﻿464 
  Dr. 
  van 
  Rijckevorsel 
  on 
  the 
  Temperature 
  of 
  Europe. 
  

  

  we 
  have 
  some 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  year's 
  mean 
  temperature 
  of 
  

   some 
  place 
  in 
  Europe, 
  or 
  of 
  its 
  summer 
  temperature, 
  it 
  ought 
  

   to 
  be 
  possible 
  now 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  very 
  near 
  guess 
  at 
  the 
  mean 
  

   temperature 
  for 
  every 
  day 
  of 
  the 
  year, 
  to 
  compute 
  normals 
  

   which 
  ought 
  not 
  to 
  be 
  very 
  far 
  from 
  th-> 
  true 
  ones. 
  

  

  Now, 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  come 
  to 
  the 
  diagram, 
  I 
  want 
  first 
  to 
  state 
  

   why 
  I 
  did 
  not 
  give 
  any 
  curves 
  for 
  eastern 
  Europe. 
  It 
  is 
  

   because 
  the 
  type 
  of 
  the 
  curves 
  in 
  the 
  East 
  is 
  a 
  different 
  one. 
  

   And 
  I 
  must 
  say 
  I 
  think 
  this 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  interesting 
  fact, 
  because 
  

   it 
  points 
  to 
  the 
  great 
  advantage 
  of 
  this 
  method. 
  To 
  state 
  

   things 
  in 
  a 
  concise 
  manner, 
  I 
  will 
  speak 
  of 
  summer 
  only. 
  

   You 
  will 
  see 
  that 
  practically, 
  for 
  Yalentia, 
  the 
  summer 
  lasts, 
  

   without 
  much 
  variation, 
  from 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  June 
  to 
  the 
  

   middle 
  of 
  August. 
  Now 
  as 
  we 
  move 
  eastward 
  you 
  will 
  see 
  

   that 
  this 
  maximum 
  gradually 
  narrows, 
  and 
  shows 
  a 
  tendency 
  

   to 
  merge 
  into 
  one 
  single 
  peak, 
  and 
  so 
  it 
  quite 
  does 
  beyond 
  

   the 
  space 
  covered 
  by 
  these 
  four 
  lines. 
  The 
  maximum 
  there 
  

   is 
  not 
  for 
  every 
  place 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  curve. 
  

   Sometimes 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  July, 
  sometimes 
  in 
  August. 
  But 
  the 
  

   character 
  is 
  the 
  same, 
  and 
  vastly 
  different 
  from 
  that 
  in 
  

   western 
  Europe, 
  viz., 
  one 
  single 
  maximum, 
  sloping 
  down 
  

   rather 
  rapidly 
  on 
  both 
  sides. 
  But 
  here 
  again 
  the 
  different 
  

   characteristics 
  are 
  not 
  by 
  any 
  means 
  contined 
  to 
  a 
  small 
  area. 
  

   There 
  is 
  for 
  instance 
  a 
  striking 
  similarity 
  between 
  the 
  curves 
  

   for 
  Constantinople 
  and 
  Archangel, 
  although 
  in 
  two 
  sections 
  

   they 
  are 
  just 
  as 
  decidedly 
  dissimilar. 
  

  

  In 
  connexion 
  with 
  this 
  fact 
  I 
  must 
  call 
  your 
  attention 
  to 
  

   one 
  very 
  remarkable 
  concave 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  curve 
  for 
  Valentia. 
  

   It 
  is 
  the 
  downward 
  movement 
  in 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  July. 
  

   You 
  will 
  see 
  that 
  this 
  peculiarity 
  does 
  not 
  repeat 
  itself 
  in 
  the 
  

   other 
  three 
  curves. 
  It 
  is 
  only 
  the 
  more 
  interesting 
  for 
  that. 
  

   It 
  exists 
  very 
  decidedly 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  curves 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  

   Kingdom, 
  in 
  the 
  Netherlands, 
  is 
  still 
  faintly 
  visible 
  in 
  those 
  

   for 
  the 
  south 
  of 
  France, 
  but 
  rapidly 
  diminishes 
  in 
  importance 
  

   and 
  vanishes 
  altogether 
  in 
  an 
  easterly 
  direction. 
  The 
  same 
  

   remark 
  applies 
  to 
  the 
  next 
  secondary 
  minimum 
  in 
  the 
  end 
  

   of 
  July. 
  This 
  one, 
  however, 
  is 
  more 
  tenacious 
  : 
  it 
  is 
  very 
  

   characteristic, 
  I 
  think, 
  for 
  the 
  temperature 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  

   western 
  Europe, 
  and 
  only 
  dies 
  out 
  beyond 
  a 
  line, 
  very 
  

   crooked 
  indeed, 
  passing 
  somewhere 
  in 
  the 
  neighbourhood 
  of 
  

   Copenhagen, 
  Konigsberg, 
  Yienna, 
  and 
  probably 
  Greece. 
  

  

  The 
  reason 
  why 
  I 
  spoke 
  with 
  a 
  smaller 
  degree 
  of 
  certainty 
  

   of 
  the 
  peculiar 
  behaviour 
  in 
  the 
  east 
  of 
  Europe 
  is, 
  that 
  

   possibly 
  there 
  is 
  nothing 
  extraordinary 
  in 
  that. 
  It 
  may 
  be 
  

   that 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  natural 
  summer 
  which 
  we 
  should 
  also 
  have 
  in 
  

   western 
  Europe 
  if 
  the 
  two 
  minima 
  just 
  spoken 
  of, 
  whatsoever 
  

  

  