Meteorological Obs€7'vations. 527 



who, in his early days, was in some respects greatly in advance of 

 the other writers on the botany of this country, and whose labours 

 have been disregarded or undervalued on account of his peculiarities, 

 we are obliged, at the same time, to protest against all of his later 

 and one of his earlier botanical works. ***** 



" A gradual deterioration will be observed in Rafinesque's bota- 

 nical writings from 1819* to about 1830, when the passion for esta- 

 blishing new genera and species apjiears to have become a comjilete 

 monomania. This is the most charitable supposition we can enter- 

 tain, and is confirmed by the opinions of those who knew him best. 

 Hitherto we have been particular in the enumeration of his scattered 

 productions t, in order to facilitate the labours of those who may be 

 disposed to search through bushels of chaff for the grain or tvvo of 

 wheat they perchance contain. What consideration they may de- 

 serve, let succeeding botanists determine ; but we cannot hesitate to 

 assert that none whatever is due to his subsequent works." — Silli- 

 man's American Journal, April 1841. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR JUNE 1841. 



Chisiuick. — June I, 2. Very fine. 3,4. Fine, with very dry air. 5. Slightly 

 overcast. 6. Very fine : slight rain. 7. Cold and dry : showery and cold. 8, 

 9. Cloudy and cold. 10. Very fine. 11. Cloudy, 12. Slight rain : clear. 13, 

 Cloudy and cold: clear at night. 14, Very fine. 15. Slight drizzle: cloudy 

 and fine. 16, 17. Very fine. 18. Sultry : rain, with distant thunder and light- 

 ning at night. 19. Sultry: rain, 20. Very fine: rain. 21. Heavy showers, 

 with sultry intervals. 22. Very fine : cloudy. 23. Overcast and fine : very 

 heavy rain at noon. 24. Showery : heavy rain at night. 25. Rain. 26. Cloudy. 



27. Showery. 28. Rain. 29. Cloudy: showery. 30. Fine, — The mean tem- 

 perature of the month was about 2° below the average. 



Boston. — June 1 — 4. Fine. 5, 6, Cloudy, 7. Cloudy : rain a.m. and p.m. 

 8. Cloudy : rain early A.M. 9. Cloudy, 10. Fine, 11— 13. Cloudy. 14—17, 

 Fine, 18, Fine: therm. 3 o'clock 74°. 19, Cloudy: rain early a.m.: rain p.m. 

 20. Fine: rain p.m. 21. Cloudy: brisk wind. 22, 23. Fine. 24. Fine: rain, 

 with thunder and lightning P.M. 25. Rain. 26. Cloudy : rain p.m. 27, Fine. 



28. Rain : rain p.m. 29. Fine: rain with thunder and lightning p.m. 30. Fine. 

 Apiilegarth li[anse, Dumfries-shire. — June I. Clear and warm. 2. Bright and 



cool. 3, Hail-showers : thunder. 4. Cloudy. 5. Cloudy : rain p.m. 6. Fine but 

 cloudy. 7. Dry and cool. 8. Dry and cool : withering. 9 — 11. Dry and cool. 

 12. Dry and cool, but warmer. is. Dry and cool. 14. Slight showers. 15, 

 16. Dry and droughty. 17. Dry and droughty : cloudy. 18. Fine rain and 

 thunder. 19. Rain p.m. 20. Very warm : rain p.m. 21. Heavy showers. 

 22. Fair all day. 23, Fair and fine. 24, Fair and fine : thunder. 25. Wet 

 nearly all day. 26. Slight showers : thunder. 27. Fair till 4 o'clock : rain. 

 28. Showery all day. 29. Showery all day : thunder. 30. Rain p.m. 



* " It was in this year (1819)," remarks Dr. Silliman, " that I became 

 alarmed by a flood of communications, announcing new discoveries by C. S. 

 Rafinesque, and being warned, both at lionie and abroad, against his claims, 

 I returned him a large bundle of memoirs, prepared with his beautiful and 

 exact chirography, and in the neatest form of scientific papers. This will 

 account for the early disappearance of his communications from this Journal. 

 The step was painful, but necessary ; for, if there had been no other diffi- 

 culty, he alone would have filled the Journal, had he been permitted to 

 proceed." 



t Our readers will find these contained in an article of twenty-one pages 

 in Silliman's Journal. 



