REPORTS BY THE HONORARY SCIENTISTS. 303 
country with great irregularity. Owing to the prevalence of 
strong west-south-west winds, the rainfall over the western parts 
of the country was greatly in excess of the average, but in that 
part of the country lying to the south of the Grampians there was 
a marked deficit. Bright sunshine was below the average very 
generally, but there were slight excesses at Strathpeffer Spa, 
Stornoway, Fort Augustus, and Braemar. 
February 1898.—The weather of February was extremely 
changeable, with frequent snow showers during the first week, 
and also in the second half of the month. The mean temperature 
differed but little from the normal, but there was a slight excess 
in the south-west of the country. The mean rainfall was 27 per 
cent. above the average. There was a great deficiency from the 
South Esk in Forfarshire to the Tweed, but in the north and west 
there was a decided excess, more than double the average being 
precipitated in many localities. Over the west of the country 
generally the only fair days were from the 21st to the 24th. 
Sunshine was normal, but there was a great excess in the north- 
east, Aberdeen being the sunniest station in the British Isles. 
The excess was also well marked in the east, especially in the 
neighbourhood of Edinburgh. There was a deficit in the north 
and west, but the absence of sunshine was not of a very pro- 
nounced character anywhere. 
March 1898.— Although the mean temperature of March was 
just the average, a good deal of cold and changeable weather 
was experienced, with frequent falls of snow and sleet. Nowhere 
over the country did the excess or defect of temperature amount 
to more than a degree. The mean rainfall was slightly under 
the average, taking the country as a whole, but varied greatly in 
different districts, there being a marked excess in the north-west. 
Only from one-fourth to one-half the average fell over wide areas 
south of the Grampians. An extremely heavy downfall took 
place over the West Highlands from the 16th to the 18th. 
Bright sunshine was just the average, and the percentage of the 
possible varied but little in different parts of the country. 
April 1898.—The weather of April was chiefly remarkable for 
a high mean temperature and excess of rainfall, the month being 
the wettest April experienced since 1872. Southerly winds pre- 
vailed, with the result that the warm air from the Atlantic raised 
the mean temperature over the western districts, including the 
outlying Hebrides, to from 2° to 3° above the average. Over 
