THE TWIN STORMS OF JANUARY, 1867. ""Ssi 253 



night. The exhausted wind, still following the course of the sun, 

 fell to S.W. ; the country became suffused with warmth and 

 loaded with humidity, and the cold chilled walls of houses, pre- 

 cipitating the moisture, ran with water. On the morning of the 

 23rd the temperature of rooms without fire in my house was 44° ; 

 but in the open air at 9 a.m. it was 53°. On going out to read the 

 thermometers, I felt as if passing into a heated room ; the air was 

 hot, and filled with fragrance exuding from the wounded trees ; 

 the scent from a Cupressus, especially, was very powerful, and ex- 

 tended to fully 50 feet around it. 



The Meteorology. In order more clearly to comprehend the di- 

 rection and force of the wind during the Storm of the 5th, I have 

 constructed WiNi? Charts for that and the two previous days, 

 compiled from the daily meteorological observations issued by the 

 Board of Trade, and which accompany this Paper. The course of 

 the wind is shown on the Charts by the direction of the arrows. 

 The figures denote the force of the wind, from 1 to 12; and the 

 dotted lines are (approximately) lines of equal barometric pres- 

 sure. I propose to trace the rise and progress of the Storm by 

 means of these Charts, which show at a glance the general course 

 and power of the wind. They were compiled from the accom- 

 panying Tables. 



The Chart for the 3rd shows how equably the wind from N. 

 and N.E. pervaded the British Isles. It was a general movement of 

 northern cold to southern latitudes, commencing on the 1st and 

 continuing during three days. The cold wind penetrated the 

 whole country, but appea;if'ed to cling to the warmer coast-lines. 

 It fell with great severity on the east and on the middle of 

 England ; it came with unimpeded course down the North Sea, 

 and where the sea narrows, funnel-like, between Norfolk and Hol- 

 land, it blew half a gale, and pressed its concentrated cold on the 

 northern slopes of the Belgian hills and on the plains of northern 

 France. At the English Channel it bent westward, and passed to 

 S.W. over the Irish Sea, .direct for the open Atlantic. In all 

 parts of its course the cold wind appeared to have a liking for the 

 warm waters of the sea. 



It is observable that the barometer was very uniform, and very 

 little below the average ; and a general view of the whole face of 

 the Chart indicates tranquillity rather than tempest. But beneath 



g2 



