366 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



has been recorded as " without precedent in the records 

 of the country." On the other hand, August in 1912 

 was a cold, wet and stormy month, the mean temperature 

 over the country as a whole being the lowest recorded in 

 August for at least forty years. 



At Douglas, Isle of Man, in the centre of the Irish 

 Sea, where meteorological records have been kept for 

 many years, we find that in 1911 the mean air 

 temperature reached its maximum (60'8° F.) in August, 

 while the total number of hours of bright sunshine (256), 

 if not the actual maximum (279 hours was recorded in 

 May), was still very high, and much higher than any 

 month in 1912. The rainfall, moreover, was unusually 

 low (l - 93 inches) in August, 1911. 



In 1912, on the other hand, the mean air tempera- 

 ture was only 53'6°F., and the total hours of sunshine 

 117, a figure exceeded by five other months in that year 

 and by seven months in 1911, while the rainfall in 

 August, 1912, was 5'17 inches, which is more than is 

 shown for any other month that year, and nearly three 

 times as much as that of August, 1911. The contrast 

 between the two summers is seen clearly in this tabular 

 statement : — 



August Temp. Sun. Rain. 



1911 ... 60-8 ... 256 ... 1-93 



1912 ... 53-6 ... 117 ... 517 



We have before us also the statistics for Oban, 

 which occupies a central position on the West of 

 Scotland, and for Stornoway, which may be taken as 

 representative of the Outer Hebrides, and find that they 

 show the same contrast, except in the matter of rainfall, 

 which seems to have been unusually heavy at Oban 

 during August, 1911 — although the hours of bright 



