PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



M.,lalur ,li>tnct, one of which weighed 711bs. and penetrated 

 some feet into the ground, raising a cloud of dust which led 

 to its disco very. 



A vrry fine meteor, with an apparent diameter half that of 

 tin- moon, was seen in the S. of England, and as far north as 

 Lincolnshire, as well as in parts of France and Belgium, on 

 March 28th last. It travelled about 175 miles from the 

 point where it was first observed, and burst twice or more 

 during its course. It is not known whether any portion of it 

 reached the earth. 



METEOROLOGY. 



The attempt to ascertain the rainfall of past seasons even 

 for hundreds or thousands of years from the growth of trees 

 does not sound very promising in regard to accuracy, but 

 is stated to be reliable to the extent of 82 per cent. The 

 method is to measure the comparative breadths of the rings 

 formed by the annual growth, the theory being that a wet 

 BeaaoD would cause a large ring and vice versd. This has 

 been done for California by means of the Giant Sequoias, 

 some of which appear from their rings to be 3,000 years old. 

 Three long wet periods 1,000 B.C. to 300 A.D., 900 to 1,100 

 A.D. and 1,300 to 1,400 A.D. are shewn, which are considered 

 by the author to correspond to the three ancient civilizations 

 of Mexico, of the dates of which there is little or no evidence, 

 these regions being now too dry to support a large and 

 flourishing population. The rainfall for 1914 has been 

 considerably above the average everywhere in the British 

 Isles except the W. and N. of Scotland, the amount for the 

 year at Montevideo, Chickerell, being 37'95in., the average 

 for the past 17 years being only 29'25in. The highest annual 

 fall in my rain gauge in the 17 years was 38'53in. in 1912, 

 the lowest having been 22'15in. in 1905. The fall for 

 December 7'31in. in my rain gauge is, I believe, a record 

 amount for that month in that locality, and a very unusual 

 amount for any month. The highest monthly amount 



