a 

 third of an inch thick, the stem of which is marked to denote 

 80° and 90°. It is readily heated for use, either with the palm 

 of the hand, or by holding it for a few moments inside the 

 shirt collar. It is then to be held in the locality appointed 

 for examination, and by means of a seconds watch the number 

 of seconds is counted during which it falls from 90° to 80°. 

 It is assumed that the refrigeration is inversely as the tune 

 requii'ed. 



" The fii'st example I shall give of its application is fur- 

 nished by my present residence. No. 26, Harcom-t-street. It 

 nearly fronts the east, where the opposite houses are rather 

 higher, but is in the rear much exposed to the west. Now, the 

 rooms in the rear have almost always been felt to be colder than 

 those in the front ; but the reason of this was never to be ap- 

 l)reclated by the thennometer, as, when in the shade, it main- 

 tains nearly the same degree in both aspects. Several obser- 

 vations were made, in order to ascertain the difference of 

 refrigeration between the front and back of the house, in the 

 morning after sumisc, but in the shade, and the same number 



