170 METEOROLOGY. 
The temperature of July was about the average, but there was little 
sunshine. On the 6th and 7th thunderstorms occurred with heavy rain. At 
Bodmin, Capt. Liddell says, it was the largest (1-98 inch) recorded during the 
last six years. Penzance escaped. On the night of 25th there was a thun- 
derstorm over east Cornwall. Mr. Tripp describes the lightning as surpass- 
ing in magnificence anything he had seen of the kind. “In the N.W. it was 
accompanied by a curious flickering light, of a reddish colour, whilst the 
lightning was bluish or white.” 
August was the most summerlike month, although unsettled for the 
first ten days. Harvest work was fairly achieved. The weather was variable 
in September, without peculiarities worthy of notice. . 
The frequency of thunderstorms is mentioned by Mr. Glaisher as the 
’ most remarkable feature of this quarter. 
The concluding three months of 1872 were alike characterised by excess 
of wet and storminess. October was the least marked by the latter quality. 
Dr. Merrifield notes that on the 18th there was lightning from a cloudless 
sky. November was generally stormy. A gale blew from the 22nd to 26th, . 
culminating on 23rd, when several shipwrecks, with great loss of life, occurred 
at Marazion, Gunwallow, and Lamorna, as elsewhere on our coasts. The 
character of December was similar. There was a violent storm on the 8th, 
especially through the eastward districts. Capt. Liddell designates it ‘‘ the 
most terrific gale ever recorded” at Bodmin; and Mr. Tripp notes the up- 
rooting of trees, and damage to buildings, in all directions around Altarnun. 
At Plymouth, beside such accidents, several vessels were blown on shore, 
and H.M.S. Cambridge was driven from her moorings in Hamoaze. 
The records of the Meteorology of the quarter at Greenwich do not pre- 
sent many points of difference from our own. As here, the most remarkable 
feature was the frequency of rain. During the three months it fell on 67 
days, a greater number, Mr. Glaisher says, than had been previously experi- 
enced at Greenwich since 1815. The total fall was 11°32 inches, the largest 
since 1821. At Truro, the quantity was 17:76 inches; the days of rain 77 
in number. 
_ C. BARHAM. 
