44 ALLISON ON METEOROLOGY. 



204 days is the average of a year since 1863. I have purposely 

 avoided, for the present, comparisons with any other stations at 

 home or abroad. This is not the object of this paper. But I may 

 be allowed to remark that our 204 Halifax dry days exceed con- 

 siderably the yearly Kew number. 



Closing the year with the record of occasional and miscellaneous 

 phenomena, I noted in 1874 — 



28 Auroras, 



8 Lightnings, 



18 Gales, 



1 Hail, 



48 Fogs, 



3 Rainbows, 



47 Dews, 



8 Lunar Halos, 



63 Hoar Frosts, 



11 Lunar Coronas 



7 Thunders, 



8 Solar Halos. 



On 64 days we had fair sleighing. 



That we may have clearer insight into the details of the weather 

 of the year under discussion, I now take up the months in order : — 



January was mild, although shewing on the 27th, the extraordi- 

 nary minimum above mentioned 15.° 8 below zero. Its mean 

 pressure reached 29.977 (.210 above the month's normal). It was 

 a cloudy month : mean obscuration of sky reaching 6.97. Light 

 S. W. winds prevailed with a mean velocity of 6.09 miles per hour. 

 Rain was in excess — 3.80 inches falling, and the depth of snow 

 15.7 inches, slightly deficient. We look for 17 dry days in Jan- 

 uary. We had but 12. There were 4 gales, none heavy. Fre- 

 quent breaks occurred in the sleighing; leaving only 16 days for 

 runners. 



February was cold — nearly as much below the mean as January 

 was above it. The barometer still stood high : mean 29.841. 

 This month was much brighter than last, wind prevailing from 

 N. W., but mean velocity yet only 6.66 miles. 2.28 inches 

 of rain fell, or about 75 per cent, of the month's normal. Snow 

 doubled itself, however, 29.9 inches coming down. This reduced 

 the dry days to 15 instead of 16. 3 gales were recorded, and there 

 was sleighing on every day. 



March became again milder, rising to a mean of 30.78, or 2.10 

 above the 12 years normal of the month. As the winter declined 



