IN EUROPE DURING OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, AND DECEMBER 1863. 201 



clouds began to break up, and fine weather, ushered in with cold breezes, ulti- 

 mately prevailed. 



In order to show where the greatest amount of rain fell, Table IV. has been 

 prepared, giving the rainfall at those places over which, or near which, the 

 storms passed. It is necessary to explain that, as far as known, the rain given 

 in the table fell during the twenty-four hours preceding the date of each entry. 

 Thus, as the centre of Storm II. was west of Ireland on the 1st November, and 

 in the centre of England on the 2d, the rainfall of the 2d took place as the storm 

 travelled between these places. The rainfall at the Irish, English, and French 

 stations, over which the front part of the storm had passed, was excessive — two 

 inches having fallen at Brest ; one inch at Liverpool and Dover ; and about three- 

 quarters of an inch at L'Orient, Galway, &c. On the same day the rainfall in 

 Scotland was everywhere small, none falling at many places, and the largest fall 

 being about one-sixth of an inch at Portree, in Skye. In Scotland, where the fall 

 of rain was small, the wind was feeble, in no case blowing a gale ; and the baro- 

 meter, though low, had varied little during the twenty- four hours, and a pressure 

 almost equally low prevailed for a considerable distance round. On the other 

 hand, where the rainfall was in excess, violent gales prevailed, the fluctuations of 

 the barometer had been great, and the isobarometric lines were much crowded 

 together in the vicinity. On the following day the storm had passed eastward to 

 Denmark. The rain over the west of England and of France had diminished, 

 but increased over the east of England, and in Belgium and the Netherlands, over 

 which the storm had travelled on its way to Denmark. The Irish rainfall was 

 small, but not so small as would have been, but for the advance of Storm III., whose 

 rainfall swelled the amount ; and the same cause increased the Scottish rainfall. 



All the other storms showed similar relations to the rainfall. The amount 

 precipitated was greatest during the time the front part of the storm passed any 

 place, and appeared to be in a great measure proportioned to the atmospheric 

 disturbance experienced during the twenty-four hours, and the violence of the wind 

 occasioned by that disturbance. In the wake of storms, though the atmospheric 

 disturbance was equally great, and the violence of the wind as great, or even 

 greater, the rainfall was very much less, except when the advance of another 

 storm increased the amount. 



Observations of the Wind. 



Every one of the storms on each day presented the winds under the same 

 conditions, viz., whirling round the area of low barometer in a circular manner, 

 in a direction contrary to the motion of the hands of a watch, with a constant 

 tendency to turn inwards towards the centre of lowest barometer. The wind 

 in storms neither blows round the centre of least pressure in circles (or as tan- 

 gents to the concentric barometric curves), nor does it blow directly towards that 



