METEOROLOGY. 37 
The most severe of these were those which occurred on the 1st 
and 2nd of July and on the 6th of August. I have noted that on 
the 2nd of July there was incessant thunder and lightning from 
1 to 2.30 p.m., and again that on August 6th a severe thunder- 
storm came on about 4 p.m. and continued till 5.20. There was a 
remarkable phenomenon witnessed at 9 p.m. of the 13th March, 
which was probably to be traced to electrical causes. This was a 
broad bana of whitish light, somewhat resembling smoke, and 
stretching across the greater part of the sky, from N.E. towards 
S.W. Ihave observed that in some reports the aurora is said to 
have been very conspicuous that night in different parts of the 
country, and I suppose that what I saw must have been of this 
nature, although in some respects it was different from any aurora 
I ever saw before, more especially in its great extent and appar- 
ently fixed character, and in the absence of those streamers or 
rapid flashes of ight which we usually see in connection with that 
phenomenon. 
WINnD.—With regard to the directions of the wind, it appears 
that during the past year those from a northerly and easterly 
direction—N., N.H., H., and N.W.—blew during 154 days; and 
those from a southerly and westerly direction—S., 8.E., 8. W., 
and W.—during 187 days, while 22 were variable. This differs 
from what is usual, only in a somewhat greater preponderance, of 
northerly and easterly winds. 
In connection with the report on the movement of the 
barometer, I may take this opportunity of offering a remark on 
the extraordinary readings recorded on the 9th of the present 
month, although it does not properly belong to the subject of this 
paper. As I have already stated, the highest barometer reading 
for the past year was 30°805 in. on the 30th January. But it was 
also the highest recorded for the nine years during which obser- 
vations have been taken here, the others ranging from 30°632 to 
39°805. But on Thursday of last week the mercury rose to the 
unprecedented height of 31:106 in. As far as information goes, 
the highest readings recorded in Scotland previously during the 
present century were 31:01 in. in February, 1808, and 31-05 in 
January, 1820-——-both taken at Gordon Castle, Banffshire, and the 
latter corroborated by a similar reading in Edinburgh. It is by no 
means improbable, therefore, that the abnormal reading of the 9th 
January this year is the very highest on record—a circumstance 
which could not be passed over without special notice. 
