238 



REPORT — 1861. 



greatest disturbances both of pressure and temperature during the whole 

 year. The dates are : — 



March 3, Fenton. 



9, Fiannvellgate, Durham. 



14, Whiston, Lancashire. 



17, Sheffield. 



21, Wrexham. 



24, Coatbridge, Scotland. 



— — 29, Hopton, Manchester. 



March 29, Dudley. 



31, St. Helen's, Lancashire. 



April 1, Congleton. 



1, Merthyr. 



4, Kilmarnock. 



5, Hilda, Durham. 



5, Leeds. 



A miner was suffocated by gas at Aberdare on the 3rd of March. 



No more great groups occur until October; but there is scarcely a single 

 explosion tliat does not point to atmospheric influences, and in some cases in 

 a very unmistakeable manner, as those of the 27th and 28th June, after the 

 maximum thermometer had marked 81° F. and 80°'75 F. on the two pre- 

 ceding days, and the minimum thermometer showed 57'^"25 F. and58°-25 F. ; 

 and the two explosions on the 12th July, the maximum thermometer having 

 marked 85°'25 F. and 90° F., and the minimum thermometer 52°"25 F. and 

 67°"50 F. on the two preceding days. It will also be observed that there is 

 an entire absence of explosions from July 30 to August 31, a period of high 

 atmospheric pressure and mean temperature. 



The dates of explosions from April 5 to the end of September are : — 



April 16, Holywell. N. Wales. 



20, Wakefield. 



27, Aberdare. 



May 9, Airdrie, Scotland. 



. 17, Pendleton, Manchester. 



June 3, Nantyglo, Wales. 

 — — 11, Cimrch, Manchester. 



16, Biiston. 



27, Tredegar, Wales. 



June 28, W^igan, Lancashire. 

 July 12, St. Helen's, Lane. 



12, Wakefield. 



30, Tolleross, Scotland. 



Aug. 31, Stevenston, Scotland. 

 Sept. 3, Walsall. 



i 16, Tipton. 



26, Radcliffe, Manchester. 



The dates of fatal accidents from suffocation by gas during this period 



are ; 



May 18, Bathgate, Scotland. 

 July 5, Chesterton. 



July 8, Halifax. 

 Aug. 16, Aberdare. 



In the beginning of October the temperature was unusually high, even the 

 minimum thermometer ranging above the mean for several days. On the 

 7th and 8th the reading of the minimum thermometer at Wakefield was 56° 

 F., and three fatal explosions happen on the latter day. On the ISth began 

 a remarkable atmospheric paroxysm which lasted until the 10th of Novem- 

 ber, and of which the ' Koyal Charter ' storm, on the 26th October, was 

 only a portion. During this interval there were lost by shipwreck on the 

 British coasts 877 lives and 77 vessels. On the very day that the ' Royal 

 Charter' steamship was lost in a violent storm, there occurred three fatal ex- 

 plosions, two in England and one in Scotland. 



The October group contains 14 explosions, to which may be added 4 cases 

 of death from suffocation by gas, of which the respective dates and localities 

 are: — 



Oct. 3, Walsall. 



5, Seacroft, Leeds. 



7, Dudley (suffocation). 



8, Prescot, St. Helen's. 



8, Pendlebury, Manchester. 



Oct. 8, Robert's Town, Leeds. 



12, Newport, Shropshire. 



14, Aberdare, South Wales. 



14, Heaton, Northumber- 

 land (suffocation). 



