164 
X.—A Calendar of Natural Periodic Phenomena: kept at Bodmin 
Sor the year 1872.—By Tuomas Q. Coucu, F.S.A. 
‘Tl semble, en effet, que les phénoménes périodiques forment, pour les 
étres organisés, en dehors dela vie individuelle, une vie commune dont on 
ne peut saisir les phases qu’en Vétudiant simultanément sur toute la terre.” 
—Quetelet. 
N.B.—The names printed in J¢talics indicate plants and animals 
marked for special observation. 
fl., means flowers; fol., foliates ; defol., defoliates. 
The time of flowering is to be noted when the flower is suffi- 
ciently expanded to show the anthers ; of foliation, when the leaf- 
bud is so far open as to show the upper surface of the leaves; of 
fructification, at the period of dehiscence of the pericarp, in de- 
hiscent fruits; and, in others, when they have evidently arrived 
at maturity; of defoliation, when the greater part of the leaves 
of the year have fallen off. 
This remarkable year will be described by your meteorological 
correspondents ; but I will call it the wet year, and simply record 
those natural phenomena of the surface which, with much un- 
avoidable interruption, I have been able to note. The months of 
January, March, and the early part of April, were generally mild, 
windy, and rainy, producing an early activity in the vegetable 
world; and our Spring migratory birds were heard earlier than 
usual. The latter half of April, May, and the beginning of June, 
were both cold and very wet. On May 22nd there was a very 
sharp frost, which did great damage to the fruit crops. The ex- 
cessively wet state of the soil rendered tillage difficult, and in 
some places impossible. In July the weather was wet but vari- 
able, but towards the latter half finer for hay-making, and this 
improved state of weather continued till the beginning of harvest 
