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VI. — On the Ram-Fall in the Lake-District in 1861, with some Observations on the 

 Composition of Rain- Water. By John Davy, M.D., F.R.S., Lond. and Ediii. 



(Read 7tli March 1862.) 



Before entering on the main subject of this paper, the composition of rain- 

 water, I shall give a brief account of the rain that has fallen in the Lake- District 

 during the year just past ; and this I shall do chiefly by means of tables. The 

 quantity of rain registered has been so greatly in excess of any former year, that 

 of itself it is deserving of record, and the more so, comparing the weather which 

 has prevailed here with the weather in the south, for the most part, happily for 

 the harvest, as remarkable for an opposite state, an excess of dryness. 



The first table I shall give will convey a general idea of the meteorological 

 phenomena during the period, as it includes in its several columns almost all the 

 conditions appreciable, which have an influence on climate. I am indebted for it 

 to a very accurate and zealous observer, Mr Samuel Marshall of Kendal. The 

 plus and minus marks in it refer to averages : in the instance of the rain-gauge 

 derived from an experience extending over forty years ; in the instance of the 

 thermometer and barometer over a period only one year less, and during the 

 whole time using the same instruments. 



The second table relates solely to the rain-fall : it contains the recorded 

 results of the amount monthly at the several places named. For the means of 

 forming it, I am indebted to the resident gentlemen or their agents, by whom 

 the record has been kept. The area comprised — extending in one direction from 

 Kendal to Keswick and its neighbourhood, and in the other direction from 

 Coniston to Patterdale — pretty well represents the Lake-District at large. 



The third table shows the number of rainy days at the several places, that is, 

 the days in which any rain had fallen during the twenty-four hours. 



The fourth table is designed to show the quantity — that an unexampled one — 

 which fell in the month of November. As in the third table, the record of the 

 rainfall is more limited as to localities than that of the second table, owing to 

 the circumstance, that only some of the registrars recorded regularly their obser- 

 vations daily. 



VOL. XXIII. PART L 



