Meteorological Observations for Marc?i 1827. 399 



General Observations. — The first part of this month to the 16th was wet 

 and windy, and the latter part cloudy and fine, with occasional showers of 

 rain and hail. After so dry a winter the rain was very seasonable, and the 

 subsequent mild sunny days brought on a sudden spring, which has accele- 

 rated the budding, and is rapidly unfolding the leaves of the trees. 



Although the thermometer has only receded twice to the freezing point, 

 and the weather mild for March, yet the spring is comparatively backward, 

 which is a favourable circumstance, as an early spring is not very desirable 

 in this latitude, in consequence of the night frosts which generally follow. 

 On the 13th at 1 P.M. we had a smart shower of snow, which is later than 

 we remember to have seen snow here : it was brought on by a change of 

 wind from W. to N.W. About the same time of the day on the 29th, a 

 heavy shower of hail fell, and lay on the ground a short time : this was 

 also brought on by the inosculations of two winds, one from S.W. the other 

 from N.W. 



The mean temperature of the external air this month, is 2| decrees 

 higher than the mean of March for the last eleven years. 



Parhelia and coronae have frequently appeared. In the afternoon of the 

 10th a parhelion is reported to have been seen at Southampton ; and it was 

 also distinctly seen by a gentleman at Hampton, near Farnham, who has 

 described it in a letter as being of a very beautiful appearance. It was ob- 

 sen'ed here the same afternoon, tinged with red, purple, and a silvery co- 

 lour, and was distant from the sun's centre 22° 45' : the angular distance 

 of the mock-sun from the true sun varies from 22^° to 23^°, according to 

 the density and position of the vapour in which it is generated. When 

 two or more parhelia appear at the same time, they alternately increase 

 and wane in size and colour, in proportion to the intensity of the solar 

 rays, and the humidity of the vapour from which they are reflected. In 

 the evening of the 10th there was a discus halo round the moon, encircled 

 by a large lunar corona 45 degrees in diameter. 



The atmospheric and meteoric •phanoinena that have come within our 

 observations this month, are s\\ j)arhclia, nine solar and two lunar halos 

 two brilliant meteors, one rainbow, lightning in the evening of the 2I)th' 

 and 15 gales of wind, or days on which they have prevailed, namely, two 

 from N,, ten from S.W., two from W. , and one from the N.W. 



REMARKS. 



Lonrfon.— March 1, 2. Showery. 3. Cloudy. 4. Cloudy, with showers. 



5. Showers: very stormy night. G. Showery. 7. Showers, 8. Cloudy : 



windy. 9, 10. Fine. 1 1. Fine day : stormy night. 12. Fine. 13. Rainy. 



14. Fine: rainy night. 15. Showers, it. Fine morning: cloudy P.M. 



17. Windy: cloudy: showers. 18. Fine : windy. 19, 20. Cloudy. 21. Rainy 

 evening. 22 — 27. Fine. 28. Rainy night : high wind. 29. Cloudy : a shower 

 of hail, P.M. 30. Some hail about noon, very bleak wind. 31. Fine. 



Boston.— -MuT. 1. Stormy. 2, 3. Cloudy. 4. Cloudy: stormy night with 

 rain. 5. Fine. 6. Windy. 7. Fine: showery a.m. and p.m. 8 — 10. Fine. 



11. Cloudy: rain a.m. 12. Fine. 13. Fine: rain p.m. 14. Stormy. 15. 

 Cloudy. 16. Fine: rain p.m. 17. Stormy: blew a hurricane all day. 



18. Stormy. 19—25. Cloudy. 2G. Fine. 27. Cloudy: rain at night. 

 28. Stormy. 29—31. Fine. 



Penzance.— ^-AT. 1. In general rain. 2. Fair. .'!. Rain. 4. Rain : fair. 

 5, 6. Rain. 7. Showers. 8. Rain : fair. 9. Fair. I o, 1 1. Fair : showers. 



12. Fair: rain. 13. Rain. 14. Clear : fair. 15. Rain : fair. 16, Clear: 

 showers. 17. Showers: clear. 18. Clear. 19. Fair. 2o. Misty: rain. 

 21. Fair: clear. 22. Clear. 23, 24. Fair: clear. 2.';. Fair: .showers. 

 S6. Fair. 27,28. Showers: hail and rain. 29,30. Showers. 31. Clear. 



Meteor- 



