436 REPORT—1868. 
and since, asa rule, the greatest quantity of rain falls at our western stations, 
and the least at the more eastern ones, it seemed probable that the peculi- 
arity of a maximum fall in winter might be general in the west and a max- 
imum in summer in the east. With a view to the determination of this 
question, the whole of the stations were grouped in their respective counties, 
and these were arranged in districts. The districts chosen were the follow- 
ing :— 
CouUNTRIES. Districts. 
England and Wales ...... 3: Western, Central, and Eastern. 
NCOUANO brett) -.. ccacmers 2: Western and Eastern. 
MinClaMC yr ncatc atau te Not divided, returns too few. 
In cases where one county has properly formed part of two districts it has 
been divided, and the stations distinguished by being arranged in the portion 
to which they belong. Thus Yorkshire is divided into east and west Yorks. 
It is impossible to give here all the Tables which have been prepared, as 
they occupy far too large a space; but the following list of stations in Lanva- 
shire (1850-59) abundantly proves that the supposed law of westerly maxi- 
mum in winter and easterly in summer does not actually exist. 
Taste I.—Monthly Percentage of Annual Rainfall, Lancashire, 1850-59. 
Mean Monthly percentage of Annual Fall. 
Annual 
Name of Station. | Rainfall Show : : 
inthe: |i |.o |*@ | Bi) Beh os | Be) Boe eae 
prid | SJElS/S/S/5/2/4/2/6 12/6 
in. 
Belmont ........ 51190 | 9°4/7°7 6"1 | 5°9 | 4g | 8°] 8-8] 11°1| 8-3 | 10°3] g°2 | 10-2 
Bolton. hite<.<.- «<6 44006 | 9°3/8°3 |5°9 | 5°38 | 5-1 | 8°6) 9:1) 9°8) 8-5 | 10°3/ 9°5 | 9:8 
Coniston ........ 71°400 | 13'°2/9°2 | 62 |5°5 | 4-1 | 6°6| 6-7] 9°41 7°3 | g9l grr | 12°8 
Fishwick ........ 29103 | 9°0] 61 | 5°3 | 5°O | 5°7 | 8°9) 11'2| 12°0| 9°3 | 10°g/ 80 | 8°6 
Ifo Kens byecsc.ce io ace 39°167 | 10°7| 7°4 | 5°8 | 60 | 4-4 | 878) 9:4) 10°5| 8-4 | 10°4] 84 | 9°8 
Howick, Preston..| 34'279 | 9°3| 69 |5°6 | 5°6 | 4°9 | 8-9) 10°6) 12) 9°6 | 9°5) 8:2 | g'7 
Liverpool Observ’ | 24°339 | 7°1|5°0 | 5°6 | 6 | Gt | 10°1/ r1°8) 11°7} 9°3 | 1175) 89 | 6°8 
Preston, 1 ft. ..-.| 33:601 | 9°21 6°5 | 5°5 |5°5 | 52 | 9°1] r0°9/ 11°8) 9°4 | 10°2| 81 | 8°6 
Ditto, 53 ft. ....| 28-932 | 8°6) 5°9 |5°3 15°3 | 5°5 | 9°4) 1172) 12°6]9°5 | 10°4| 8-0 | 873 
Rufford ........ 33°237 | 8°7| 60 | 5°3 | 5°5 |5°3 | 9't| 11°2| 114) 8 9 | 1173/87 | 8-6 
Stonyhurst ...... 45°368 | 973] 84 | 5°7 | 5°6 |4°5 | 9°5| 973] 10°4] 9°71 | 10°8| 7°9 | 9°5 
Wray Castle ....| 60°807 | 13°9|/9°1 | 5°8 | 5°5 |4°3 | 64} 7°4| 9°1| 7°0 | 10°2] 8-7 | 12°6 
The values in the above columns represent the percentage of the mean 
annual fall which was registered in each month. The quotation only fairly 
typifies what is found in all counties where the annual rainfall varies con- 
siderably. It will be seen we have in this one western county some stations 
with their maximum in the summer, others with theirs in the winter, and 
others with theirs in the autumn—and this during precisely the same period 
of time. 
It was therefore deemed advisable to return to the original plan of grouping 
the stations according to the amount of their annual fall, for each 5 in. of 
depth—but with this distinction, that a separate set of Tables was prepared 
for each of the districts into which we have hypothetically divided the 
Kingdom. 
For dates before the year 1830, the number of returns ayailable is too 
