﻿Dr. 
  van 
  Rijekevorsel 
  on 
  the 
  Temperature 
  of 
  Europe. 
  461 
  

  

  is 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  homogeneous. 
  All 
  this, 
  however, 
  will 
  also 
  be 
  

   easily 
  understood 
  not 
  to 
  affect 
  my 
  present 
  results. 
  

  

  I 
  will 
  say 
  at 
  once 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  principally 
  the 
  similarity 
  of 
  

   these 
  temperature-curves 
  which 
  I 
  think 
  interesting. 
  Of 
  more 
  

   than 
  fifty 
  stations 
  for 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  computed 
  the 
  normnl 
  

   temperature 
  and 
  constructed 
  the 
  lines, 
  I 
  have 
  drawn 
  only 
  

   four 
  on 
  this 
  diagram 
  in 
  order 
  not 
  to 
  complicate 
  matters. 
  They 
  

   are 
  Valentia, 
  Catania, 
  Munich, 
  and 
  Konigsberg. 
  It 
  is 
  on 
  

   purpose 
  also 
  that 
  I 
  have 
  left 
  out 
  eastern 
  Europe, 
  which 
  would 
  

   be 
  an 
  unnecessary 
  complication. 
  

  

  Now 
  I 
  will, 
  later 
  on, 
  speak 
  of 
  these 
  four 
  lines 
  more 
  in 
  detail; 
  

   but 
  you 
  will 
  at 
  a 
  glance 
  be 
  struck 
  by 
  the 
  extraordinary 
  simi- 
  

   larity 
  of 
  lines 
  for 
  stations 
  so 
  far 
  apart 
  and 
  in 
  such 
  different 
  

   climates. 
  With 
  a 
  few 
  exceptions, 
  e\ery 
  irregularity 
  in 
  one 
  

   of 
  these 
  curves 
  is 
  exactly 
  repeated 
  in 
  each 
  of 
  the 
  others. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  inference 
  I 
  draw 
  from 
  this 
  fact 
  is, 
  that 
  the 
  way 
  in 
  

   which 
  I 
  treated 
  the 
  figures 
  Las 
  been 
  adequate. 
  

  

  But, 
  secondly, 
  it 
  struck 
  me 
  that 
  a 
  method, 
  hitherto 
  in 
  

   great 
  favour, 
  of 
  representing 
  the 
  temperature 
  of 
  a 
  station 
  by 
  

   a 
  carefully 
  calculated 
  smooth 
  curve 
  cannot 
  be 
  of 
  very 
  great 
  

   use, 
  because 
  it 
  really 
  misrepresents 
  the 
  true 
  state 
  of 
  things. 
  

   Of 
  course 
  we 
  may, 
  by 
  introducing 
  a 
  certain 
  number 
  of 
  perio- 
  

   dical 
  functions, 
  obtain 
  for 
  any 
  of 
  these 
  stations 
  a 
  fine 
  smooth 
  

   curve 
  without 
  any 
  irregularity. 
  But 
  does 
  such 
  a 
  curve 
  in 
  

   reality 
  show 
  us 
  very 
  much 
  more 
  than 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  colder 
  in 
  

   winter 
  than 
  in 
  summer 
  ? 
  I 
  think 
  my 
  curves, 
  by 
  their 
  

   similarity, 
  plainly 
  show 
  that 
  such 
  a 
  smooth 
  curve 
  can 
  never 
  

   really 
  represent 
  the 
  temperature 
  as 
  nature 
  makes 
  it 
  for 
  us. 
  

   Wherever 
  I 
  take 
  a 
  station 
  within 
  or 
  near 
  the 
  triangle 
  Valentia, 
  

   Konigsberg, 
  Catania, 
  whether 
  I 
  take 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  a 
  hundred 
  

   years 
  or 
  one 
  of 
  twenty, 
  whether 
  I 
  take 
  it 
  in 
  the 
  19th 
  century 
  

   or 
  in 
  the 
  18th, 
  the 
  result 
  always 
  is 
  a 
  similar 
  curve 
  with 
  iden- 
  

   tically 
  the 
  same 
  irregularities. 
  This 
  proves 
  plainly 
  that 
  these 
  

   cannot 
  be 
  accidental, 
  cannot 
  be 
  owing 
  to 
  an 
  insufficient 
  

   number 
  of 
  observations, 
  or 
  to 
  errors 
  of 
  observation. 
  There- 
  

   fore 
  here 
  again 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  so 
  much 
  the 
  phenomenon 
  as 
  a 
  whole 
  

   which 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  interesting, 
  but 
  the 
  anomalies, 
  as 
  repre- 
  

   sented 
  by 
  the 
  divergencies 
  from 
  the 
  smooth 
  curve, 
  by 
  the 
  

   large 
  amount 
  of 
  secondary 
  maxima 
  and 
  minima. 
  That 
  the 
  

   temperature 
  rapidly 
  rises 
  in 
  the 
  second 
  half 
  of 
  January 
  and 
  

   falls 
  again 
  in 
  February, 
  that 
  the 
  same 
  phenomenon 
  is 
  re- 
  

   peated 
  in 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  February, 
  is 
  an 
  apparent 
  fact, 
  and 
  must 
  

   not 
  be 
  smoothed 
  away; 
  and 
  it 
  will 
  be, 
  I 
  think, 
  the 
  task 
  for 
  

   meteorologists 
  to 
  investigate 
  what 
  the 
  cause 
  of 
  such 
  anomalies 
  

   may 
  be. 
  And 
  to 
  a 
  certain 
  extent 
  I 
  think 
  the 
  method 
  here 
  

   put 
  forward 
  affords 
  some 
  clue 
  to 
  these 
  causes. 
  

  

  Phil. 
  Mag. 
  S. 
  5. 
  Vol. 
  45. 
  No. 
  276. 
  May 
  1898. 
  2 
  I 
  

  

  