252 Mr G. Barnston on the Progress of the Seasons 



zling snow must be most energetic indeed, and that the dis- 

 appearance of the snow in May causes an apparent diminu- 

 tion of solar intensity, because the rays which before were re- 

 flected are now chiefly absorbed by the vegetable and earthy 

 surface of the ground.* 



I regret very much that a fit opportunity has not offered 

 itself since Dr Richardson's paper came into my hands of 

 verifying my conjecture by direct observation ; but snow and 

 bright sunshine are elements more rarely combined in the 

 latitude of Edinburgh than that of Fort Franklin. 



Observations with the actinometer would fairly eliminate 

 the disturbing influence of the snow and all others, and there- 

 fore can alone be- perfectly relied on in deciding this question. 



IGth February 1841- James D. FORBES. 



Observations on the Progress of the Seasons as affecting Ani- 

 mals and Vegetables at Martin's Falls, Albany Fiver, Hud- 

 soti's Bay. By George Barnston, Esq. Communicated by 

 Dr Richardson, F. R. S., Inspector of Hospitals, Haslar. 

 The following Paper was drawn up in consequence of a 

 printed communication from Dr Richardson, handed to me 

 last September. Martin's Falls is a station on Albany river, 

 thirty miles below Gloucester, which is marked in the maps. 

 Having no sextant, I am unable to give the exact latitude.t 

 Our geological position is upon the confines of the great basin 

 of James' Bay, an immense extension of the older calcareous 

 strata. Between the falls and the coast the bed of the river 

 is composed of limestones and clays, both containing extinct 

 genera of shells ; while above, towards the interior, little is to 

 be seen but gneiss and greenstone schist, with a mixture here 

 and there of less fissile granitic rocks. The fossils which I 

 have been able to procure in this neighbourhood are princi- 

 pally spirifers, producta, terebratula, and impressions of trilo- 

 bites. Although in winter we have the cold of Russia, in the 

 months of July and August Ave enjoy the climate of Germany 

 and the north of France. 



* Since this explanation occurred to me, I find that M. Arago had ad- 

 verted to the glare of the snow as a reason of the apparently greater inten- 

 sity of solar radiation in high latitudes, in his criticism on Mr Daniell's 

 Meteorological Essays. 



t About Lat. 51° 30' N- ; Long. 8G° 20' W. 



