30 . CLIMATOLOGICAL REPORT, \SG7 , 



instances (not less than a hundred) proceed to form a judgment 

 on a fair comparison of the favourable, the unfavourable, and the 

 undecided cases, remembering always that the absence of a ma- 

 jority one way or the other would he, in itself, an improbability : 

 and that, therefore, to have any weight, the majority should be 

 a very decided one, and that not only in itself, but in reference to 

 neutral instances." 



Again — It has been stated, apparently on good ground, that 

 a persistent steadiness and frequently repeated uniformity of 

 monthly mean temperatures precede extremes of cold or heat, 

 according to the season of the year. In summer they are said 

 to precede a severe winter, and in winter to precede a great 

 summer heat. Also, that when the means from Dccl nber to 

 March inclusive, are above or about the average, the succeeding 

 summer is almost always above the average ; when the means 

 from November to March inclusive are all above the average 

 (except January) the succeeding summer is always above the 

 average also ; when the difference between the means of May 

 and June is -about 1° or 1^° the remainder of the summer is 

 generally very cold. Again, when the mean temperature of De- 

 cember is more than 2° above that of November, the winter quar- 

 ter (January, February and March) will always have a mean 

 temperature considerably above the average. 



Can any of the friends of the Tyneside Club furnish informa- 

 tion bearing in any way upon the theory here propounded ? 



The editor will feel very grateful for any weather proverbs 

 (even one or two, common or uncommon) which any of the 

 readers of this Report may kindly send him. Such weather 

 proverbs and sayings will form capital pegs on which to hang 

 observations of the kind meant by Sir John Herschel. 



Did space permit, there are many other suggestions which the 

 editor would throw out for the consideration of his fellow obser- 

 vers. There cannot be any doubt that meteorology is rapidly 

 advancing to be one of the foremost branches of science ; and, 

 based as it must be, on the collection and classification of count- 

 less and widely spread observations, continued over a long series 



