OBSERVATIONS ON THE FALL OF RAIN. 175 
short of its usual saturation. The proportion of 
the water which flowed off the ground, was to the 
rain which fell upon it, as 153 to 252-—three-fifths 
of the whole. In the month of March, an exces- 
sive quantity of rain seems to have fallen, and 
seven-eighths of it ran off the ground ; the quan- 
tity for that single month was nearly one half as 
much as had passed off during the preceding five 
months, although the winter, and about five times 
the quantity which the six summer months had 
yielded. 
During the remainder of 1827, the rain which 
fell, was, according to the Manchester Tables, 
below an average, the whole year including the 
wet month of March being only one-thirtieth 
above it. 
The year 1828, Mr. Thom has not given in 
similar detail, but looking at the Manchester 
Tables, the excess in the year, (for it is the 
wettest which those Tables show), appears to have 
been principally occasioned by extraordinarily 
heavy rain in July; the remaining months being 
very near the general average ; so that the year 
might not have been generally so wet, as the 
gross amount of rain would appear to indicate. 
