British Association for the Advancement of Science. 103 



valleys, from one nearly 14,000 feet high to one of 3,000 feet. 

 The diurnal variations of temperature on mountain heights, he 

 found to be small, rarely more than 12°, and sometimes only 4° 

 or 5° ; while in the valleys they were very great, so that com- 

 monly the minimum of the night was 30° and sometimes 40° 

 below the maximum of the day. The hygrometric condition of 

 the air corroborated certain of Prof Daniell's views. The medi- 

 cal application of these inquiries had induced Mr. J. to publish an 

 essay, to show among other points, that a removal of a consider- 

 able portion of the atmospheric pressure from the surface of the 

 human body, must conduce to the restoration of the function of 

 the skin, when exhausted by excess of duty in a tropical climate, 

 and sympathy with a debilitated liver. 



Col. Sykes offered some statements on Certain Meteorological 

 phenomena in the Ghats of Western India. The correctness of 

 the assertion of the annual fall of many feet of rain in certain 

 localities of India, having been doubted by many persons, Col. S. 

 had procured the official meteorological records for 1834, kept by 

 order of the government of Bombay, at the convalescent station 

 of Mahabuleshwar. The observations were taken by Dr. Murray, 

 the medical officer in charge at that station. The place is in N. 

 lat. 17° 58' 5W, E. long. 73° 29' 50'', near the western scarp of 

 the Ghats, or mountain chain extending from Surat to Cape Com- 

 orin. Its elevation is about 4,500 feet. The temperature of a 

 spring is 65.5° F. and the mean temperature of the air is nearly 

 the same. There is some forest along the Ghats, but in belts 

 and patches, so that the wood can have little meteorological effect. 

 From the tables it appears, that the mean temperature of 1834 

 was 67.3° F. ; that of the hottest month (April,) 74.4° ■ that 

 of the coldest month, (Dec.) 62.3°. The fall of rain was pro- 

 digious, amounting to 25 feet 2 inches ; and this enormous mass 

 of water fell almost entirely in the months of June, July, August 

 and September. The excessive fall of rain seems not incompat- 

 ible with health, for the military detachment stationed at Maha- 

 buleshwar is not characterized by any unusual sickness. 



Mr. Follet Osier gave an account of the indications of his ane- 

 Tnometer as observed at Birmingham. He made a detailed state- 

 ment of the changes of the wind about the 19th of November, 

 1838, observed at Plymouth and at Birmingham, and concluded 

 with some remarks on the great storm of the 6th and 7th of Jan- 



