14 The Natural History 



are employed part of three days in the business, and arc 

 of opinion that the outline, in all its curves and indent- 

 ings, does not comprise less than thirty miles. 



The village stands in a sheltered spot, secured by the 

 Hanger from the strong westerly winds. The air is soft, 

 but rather moist from the effluvia of so many trees ; yet 

 perfectly healthy and free from agues. 



The quantity of rain that falls on it is very considerable, 

 as may be supposed in so woody and mountainous a 

 district. As my experience in measuring the water is 

 but of short date, I am not qualified to give the mean 

 quantity.^ 



I only know that : — 



from May t, 1779, ^^ ^"<^ of the year 



there fell 

 from Jan. i, 1780, to Jan. i, 1781, there 



fell 

 From Jan. i, 1781, to Jan. i, 1782, there 



fell 

 From Jan. i, 1782, to Jan. I, 1783, there 



fell 

 From Jan. I, 1783, to Jan. i, 1784, there 



fell 

 From Jan. i, 1784, to Jan. i, 1785, there 



fell 

 From Jan. i, 1785, to Jan. I, 1786, there 



fell 

 From Jan. i, 1786, to Jan. i, 1787, there 



fell 



The village of Selborne, and large hamlet of Oak- 

 hanger, with the single farms, and many scattered houses 

 along the verge of the forest, contain upwards of six 



^ A very intelligent gentleman assures me (and he speaks from 

 upwards of forty years' experience) that the mean rain of any place 

 cannot be ascertained till a person has measured it for a very long 

 period. "If I had only measured the rain," says he, "for the four first 

 years, from 1740 to 1743, 1 should have said the mean rain at Lyndon 

 was 16^ inches for the year ; if from 1740 to 1 750, 18^ inches. The 

 mean rain before 1763 was 20J ; from 1763 and since, 25^; 

 from 1770 to 1780, 26. If only 1773, 1774 and 1775 had been 

 measured, Lyndon mean rain would have been called 32 

 inches." 



