METEoKuLuGIUAL :XOTES. 315 



October was a very wet month ; the rainfall at Truro was 7'17 inches, the 

 average being 4'8i ; and the number of rainy days was 27, whilst it averages 20 3, 

 There was less difference from the ordinary quantity at Helston ; and A Itarnun 

 had even less rain than its average, and 1'74 inch less than Bodmin, instead of 

 exceeding it as usual. But, though the rainfall there was less than the mean, 

 the number of wet days (27) was much greater ; and Mr. Tripp remarks that 

 there was no opportunity of sowing wheat or for raising and securing the 

 potatoe crop. Cornwall escaped, however, in great measure, the disastrous 

 floods which fell in several parts of the country, more especially in the Midlands. 

 The temperature was equable, never having fallen at Truro below 36'', nor risen 

 above 66" ; but the mean of the maxima was nearly a degree below the average, 

 and the weather was chilly from its dampness. 



During the first half of November the same wet and gloomy weather con- 

 tinued, and heavy falls of rain raised the total considerably above the average, 

 although the number of wet days was below it. This was most strongly marked 

 at the eastern stations. At Bodmin, for instance, where rain fell on 12 days only 

 instead of 21, the mean there for November — the quantity gauged was 7' 12 inches 

 instead of the average 4!'64 ; and at Altarnun, where the mean is 5"72, the rainfall 

 was 9 76 inches. The temperature up to the 19th was, with little exception, above 

 the average throughout the country ; but the 20th ushered in a very cold period, 

 equally generally, with prevalence of E. and E.N E. winds. At Truro frost was 

 recorded every night from November 22nd to December Ilth, and the thermometer 

 fell to 21'' on two occasions. At Penzance the lowest point was 29°, whilst at 

 Altarnun it was 17° ; the night of the 26th being everywhere the coldest. 



Severe frosty weather continued during the first half of December. Snow 

 fell on four days , but not heavily in this county. The second half of the month 

 was mild and open, though generally overcast. The total rainfall at Truro 

 (2'21 inch'^s) was less than half the average, and it fell chiefly from the 17th to the 

 22nd, and the total number of days witti rain was only 12, in place of 20, the 

 usual proportion. The same ratio prevailed at the other stations. Mr. Tripp 

 remarks for Altarnun, that it was the driest December on record, except 1873 • 

 and he contrasts thus the mildness of the end of the month with the severe cold of 

 its beginning, " the mean of the 7th and 8th was 27°, of 24th, 47'5 ! " 



Taking the Greenwich Observatory as his standpoint, Mr Glaisher makes 

 the following remarks on the severity of the weather: " On November 20th, a 

 bitterly cold period commenced and continued till December 16th, the averao-e 

 daily deficiency of temperature being 7 '4. The temperature on several days 

 together was more than 10° in defect ; on December 4th and 5th, it was about 

 l!3^", and the average daily defect from November 30th to December 7th, was 12°. 

 During this period the sky was almost always overcast, snow fell all over the 

 country, and drifted in some places to a great depth ; the wind was N. and N.E, 

 md the air was very cold, and owing to the cloudy state of the sky the general 

 deficiency of temperature was chiefly due to the want of heat during the day- 

 time." " The severity of the weather fell more upon the Midland Districts than 

 on either the extreme Northern or extreme Southern Stations." 



Mr Glaisher states in a tabular form the highest temperature of each day 

 during the coldest weather at a large number of stations. I will extract a few 

 of tliese for comparison with oiir own climate. The average maximum at the 

 beginning of December is at Greenwich, 46° ; at Truro, 50°. 



