302 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



rainfall excessive. During this period only 35 hours sun- 

 shine was recorded, of which 20 hours occurred on the 

 16th and 17th, leaving an average of barely an hour a day 

 for the remainder of the time under consideration. Close on 

 two inches of rain fell on the 18th and 19th, the fall on the 

 latter day amounting to 1*25 inch. Eeference to daily rain- 

 fall observations taken since 1854 shows only one instance of 

 a heavier rainfall in May, viz., in 1865, when, on the 30th of 

 the month, there fell 1-29 inch. On May 15th, 1872, 110 inch 

 of rain fell, and on May 7th, 1882, 1'20 inch, there being thus 

 only four rainfalls exceeding one inch during the last 45 years 

 in the month of May. The weather improved steadily after 

 the 23rd, the last eight days being rainless, with a good deal 

 of sunshine and a steadily rising temperature. 



June. — The weather of June was of two distinct types, 

 the first seventeen days being warm, sunny, and rainless, and 

 the remainder of the month cool, dull, and with a consider- 

 able downfall. There was no rain between May 24th and June 

 17th, a period of 25 days, the drought being the most severe 

 since the summer of 1869, when there was a spell of 29 days 

 without rain. The mean temperature was 2°-5 above, and 

 the rainfall two -thirds of the average. There was a fog on 

 the 21st, and thunder was heard on the 28th. 



July. — The characteristic features of the weather of July 

 were a rather high temperature and pressure, deficit of sun- 

 shine, and a slight excess of rainfall. The month opened with 

 a heavy rainstorm from the N'.E., the rainfall for the first two 

 days being 2*11 inches. In the hour ending 1.45 p.m. on the 

 2nd, half an inch of rain fell during a slight thunderstorm. 

 Another heavy downpour, amounting to three-quarters of an 

 inch, occurred on the 12th between 1 and 4 p.m., during a sharp 

 thunderstorm. A dense wetting mist with an easterly wind 

 preceded the phenomenon. There was throughout the month 

 a complete absence of fine settled weather, the 13th and 31st 

 being the only days with more than 70 per cent, of the total 

 possible sunshine, while on eight days no sunshine was 

 recorded. Barometric pressure was much above the average, 

 and the excess of temperature was entirely due to the 

 unusual nocturnal warmth, the mean of the day values being 



