TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [Vor. VIII. 
Rain and Snowfall 
—lInches, Highest Water. Lowest Water. Remarks. 
1886 35-076 May roth..46 Nov. 15th..144% High water. 
1887 25.759 May 3oth. .39 Dec zoth= 23 Low water. 
1888 26.279 June 28th..17%4 Dec. 21st..zero Low water. 
1889 31.325 July 3rd..22 Nov. 4th-1 Low water. 
1890 37-370 June ist. .37 Jan. 5th..8 High water. 
1891 31515 May 2nd. .29 Dec. 16th-13% Very low. 
1892 29. 505 July 24th..14% March 7th-13% Very low. 
1893 39-715 June ist..27 Feb. 7th—g Very low. 
1894 29.565 June 3rd. .19 Dec. 27th —10 Lowest yet. 
1895 28.011 May 28th — 2% Nov. 20th — 25 Lewest. 
1896 29. 100 May 28th. .4 Jan. 20th — 20 Rise and fall equal. 
1897 32.477 July 27th. .9% Jan. 28th — 23 Average, 5 below. 
1898 30.950 May igth..15 Dec. 23rd-—9% Average, 3 above. 
1899 28.975 June 4th. .15 Dec. 6th— 12 Average, 2 above. 
1900 29.590 May 16th. .21 Nov. 21st — 16 Average, 1% above. 
1901 32.270 June 25th. .12 Dec. 1oth—15 Average, 34 below. 
1902 31.025 July goth. .14% Jan. 3rd —11 Average, 27% above. 
1903 30.631 May 2nd. .20 Dec. 27th-8% Average, 9 above. 
NV.B.—Where the sign (—) minus is used it indicates the level below zero. Zero 
was established in 1854, being 9 feet above the rock at the Queen’s Wharf. 
In the paper which I read at the Institute in 1879, it was stated that 
the average rain and melted snowfalls for twenty-five years were 34.172 
inches, the highest being 48.490 in 1878, and the lowest 24.344 inches in 
1874. The average rain and snowfalls for fifteen years, from 1878 to 
1893, were 31.217 inches, the highest being 39.715 inches in 1893, and 
the lowest 24.837 inches in 1882. The extreme fluctuations of Lake 
Ontario between the years 1854 and 1878, inclusive, were, in 1870, when 
the highest water was reached on May 6th, 47 inches, and two years 
afterwards the lowest water occurred on March Igth, 1872—16} inches, 
an extreme of 631 inches. The extreme fluctuations between the years 
1878 and 1893, were, in 1886, when the highest water was reached on 
May 16th, 46 inches, and in 1892, not quite six years afterwards, the 
lowest water occurred on March 7th—134 inches, an extreme of 59} 
inches, nearly 4 inches less than the extreme fluctuations for the pre- 
vious twenty-five years. The mean average for the twenty-five years 
was 18.20 inches, and for the fifteen years between 1878 and 1893, was 
15.17 inches. The diminution of nearly 3 inches in the rain and snow- 
falls, and more than 3 inches in the fluctuations of the above periods, | 
induced me to examine the average rain and snowfalls, as recorded by 
the Meteorological Observatory, Toronto, and I found that the above 
diminutions of the rain and snowfalls, and the fluctuations of Lake 
Ontario, were nearly substantiated as follows :— 
