October, 1913. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



387 



Observatory was closed at the end of September, 1904, owing 

 to the lack of financial support. This observatory, which is 

 four thousand four hundred and four feet above sea-level, on 

 the highest spot in the British Isles, was established by the 

 Scottish Meteorological Society in 1883, and observations 

 were taken every hour, day and night, without a break, 

 frequently under very difficult conditions, for a period of nearly 

 twenty-one years. During the months of February and 

 March it was not uncommon for south-easterly gales to blow 

 for three or four days continuously at the rate of one hundred 

 miles an hour. On these occasions the observers had to go 

 out roped together or to crawl along the surface, otherwise 

 they would have been blown away by the wind. At other 

 times the rain would freeze as it fell, and so everything 

 became coated with ice, which continued to increase in thick- 

 ness almost indefinitely. During summer, or when the 

 temperature was above the freezing-point, the fog soaked 

 everything exposed to it, and so all the instruments outside 

 the observatory streamed with moisture, even though no rain 

 was actually falling; while in winter, or when the tempera- 

 ture was below freezing-point, the effect of the fog was to 

 cover everything with long feathery masses of rime or crystal- 

 line specks of snow. These continued to grow to great 

 lengths on the windward side until they broke off by their 

 own weight. In these circumstances it was impossible to use 

 self-recording instruments, and so the observers had to take 

 observations every hour, day and night. 



The average temperature, rainfall, amount of cloud, and 

 hours of sunshine are as follows : — 



Table 70. 



As temperature decreases approximately at the rate of 

 1° F. every one hundred feet, the temperature at the summit 

 is usually about 15° lower than at Fort William; consequently 

 the snow on the top of the mountain remains nnmelted for the 

 greater part of the year. 



BRITISH RAINFALL, 1912.— The publication of the 

 annual volumes of British Rainfall is always looked forward 

 to not only by meteorologists but also by engineers and 

 surveyors, and others who have any interest in rainfall 

 statistics. The volume for last year, 1912, has recently been 

 issued, and this includes the records of rainfall from more than 

 five thousand observers in Great Britain and Ireland. The 

 records confirm the popular opinion that the year 1912 was a 

 very wet one, as will be seen from Table 71. 



The greatest amounts of rainfall recorded in the year were 

 205-17 inches at Crib Goch, on Snowdon, and 196-43 inches 

 at the Stye in Cumberland. The lowest amount was 

 19-24inches at Stifford, in Essex. It appears that the summer 

 of 1912 in England and Wales was wetter than any other 

 summer during the past fifty years, although the rainfall of the 

 summer of 1879 was nearly similar. 



April, May, and September were the generally dry months, 

 and March, June, August, and December the wet months. 



The most remarkable feature of the year was the un- 

 precedented rainstorm of August 25th-26th, in East Anglia, 

 when more than six inches fell over an area of four hundred 

 and forty-six square miles, and more than seven inches over 

 an area of two hundred and forty-one square miles, while more 

 than eight inches fell between Norwich and Brundall. 

 Serious Moods resulted from this extraordinary rainfall : the 

 flood at Norwich was fifteen inches higher than the previous 

 highest one in 1614. 



Dr. H. R. Mill, the director of the British Rainfall Organisa- 

 tion, has been obliged, acting under medical advice, to take 

 a long and complete rest. We trust that this cessation from 

 work will restore him to health. During his absence the work 

 of the organisation will be carried on under the joint direction 

 of Mr. R. C. Mossman and Mr. C. Salter. 



AEROPLANES AND WEATHER.— The recent attempt 

 of Mr. Hawker to win the Daily Mail prize of £5,000 in the 

 waterplane race round Great Britain reminds me of a letter I 

 received a year ago from a correspondent, who attributed all 

 the bad weather to the action of aeroplanes. The letter was 

 as follows : 



" Sir, — Has it not occurred to you and others that the bad 

 weather, and consequent likelihood of famine for us all, is due 

 to this interference with Nature's laws ? This foolish so- 

 called ' flying ' is cutting up the atmosphere. It is well 

 known that heavy firing of guns brings down rain by con- 

 cussion, and it stands to reason that great steel propellers, 

 slashing the air for great distances, is bound to cause violent 

 disturbance of the weather. Wherever there is ' flying,' 

 there come storms of wind and torrents of rain, and bitter 

 cold as by an electric fan. So do stop this rubbish lest we all 

 starve." 



The writer of the above evidently has a very decided pre- 

 judice and hatred against flying machines, and also is ready 

 to attribute good or bad weather to unknown influences. 

 One often hears many other people give expression to some- 

 what similar opinions as to the weather, although it is very 

 doubtful if they really think anything about the matter. A 

 few years ago very decided opinions were expressed by many 

 people who asserted that the wireless installations erected at 

 certain places round the coast had quite altered our weather. 

 Up to the present, however, the ordinary meteorological 

 observations have not shown that any perceptible effect has 

 been produced by these things on the weather. 



The cheap newspaper press is also much given to the use of 

 terms and adjectives about passing events — even about the 

 weather — which are great exaggerations and often incompre- 

 hensible. Anything that in the slightest degree interferes with 

 pleasure, sport, or comfort is at once described in terms of 

 execration. As an instance of this the following example 

 may be given. Thursday, August 28th, was very fine and 

 bright, but the next day, Friday, was misty, damp, and close, 

 with a slight thunderstorm and little rain between 10 and 

 11 a.m. On Saturday morning a placard of one of the 

 London daily papers was wholly taken up in large type with 

 the words " Grumpiest Day of the Year." It is difficult to 

 understand what the editor meant by such an expression. He 

 could hardly have realised that a few hundredths of an inch 

 of rain arc quite insignificant compared to the eight inches 

 which fell in Norfolk only twelve months previously, as 

 mentioned in the preceding note. 



