Meteorological Observations taken in Edinburgh. 303 



the normal. The month closed with high temperatures, the 

 maximum on the 30th being 76°'9, and on the 31st 78°-4. 



August. — The weather of August was of a phenomenal 

 character, less than a quarter of an inch of rain being 

 recorded during the first four weeks. A heavy downfall 

 on the 29th raised the total for the month to 0*55 inch. 

 August 1880 had exactly the same rainfall, but to find an 

 August with a smaller rainfall we have to go back to 1796, 

 when the precipitation was only 0*45 inch. The mean 

 temperature was CI"*?, or 3°'9 above the average; the excess 

 being more marked during the day than at night, the days 

 being 5^*0, but the nights only 3°'l in excess of the normal. 

 The only warmer Augusts since 1764 were those of 1819, 

 1780, and 1779. The mean of all the maxima was 70^*0, 

 being the highest on record during the last sixty years, for 

 which detailed statistics are available. As regards other 

 months, the above value was exceeded only in June 1846, 

 and in the Julys of 1847 and 1868. The highest shade 

 temperature i^as 83°'l, on the 24th, a value only twice 

 exceeded since 1840, viz., in the Augusts of 1868 and 1893, 

 when the temperature rose to 87°"7 and 84°'0 respectively. 

 The mean barometric pressure was also unusually high, being 

 exceeded since 1770 only in the years 1864, 1818, 1801, 1780, 

 and 1779. The mean pressure was highest, 30'138 inches, in 

 1864, as against 30*082 inches in 1899. A noticeable feature 

 of the meteorology of the period under review was the 

 extreme stillness of the air, no less than 20 of the 62 wind 

 observations, made at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., being entered as calm. 

 April 1862 had 22 calms entered at the time of the bi-daily 

 observations, and September 1838 had 20 entries, these being 

 the only months since 1764 with as many calms as in the 

 month under consideration. Judging from the barometric 

 readings and the wind observations, it is evident that the 

 British Isles were under the influence of a vast anti-cyclone, 

 which is usually central at this season about lat. 35° 'N., 

 long. 42° W., but which, from some cause at present unex- 

 plainable, was in August 1899 shifted over 1000 miles north- 

 east of its usual position. 



September. — The weather of September was wet and 



