594 On the Meteorology of Rampore Bauleah. [No. 7. 



The principal Meteorological characteristic of the year was great 

 heat, combined with a diminished rain-fall. The former appeared 

 rather to depend upon the unsteadiness and small mean force of wind, 

 than upon actually increased temperature. The sensation of heat at 

 night was at times almost unbearable. During the month of Septem- 

 ber the Thermometer in an open verandah stood on several occasions 

 as high as 90° at 1 a. m. The so-called hot winds began to blow 

 from W. and S. W. in April, and continued unsteadily until the end 

 of May. The relative frequency of their direction will be at once 

 seen by observing the number of "days of prevailing winds" for these 

 months contained in the appended "mean observations.'* Their 

 formation in Rampore Bauleah would seem to be chiefly due to the 

 large sandy churs forming on the fall of the Ganges to South and 

 West, and not to a continuation of those of the Upper Provinces. 

 This however is a subject deserving of further investigation. It is 

 more than probable that the stream of hot air constituting the hot 

 winds of Upper India is bounded by the Rajmahal Hills on the South, 

 and that whatever approximation to them may occur in the Gangetic 

 delta is due to purely local causes. Their notable effect in Rampore 

 Bauleah was to raise the mercury in Black Bulb and Air Thermometers 

 apparently in the direct ratio of their force. 



It is not an unimportant element of this climate to determine the 

 mean fall of Thermometer subsequent to North- Westers or heavy falls 

 of rain. My observations are not yet sufficiently full, to claim perfect 

 reliance, but as far as they have gone, the result is 5° in a Thermometer 

 placed in open room, and free from influence of reflected heat. 



The indications of the Black Bulb Thermometer are so liable to be 

 interfered with by passing clouds or haze, that it becomes very diffi- 

 cult to exhibit a true mean. As the diagram appended to this paper 

 will show, however, they rise to a great altitude in April and Ma}', and 

 possess even a larger proportionate one in October and November 

 when compared with the Mean, or Maximum and Minimum curve of 

 Air Thermometer. Dr. Hooker, in a paper published in the Society's 

 Journal, during his stay in this country, says, "at 9J a. m. the Black 

 Bulb Thermometer rose in the sun to 130°. The morning observa- 

 tion before 10 or 11 a. m. always gives a higher result than at noon, 

 though the sun's declination is so considerably less, and in the hottest 



