THE METEOROLOGY OF EDINBURGH. 



477 



1607-8 



1624 

 1644-47 



1652 

 1654 

 1659 



1669 



1681 

 1698 



1699 



1707-8 



1724 



1731 



1732-33 



Phenomenon, 

 or Epidemic. 



1734 



1735 

 1735-36 



1737 



Frost 



Plague 

 Plague 



Early Harvest 



Eclipse 



Rainstorm 



Early Barometric 

 Observations 



Storms 

 Dearth 



Eclipse 



Frost and Snow 

 storms 



Eclipse 



Dysentery 



Influenza 



Dysentery 



Measles 

 Fever 



Eclipse 



REMARKS. 



A vehement frost continued from Martinmas 1607 till 20th of February 

 1608. "The sea froze so far as it ebbed, and sundry went into ships upon 

 ice and played at chamiare a mile within the sea-mark. Sundry passed 

 over the Forth, a mile above Alloa and Airth, to the great admiration of 

 aged men, who had never seen the like in their days." Rivers and springs 

 were frozen, the young trees were killed, and birds and beasts perished in 

 great number. 



Plague discovered to be in several houses on November 23, and the 

 session of the law courts adjourned till January 8. 



Plague severe. The plague-stricken were housed in huts in the King's 

 Park, below Salisbury Crags. This was the last epidemic of plague in 

 Edinburgh. 



Corn was shorn in June and harvest finished in August without rain, 

 storm, or tempest. 



August 12. Solar eclipse, very nearly total. At Inverness total about 

 8.49 a.m. 



September 1 to 4. Great storm of wind and rain commenced on the 

 evening of September 1, and continued for three days and nights. 

 Several houses "in and upon" the Water of Leith, with eleven mills 

 belonging to Edinburgh and five belonging to Heriot's Hospital, destroyed. 



Sinclair, who was Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of 

 Glasgow, made observations of the height of the barometer, or " baroscope " 

 as he names it. The place of observation was in the vicinity of Dalkeith, 

 where he observed a height of 29 9 inches in December 1669, the lowest 

 being 27 9 inches in March following. 



Very severe storms of wind during the winter. 



Very late harvest ; corn in many places was not reaped till January 

 1 699, and the snow beaten off it. Bread made of it fell in pieces and 

 tasted sweet like malt. 



September 23. Solar eclipse. Total for 10 or 15 seconds at 9 a.m. in 

 the north of Caithness. This was the last total solar eclipse in Scotland. 

 John Marr, " professor of navigation," calculated that the greatest obscura- 

 tion at Edinburgh took place at 9.25 a.m , the digits eclipsed being 11. 



The frost lasted from early in October till end of April ; not so severe 

 as in England, but with much snow, which began on January 25, 1708, 

 and "fell for several days together." 



May 22. Partial eclipse of the sun, total in England. 



Epidemic in the autumn. 



Horses were " attacked with running at the nose and coughs towards 

 the end of October and beginning of November." Similar symptoms 

 began suddenly among men on December 17. The epidemic in a week 

 became general, very few escaping, and remained in the city until the 

 middle of January 1733. It was remarked that the boys of Heriot's 

 Hospital and the prisoners in the gaol escaped. The effect on the death- 

 rate was well marked, the number of burials in November 1732 being 

 89, in December 109 interments took place, the number reaching a 

 maximum in January 1733 with 214. By February the number of 

 burials had fallen to 135. The principal victims were "poor, old, and 

 consumptive people." 



In the autumn there was a severe epidemic, " being fatal to some and 

 very tedious to others." 



The epidemic began in June and became universal in December. 



From October 1735 to February 1736 there was an epidemic of 

 relapsing fever. 



March 1. Annular eclipse at Edinburgh. Maclaurin, who observed 

 there, reported : — " A little before the annulus was complete, a remarkable 

 speck of pale light appeared near the middle of the part of the moon's 

 circumference that was not yet come upon the disc of the sun. During 

 the appearance of the annulus the direct light of the sun was still con- 



TRANS. ROY. SOC. EDIN., VOL. XL. PART III. (NO. 21). 



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