JOURNAL 



OF THE 



ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL, 



Vol. LXXIII. Part II. — NATURAL SCIENCE. 

 No. I.— 1904 



The recent excessive heat in Bengal and its probable cause. — By 0. Little. 



[Read 1st July, 1903.] 



It is, I presume, quite unnecessary to inform the members of this 

 Society that during the past season unusual temperature conditions 

 preTailed in Bengal. There may, however, be some who are not aware 

 that, while Bengal was not the only part of Northern India in which 

 exceptional temperature was experienced, it had a practical monopoly 

 of the high temperatures. The period of excessive heat which began 

 in Bengal about the middle of April and ended on the 24th of May was 

 without precedent as regards length, and just failed to surpass previous 

 records as regards intensity. Taking the case of Calcutta and keeping 

 in mind that on several occasions during the past ten years the record 

 of previous maximum temperatures has been broken, a comparison of 

 the highest temperatures will show how the present year surpasses 

 other years since the beginning of systematic meteorological observa- 

 tion. 



The following Table gives all maximum temperatures above 103° 

 with dates of occurrence, at Alipore since 1893. 

 J. II. 1 



