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BEN NEVIS OBSERVATORY-LOG-BOOK, 1891. 



Jan. 2. — Thick but dry fog till 17 h , after which it 

 sank down and gradually disappeared, but the night was 

 too dark to see if any still lay among the hills. Ther- 

 mometer box shifted at 19 h 15 m . Height above snow 

 not altered. 



Jan. 3. — Faint lunar halo seen at 2 h . Haze and 

 detached masses of fog among the hills round till 8 h , fog 

 blowing over the hill top at 9 h and 10 h , and continuous 

 fog the rest of the day. 



Jan. 4. — Top clear and sky cloudless at 2 h and 3 h but 

 heavy masses of cum. -fog on hills round. Thermometer 

 box shifted at 2 h 20 m . Height above snow not altered. 



Jan. 5. — Thermometer box shifted at 13 h 15 m . Height 

 above snow not altered. An aurora, single arch, no 

 streamers, rather faint, seen at midnight. 



Jan. 6. — Sky clear till 7 h , but after that overcast with 

 high cumulus till 13 b , fog till 22 h , and after that clear 

 again. Barra Head light was seen at 5 h . Haze and fog 

 below in the valleys all morning and air saturated. Halo 

 seen at 6 h . Star-shaped crystals of snow about ^ inch 

 diameter were falling at 14 h and at 16 h . 



Jan. 7— Thermometer box shitted at 13 h 20 m . Height 

 above snow not altered. Detached masses of fog hanging 

 about the hills round all day and often covering Ben 

 Nevis also. 



Jan. 9. — Thermometer box shifted at 3 h 1 5 m . Height 

 above snow not altered. A glory and fog-bow were seen 

 at 10 h . Fog gathered in the valleys early in the day and 

 gradually rose higher, reaching the summit by 17 h , but the 

 sky was seen through it all night. 



Jan. 10.— Thermometer box shifted at 10 h 15 m . 

 Height above snow not altered. Top clear from 9 h to 19 h , 

 but fog on the hills around to 4000 feet till 13 h , and cum.- 

 fog on hills to W. after that. 



Jan. 11. — Rain fell all day. Up to 17 h the tempera- 

 ture was below freezing, and everything got covered with 

 hard ice about an inch thick 



Jan. 13. — Hard, icy fog-crystals forming in early morn- 

 ing. Mist or fog till 18 h , a hail shower between 18 h and 

 19 h , and cloudy sky with fog hanging about after that. 

 Barometer pumping at night. Thermometer box shifted 

 at 19 1 ' 20 m . Height above snow not altered. 



Jan. 16. — Top clear occasionally but air never dry. 

 No fog apparently below. Thermometer box shifted at 

 12 h 10"'. Height above snow not altered. 



Jan. 17. — Thermometer box shifted at 3 h 15 m . Height 

 above suow not altered. An aurora was seen till 6 h , single 

 arch rather faint, no streamers. Top clear and sky cloud- 

 less ; but fog over the hills round to about 4000 feet all 

 morning, which rose and covered Ben Nevis also in the 

 afternoon. Lunar corona seen at 17 h . 



Jan. 21. — This morning it was noticed that the snow 



extended to sea level. Top was clear for a few hours in 

 forenoon, but fog was hanging about the hills round. A 

 solar corona was seen at 10 h . No raingauge was out 

 from 16 h to 22 h as the drift would have vitiated its 

 readings. Thermometer box shifted at 9 h 25 m . Height 

 above snow not altered. 



Jan. 22. — Considerable drift in forenoon. No rain- 

 gauge out from 7 h to midnight. Top clear in afternoon, 

 but sky partly covered with cumulus aud cirrus. Lunar 

 halo seen from 18 h to 22 h . No fog in the valleys below. 

 At 12 h 10 m the thermometer box was put one stage higher 

 on stand, and at 17 h 15 m it was shifted. 



Jan. 27.— Thermometer box shifted at 3 b 33 m . Height 

 above snow not altered. Considerable surface drift all day. 



Jan. 28. — St Elmo's Fire was heard at 15 h , being 

 identified by the usual hissing noise. The observer, who 

 had the metallic holder of a pencil in his mouth, felt 

 faint electrical shocks. Heavy snow was falling at the 

 time. 



Jan. 29.— Thermometer box shifted at 5 h 30 m . Height 

 above snow not altered. Top clear, but sky overcast 

 from 4 1 ' to 8 h . Lunar halo at 5 h . 



Jan. 31. — A severe gale from the south-east sprang 

 up in early morning, reaching the strength of 11 at 7 h . 

 The observation at 7 h was 10 m late owing to observer's 

 lamp being blown out several times. At 10 h the gale 

 moderated, and at noon the wind had shifted to the S.W. 

 with heavy snow. 



Feb. 1. — Thermometer box shifted at 5 h 30 m . Height 

 above snow not altered then, but box put one stage 

 higher on ladder at 17 h 25 m . Lunar corona at 7 h . 



Feb. 3. — Thermometer box put one stage down on 

 ladder stand at 17 h 10 ra . The zodiacal light was seen at 

 19 h . Fog till 17 b , then cloudless. 



Feb. 4. — Cloudless till 4 h , when mist came on. This 

 continued till 14 h , when the fog sunk below the hill- 

 top, but still covered all the surrounding hills. 



Feb. 7. — Drizzling rain fell at times, though the tempera- 

 ture was below freezing point. 



Feb. 8. — Thermometer box shifted at 6 h 25 m . Height 

 above snow not altered. 



Feb. 9. — Fog on hills to 4000 feet, occasionally rising 

 and blowing over Ben Nevis. Sky clear except for a 

 little cirro-cumulus and stratus. 



Feb. 11. — The sky cleared for a short time about 20 1 ', 

 showing an aurora to the N.N.W., three arches, no 

 streamers. A faint lunar corona was visible at the same 

 time. 



Feb. 12. — The aurora observed last night continued 

 visible till 3 h . A solar corona was seen at 13 h . 



Feb. 13. — Summit clear till ll h . Fog with showers 

 of snow till 3 p.m., and mist and drizzling rain, but 



