190 Meteorological Observations made at Leiih. 



Art. XLI. — Meteorological Observations made at Leith, by Messrs 

 Coldstream and Foggo. Communicated by the Authors. 



Leith, January 5, 1826. — The afternoon of this day was stormy ; much 

 rain fell, and the wind blew strongly from the east and south-east. Mean 

 temperature of the day 36°.25. Dew point at noon 33°.5. At 7 p. m., 

 through narrow openings in the nimbi, with which the whole sky was fill- 

 ed, we perceived beams of an Aurora Borealis, of a silvery colour and 

 lustre ; they appeared at intervals between the dark clouds for about an 

 hour. At the same time, portions of a broad arch of light were observed 

 about 25° south of the zenith, 



January 6. — Much rain fell to-day. Wind east. Very boisterous. 



January 16. — Since the 7th, the daily minima of temperature have al- 

 ways been below 30°. The average of the daily mean temperatures during 

 the interval is 26°.3. The frost was most intense this morning, when, at 

 7 o'clock, the thermometer stood here at 15°. * Except on the 10th, when 

 a fog prevailed, and a little snow fell, the sky was unclouded during the 

 whole period of the continuance of the frost ; and sometimes the sun's rays 

 had considerable power. The minimum temperature on the 10th was 

 22°.5 ; but, after the fog and snow, the temperature rose to 34°.5, and 

 the dew point from 23° to 29°. The minimum of the 11th was 25°.5 ; 

 dew point still 29° ; but, on the 12th, the dew point fell to 20°, and, on 

 the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th, we had minimum temperatures always un- 

 der 19°. This morning the deposition of the icy crystals of hoar-frost 

 was very abundant on all surfaces freely exposed to the atmosphere, parti- 

 cularly, as is often the case, on the windward sides of objects. A gentle 

 breeze had blown from the south-west during the preceding night, and 

 between one and two o'clock a. m. an Aurora was seen. From sunrise till 

 2 o'clock p. m. the fog was very dense ; at that time it became less so, and 

 some snow fell ; about 7 p. m. more snow fell, and the temperature rose to 

 33°. 



January 17.— The temperature remained during the whole night a 

 little above the freezing point ; and this morning, at 9 o'clock, the ther- 

 mometer stood at 40°. It is perhaps worthy of notice, that although the 

 temperature of the external air was thus high, that of the interior of houses 

 remained very low, so that ice of considerable thickness was formed in 

 rooms, where, during the preceding severe frosts, little had appeared ; and 

 this occurred in houses having walls of moderate thickness, and whose ex- 

 posure is very free. The deposition of moisture on all buildings, &c. was 

 of course very profuse. 



February 4. — To-day, at noon, the thermometer in the shade being at 

 45°, the force of the solar rays was found to be 30°, which is certainly very 

 great for this period of the year. 



* At Canaan Cottage, three miles more inland, and 240 feet more elevated than 

 our place of observation, Mr Adie's register thermometers indicated a minimum 

 temperature at the same time of 10°. — An account of the Great Cold in Inverness- 

 shire and Aberdeenshire will be given in next Number. 



