1 94 A. DUCKWORTH. 



Australasia," refers to the fact that "the Australian 

 weather records are not in a suitable condition for satis- 

 factory treatment," and he urged the creation of a united 

 meteorological service working on a uniform plan and 

 publishing uniform records. From this view there will 

 probably be little dissent, and the recent movement 

 towards uniformity of procedure merits approval. It may 

 seem probable that Australian meteorological conditions 

 are of a simpler nature than those affecting Europe for 

 instance, but to quote from the authority just named: — 

 "The apparent fickleness and severity of our climatic 

 changes introduce as large an element of gambling into 

 our farming as there is in many reckless mining ventures." 

 The demonstration of some species of periodicity in our 

 weather is eminently desirable, but it may be asserted on 

 the strength of the tables which accompany this paper that 

 such periodicity, whether it may be due to a sun spot cycle, 

 the moon's cycle, monsoonal changes, or to the number 

 and movement of icebergs in the Southern Ocean, or to a 

 combination of causes, does not appear to be clearly dis- 

 cernible. It seems to me that, as regards the influence of 

 the Antarctic regions, it will be necessary to study the 

 meteorological experience of South Africa and South 

 America in conjunction with that of Australasia in order 

 to obtain fruitful results and to gain "a key to the succession 

 of good and bad seasons." 



I would acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. Baracchi 

 of the Melbourne Observatory for some recent figures 

 supplied relating to the rainfall of Melbourne. 



