74 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION A. 



S. H. Officer. 



S. H. Officer, kept a Rainfall and Weather Record at Murray 

 Downs Station, on the Murray River, from 1864 to 1885. These, 

 Avith valuable notes of the seasons, will be found in " Rain and 

 River Results" for 1885. 



John Wyndham. 



John Wyndham, of Dalwood, Hunter River, kept a Rainfall 

 Record, 1863 to 1885; it will be found in "Rain and River 

 Results " for 1885. 



William Stanley Jevons. 



William Stanley Jevons who held a position in the Royal Mint 

 at Sydney from 1854 to 1859, took the M.A. degree in 1862, 

 and was afterwards Professor of Logic, and Mental and Moral 

 Philosophy, etc., at Owen's College, Manchester. He wrote while 

 in Sydney, a most valuable essay " On some data concerning the 

 Climate of Australia and New Zealand," containing fifty-two 

 pages. It was published in Waugh's Almanac for 1859, and also 

 in a pamphlet form. The essay is divided into seven chapters 

 devoted to the discussion of the following subjects : — 



No. 1. — On the Temperature of the air in Australia. 



No. 2. — Rain in Australia. 



No. 3. — History of Floods and Droughts in New South 

 Wales. 



No. 4. — Periodicity of Floods and Droughts discussed. 



No. 5. — Water Courses of Australia. 



No. 6. — The Barometer. 



No. 7. — Concluding Remarks. 

 Mr. Jevons said " my object has been to present in an available 

 form, such accurate numerical data as are attainable ; and 

 secondly, to group together general information as to the winds, 

 i"ains, rivers, floods — the geographical features of the country and 

 the meteorological circumstances of this part of the globe, so as 

 to shew what remarkable problems have to be solved ; and what 

 intei^esting connections of cause and effect may ultimately be 

 traced and proved." 



This was the most valuable contribution to the meteorology of 

 Australia that had been made up to the time of its publication ; 

 perhaps, the most valuable chapter is that upon the history of 

 the floods and droughts ; but every part of it bears marks of 

 most careful work in consulting all the available data then 

 known, and the clear and logical mind of the author. Some of his 

 conclusions more recent observations and investigations have 

 shewn to be wrong, but they were entirely in accord with the 

 facts then available, and he presented the most concise and 

 accurate account of the climate which had been written. 



