218 Weather and Other Notes. 



dull, ioggy weather so often experienced in this month. The 

 temperature was above the average, and there was very little 

 night frost. When looking a little further afield on the loth 

 we were reminded of the approach of Winter on seeing Criffel, 

 Queensberry, and the Moffat hills covered with snow. During 

 the last week there was a good deal of unsettled, showery 

 weather. There was a heavy gale of wind on the 26th, which 

 caused a good deal of damage. On the 28th about two inches 

 of snow fell. This was followed by an exceptionally hard 

 frost on the nights of the 2gth and 30th, when the thermo- 

 meter registered 5 and 7 deg. respectively in the screen and 

 4 and 6 deg. on the grass. Heard the Water Ousel's cheery 

 song on the 5th and several other days. Highest maximum 

 temperature in screen, 57 deg. on 4th and 5th ; lowest, 31 deg. 

 on 28th ; lowest minimum, 5 deg. on the 29th ; lowest on 

 grass, 4 deg. on 29th. At 32 deg. and under in the screen on 

 10 days; on the grass, on 16 days. Range of barometer 

 between 29 and 30.3 inches. 



December. 



On the morning of the ist the ground was covered with 

 snow, with a bitterly cold North-East wind. The maximum 

 reading of the thermometer in the screen for the preceding 

 24 hours at nine o'clock was 25 deg. There had been 25 deg. 

 of frost on the grass during the night. A little more snow fell 

 on the 2nd. On the 4th the wind changed from the North- 

 West to the South-West. Some rain followed, when the 

 snow all disappeared in a short time, leaving the grass (which 

 had been covered up with the snow during the hard frost) 

 fresh and green. This brief sharp, cold snap was peculiar in 

 its coming, in its continuance, and in its going. It came with 

 a sudden fall of the barometer after a heavy gale and rain- 

 storm, lasted only five days, and was followed by several fine 

 mild days. From the 7th till the end of the month the 

 weather was very changeable, wet and stormy, with high 

 winds on several occasions, and very little sunshine. Rain 

 fell on every day during December except on the 2nd. There 

 was a specially heavy wind on the 24th, when a good deal of 

 damage was done on land and a number of wrecks, with loss 



