244 



METEOROLOGY. 



In the months of August and September, the weather is with 

 us much more settled than in July ; and then day after day, and 

 often week after week the tourist may calculate on a succession 

 of rambles without interruption. 



In comparison with many of the continental countries, the 

 climate of England is certainly a damp one, but to persons in 

 tolerable health, this very moisture is beneficial, if not agreeable, 

 as is shown by the high condition of all animals from man down- 

 wards. The habit of regular exercise in the open air, which is 

 found to be so salutary in En;?land, is scarcely possible in many 

 other countries, the extremes of heat and cold rendering such 

 exercise impracticable. The high-flowing health, so common in 

 England compared with most other countries, is no doubt con- 

 sequent, in some measure, on this habit, and also on the character 

 of our climate. " Very English-looking " is a phrase common in 

 other countries, and intended to be synonymous with "very 

 healthy-looking." 



It is often remarked, that visitors to the Lake District are less 

 anxious about the heat than the wetness of the weather. It is 

 true that in some localities the annoyance arising from rain may 

 prove a temporary inconvenience. It is only within the last four- 

 teen years that we have been aware, by the results obtained from 

 the observations of the late Dr. Miller, of Whitehaven, of the 

 amazing depth of rain which falls on some of the Lake mountains. 

 The annual average quantity of rain in many parts of the south 

 of England does not exceed 20 inches, and sometimes does not 

 reach even that amount, It was shewn by these experiments, 

 that in 1852, 81 inches were measured on Scawfell Pike; at 

 Great Gable 86 ; at Sty Head 124 ; at Seathwaite, Borrowdale, 

 156 ; and at Sprinkling Tarn 168 inches nearly. The mean rain- 

 fall for England is about 30 inches. The annual average at 

 Kendal, in the south of this district, is 53 inches. This town 

 and Keswick had, before these observations by Dr. Miller, been 

 considered the wettest places known in England. Notwithstand- 

 ing these great differences in the quantity of rain, the number of 

 rainy days is not in the same ratio, there being no very great 



