2.—The Summit of Ben Nevis. 
Fic. 
NATURE 
[Mor 2, 08 
The fourth set of observations were made at the spring i 
which is about Soo feet from the top, the temperature of | 
the spring being 37°4, Observations are again made at_ 
these same points on the homeward journey, which, together - 
with the three at the top at 0, 9.30, and 10 a.m., make a_ 
daily series of ten observations, independently of those 
made at the same times by Mrs, Wragge at Fort William, 
and at other times in the afternoon and evening. bo 
addition, extra observations are also made, such as wh 
ontrine or emerging from the cloud-fog, when the wind 
suddenly changes in direction or force, &c,, these being — 
made from their important bearings on general atmo-— 
spheric circulation, These observations, which are taken 
with scrupulous regularity, evince on the part of Mr, 
Wragge the most undaunted devotion to his work, 
ticularly in consideration of the extreme discomfort they — 
often entail, since to make them he must dismount not 
unfrequently in a piercingly cold storm of wind and rain, 
The following are the observations made on July 28, at 
9am, by Mr, Wragge, and also those made at the same 
| time by Mrs, Wragge at Fort William ;— 
Ben Nevis, Fort William, 
inches, inches, 
Barometer at 32°... ... 25°434 ww 29°931 
Aneroildh Wein ous vie 25°355 - 
Max, Thermometer... 30'S a 540 
Min, x 9 325 cn 49°2 
Dry-bulb —,, id 3570 is 335 
| Wet-bulb ,, “s 3570 aes 50°3 
Solar max. ,, Roe 940 oe - 
Terres, min,,, af 2'2 aes a 
neh, inch, 
Ralofallt: vit saw ns o'260 
KS »_ 97069, 
Wind, divection vy South-westerly — South-westerly 
» _ force (0-12) wae Zto4 .- 4 
Cloud-fog (e-10) ; 10 “8 9 
We reached the summit shortly before eleven, the last 
1ooo feet of the ascent having been through a dense cloud- 
fog, which clung persistently to the mountain the whole 
time we were on it, We found the protecting wire cage 
in its position, having been placed there on the previous 
day, but the Stevenson screen was still in the position it 
had occupied since the observations began, and as is 
shown in Fig, 1, A reading of the instruments having 
been made, the workmen proceeded to remove the ther- 
mometer-box to its new position inside the wire cage, as 
represented in Fig, 2, and the party withdrew to the hut, 
which, though containing only one apartment, $ feet by 4 
feet, and its walls far from wind-tight, afforded a most 
welcome shelter from the bitterly cold masses of mingled 
fog, Scotch mist, and sleety drizzle which drifted across 
the mountain, A fire was quickly lighted in the middle 
of the hut with splinters of wood and balls of tow steeped 
in paraffin, the excessive dampness of everything render- 
ing the use of paraffin indispensable. The inspection 
| which followed showed that the full equipment of in- 
| struments were in excellent order and in excellent posi- 
tions, and that the observations were made with a 
precision and a fidelity which left nothing to be desired. 
At the time of our visit everything was drenched with 
wet. On opening the thermometer-box the whole inside 
presented the appearance of having been just lifted out of 
| water, a drop banging from the bulbs of the dry and 
other thermometers. Mr, Wragge informed us that 
during the fifty-one days preceding our visit the dry- 
bulb thermometer was found on opening the box to be 
without the drop hanging from it only on six occasions. 
A noteworthy feature of the meteorology of Ben Nevis 
is the winds. Repeated instances were seen, during the 
ascent and descent, of a thin filmy fragment of mist sud- 
denly appearing over one of the glens, which on being 
watched was observed slowly to ascend, lengthening 
and becoming denser as it rose, frequently assuming in 
time an appearance resembling the smoke rising from a 
burn'ng mountain, Cn one occasion the whole of that 
