1835.] Miscellaneous. 59 



than the surrounding hills. You have heard much of the scenery, hut I wish 

 you had seen some of it, for no pencil has yet done justice to it. To mention 

 one : conceive yourself on the top of the Choor mountain, nearly 13,000 feet 

 above the level of the sea, a lofty ridge half way between the snowy range 

 and the plains, high above every thing around. Imagine a glance to the north, 

 or front, with an uninterrupted stretch of upwards of 90° 1 of snowy mountains, 

 without a break, clear, white, and dazzling, starting up against a back-ground of 

 deep-blue skv, so rich and intense, as you have never seen : conceive an ocean 

 of mountain waves, running on from your feet to the snow, you looking down 

 upon and overtopping all. Turn round to the rear or south, and you have an- 

 other sea of hills, with the plains of Hindoostan beyond, stretching far off into 

 the distance, and traversed by here and there a streak of silver, marking the 

 miniature course of the mighty Jumna. Look to right and left, and you have a 

 view of mountains, bounded only by the limits of vision : the huge masses of 

 huddled granite about you forming a fine offset to the whole. I imagine that as 

 a panoramic mountain view, that of the Choor is not to be exceeded in any 

 country, and it is but a sample of the rest. The only want is in lake scenery, 

 and of this there is nothing worthy of the name." 



VIII. — Miscellaneous. 



1. — Explanation of the differences in the quantity of Rain at different elevations. 



It had invariably been remarked by meteorologists that a rain-gauge, placed at 

 an elevation, collected less rain than one situated on the surface of the ground 

 yet no satisfactory reason could be assigned for such a discrepancy. The British 

 Association for the Advancement of Science determining to place the facts of the 

 phenomenon on such a footing as to be afterwards capable of tolerably strict 

 analysis, engaged Messrs. W. Gray and J. Phillips, to conduct a year's experi- 

 ments on the top of the Cathedral at York, and the result was made the subject of 

 a report by the latter to the meeting at Cambridge in 1833, which sets the matter 

 at rest in a most satisfactory manner. 



The site of the experiments was well selected, York being in the centre of a 

 very extensive valley, and the Minster tower, elevated 200 feet from the ground 

 looks down upon an area of 1000 square miles, with no object of nature or art 

 rising to within 100 feet of its summit. 



One gauge of the simplest construction was attached to a pole, elevated nine 

 feet above the battlements, 242 feet above the river ; — another was registered on 

 the roof of the museum, Z2§ feet ;— and a third on the ground in the museum 

 garden, at 29 feet above the river. 



The gauges were 10 inches square, and could be easily read off to the 1000th 

 of an inch fall. 



The report gives a tabular view of the whole rain of the year, but it will be suf- 

 ficient here to notice the totals of the 12 months, which were as follows : 

 I 2 



