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SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Rainfall in London. — Since the middle of 

 November, 1894, there has not been any month, 

 and not more than one fortnight, in which 

 the rainfall of London has been equal to the 

 mean. It is true that on December 14th there 

 was a fall of eight-tenths of an inch, and during 

 that month there were fifteen days on which 

 some rain fell, but the total fall for the month was 

 less than two inches, and was short of the mean by 

 017 inches. Again, in January, we had, from the 

 12th to the 25th, a run of a fortnight in which rain 

 fell more or less on almost every day, and in which 

 half an inch fell on one day (19th) ; but the total fall 

 for the month was only 187 inches, and was short 

 of the mean by a quarter of an inch. The months 

 since then have been all dry — a few days in March 

 and a few more in April being the only ones in 

 which there was any approach to a showery spell, 

 In each case, however, the fall for the whole month 

 was much below the mean, and in the end it turns 

 out that, from the middle of November to the 

 middle of June (a period of seven months) we have 

 had a total rainfall of only 73 inches, whereas, if we 

 had received the mean amount, the fall would have 

 been 13-8 inches, or nearly double the quantity 

 actually recorded. This is, to say the least of it, a 

 most serious deficit, and, in view of the length of 

 the period, one which cannot be made up without 

 a lengthened period of very wet weather. It is of 

 great importance and is somewhat cheering that, 

 before this long dry period set in, October and the 

 first half of November in 1894 had furnished us 

 with such abundant rain as they did. Their imme- 

 diate effect in the Thames and some other river 

 valleys was, indeed, at the time disastrous, but 

 many parts of our midland counties were saved 

 from most serious consequences, as the streams, 

 wells, and canals were rapidly drying up, and we 

 in London have now great reason to be thankful 

 for the abundance which then fell. There is 

 another point worth noticing, and of importance to 

 the country at large, namely, that the deficiency of 

 rain in London has been exceptionally large. The 

 drought has, indeed, been serious over England 

 generally, but London has been passed by in a 

 remarkable manner by several of the rain systems 

 which have passed near to it — some to the north- 

 ward and eastward, some to the southward. 



Thunder-storm of May 30TH. — The storm on 

 the evening of May 30th, 1895, was very remarkable. 

 A low, flat, dark cloud covered the south-western 

 horizon at Cheadle, Staffordshire, while from 

 behind and immediately above it was seen a semi- 

 circular white cloud, the edge being almost as 

 perfect as that of a rainbow though much smaller 

 at first. Almost every electrical flash for fully an 

 hour appeared to issue from the centre of the 

 circle, and all of them had an upward tendency. 

 The flashes were incessant, and increased very 

 gradually in intensity until its first climax about 

 midnight. The white cloud also increased in size 

 quite as gradually as the storm. — F. Harrisson, 

 Cheadle, Stoke-on-Trent ; June 5///, 1895. 



Dr. Valentine Ball, F.R.S., died, after a 

 lengthened period of failing health, at his residence 

 in Dublin, on June 15th. Born July 14th, 1843, he 

 had thus nearly completed his fifty- second year. 

 His death is sadly premature, but he contrived to do 

 more useful work in his short lifetime than many do 

 when completing their natural span. Dr. Ball was 

 reared in association with scientific thought, being 

 the second son of the celebrated Dublin naturalist, 

 Dr. Robert Ball, who died in 1857. His elder 

 brother is Sir Robert Ball, F.R.S., the talented 

 astronomer. In his boyhood, Valentine Ball met 

 at his father's house, which was then the centre of 

 scientific culture in Dublin, most of those who were 

 worth knowing at that period, and either inherited 

 or imbibed a life-long lasting love for the investi- 

 gation of natural history. He was educated first 

 at Chester, under Dr. Brindler, and, later, at 

 Rathmines, by the Rev. Dr. Benson. He entered 

 Trinity College, Dublin, on leaving school, and at 

 about the same time obtained a clerkship at the 

 Four Courts of Justice in that city. The conse- 

 quence was that, having the two occupations, his 

 university career was uneventful, closing with an 

 ordinary degree. In 1864, at twenty one years of 

 age, Valentine Ball received an appointment in the 

 Geological Survey of India, then under Dr. Thomas 

 Oldham, one of his father's former friends. With 

 that service Valentine Ball was associated for 

 seventeen years, when on the resignation of 

 the Professorship of Geology in the University 

 of Dublin by the Rev. Dr. Houghton, he was 

 appointed his successor. To Dr. Ball's long resi- 

 dence in the jungles of India, where he thoroughly 

 did his work under the most trying conditions of 

 climate, may be traced the enfeebled health which 

 carried him off so early. On taking the Chair of 

 Geology in Dublin, Dr. Ball soon attracted atten- 

 tion for his energy, and was elected a F.R.S. in 

 1882. In May, 1883, Dr. William Edward Steele 

 died whilst Director of the National Museum of 

 Dublin, and in the following September Dr. Ball 

 was appointed his successor. Having resigned 

 his professorship at the University, he threw his 

 whole energy into developing the Museum, with 

 the result that it now stands among the foremost 

 in Europe. Dr. Ball had had some experience of 

 museum work in the Imperial Museum in Calcutta, 

 and had formed a great taste for that branch of 

 scientific work in which he afterwards proved so 

 competent. His interests did not end with the 

 museum in Kildare Street, for he was equally the 

 active spirit of the affiliated institutions, the 

 National Library, the Botanic Gardens, and the Arts 

 School. As secretary of the Royal Zoological 

 Society of Ireland, the Zoological Gardens near 

 Dublin received his fostering care. Dr. Ball 

 leaves his widow and four young children to mourn, 

 with every cultured person in Dublin, his early 

 loss. Dr. Valentine Ball's chief literary works are: 

 "Economic Geology," "Manual of the Geology 

 of India," " Diamonds, Coal and Gold of India," 

 " Jungle Life in India," etc. J. T. C. 



