78 Meteorology. 



lS20Jan. 13. At day break Thermometer +2" 



Barometer 30-10. 



Jan. 14. This extraordinary day and night deserve to be 

 minutely described. The day became quite clear, and the 

 thermometer tell between noon and 10 P.M. from +10" to 

 —2". At midnight it was —3". At 2 A.M. Jan. 15 it was 

 — 5°. And between that time and sunrise it fell to —10°, the 

 lowest bv fourteen degrees that I ever remember it. A correspon- 

 dent represents it to have been still lower on the high Kentish 

 hills. N.B. I use the plus sign + for above zero, and the minus 

 sign — for below zero. The barometer continued falling through 

 the night, and the following day was warmer. This severe frost 

 killed great numbers of small birds, which 1 found frozen to death 

 in the garden. Early on the Saturday morning (the 15th) many 

 labouring people were forced to leave their work, and several ac- 

 cidents are reported to have happened to wayfaring people during 

 the night. Near the city of Canterbury, I find the cold was equally 

 severe, but in other places it was seven or eight degrees less ri- 

 gorous. If, however, in this warm part of the island, the mercury 

 descended to 10 degrees below zero, what must have been the 

 cold on the Scottish hills ! This leads to a question of the local 

 influence of extremes of heat and cold. Perhaps some of your 

 correspondents will favour the public with registers from different 

 parts of North Britain. Yours, &c. 



T. FORSTER. 



To Mr. Tilloch. 



Groom's Hill, Greenwich, Dec.31, 1819. 

 Sir, — The register which I now send you of the quantity of 

 lain fallen, and the quantity of evaporation from the surface of 

 water during the past year, was kept (as heretofore) at Croydon 

 until the 12th of September last. The rain-gauge and evapora- 

 tor were then removed to Croom's Hill, and placed at the same 

 height from the ground, and in every other respect the same as 

 described and published in your Magazine. It will be recollected 

 that the rin)s of both are placed exactly at four feet from the 

 surface of the ground — and that the divided tube for measuring 

 the quantitv is to tne same scale as that used by the Royal So- 

 ciety. — I subjoin the register of the last three years, as it may be 

 pleasing to your readers at one view to see the different results. 

 Inches of Rain. Evaporation. 



1817 .. 25,349 .. 22,227 



1818 .. 24,252 .. 27,064 



1819 .. 27,339 .. 21,369 



1 remain, sir, yours &c. 



Henry Lawson. 



