BY THE REV. R. F. WHEELER, M.A. 329 



was warm. The mean daily excess for the nine days was 4£°. 

 A very great change took place on the 21st, when the mean 

 value was 27'7°. On Christmas Day it was lower still, the 

 mean value being 20*6° . The day was painfully cold. 



The days of lowest temperature since 1814 were on January 

 the 20th, 1838, 10-7° ; the next, February the 9th, 1816, 12-6° ; 

 and January the 8th, 1841, 12-8°. 



Of forty-one days of lowest temperature since 1814, eleven 

 only have taken place in the last thirty years, six in January, 

 two in February, and three in December, the last two both oc- 

 curring on Christmas Day, the one in 1860, when the tempera- 

 ture fell to 20-2°, the other in 1870. 



The temperature on December the 25th, 1870, descended to 

 a very low point : it was the minimum for the month at many 

 stations in England, but not at all. The lowest reading occurred 

 on the 23rd and 24th at a few places, and on the 25th or 31st 

 at a greater and nearly an equal number of places. 



The lowest temperatures recorded during the month through- 

 out England were, at Taunton, 1°; Strathfield Turges, 4°; Glou- 

 cester, 6°; Leicester, Hull, and Allenheads, 7°; Leamington, 8°; 

 Nottingham, 8-7° ; Bywell, 10° ; North Shields, 13-3°, the two 

 latter on the 23rd. 



The mean temperature of December was 33*6°, being 5*6° 

 lower than the average of 99 years. Since 1771 the following 

 have been the only instances in which the corresponding tem- 

 peratures have been lower, viz. : — 



1784... 31°. 1796... 30-4°. 1840... 33-3°. 



1788... 29°. 1799... 32-8°. 1844... 33-0°. 



1846... 32-9°. 



The maximum barometric readings occurred at the beginning 

 and end of the month, and the minimum about the middle. A 

 wave of high readings occurred on the 17th and 18th. 



The minimum reading for the month was 28'94 inches. The 

 range of pressure amounted to 1*51 inches. The fall of rain was 

 0-5 inch in excess. 



Wallington. — Wet, snowy, cold month. Between the 6th and 

 7th snow fell to the depth of 10 inches. On the 7th the wind 



