482 



MR ROBERT COCKBURN M0S8MAN ON 



Year. 



Phenomenon, 

 or Epidemic. 



1870 



1870 



1870 

 1873 



1877 



1877 



1884 

 1886 



1886 



1886 



1886 



1888 



1889-90 



1891 

 1891-92 



1893 



1893-94 



1895 



1896 

 1897 



1896-97 



1898 



1898 

 1898 



Mirage — eontd. 



REMARKS. 



Aurora 



Aurora 

 Gale 



Storm 



Snowstorm with 



Thunder 

 Meteors 

 Snow-squall 



Aurora 



Aurora 

 Aurora 

 Earthquake 

 Influenza 



Influenza 

 Influenza 



Influenza 

 Influenza 

 Influenza 



Early Snow 

 Rain from a 



cloudless sky 

 Sunless weather 



Thunderstorm 



Aurora 

 Rainstorm 



and the rocks around Dunbar harbour assumed extraordinary forms. 

 The Bass, which at one time seemed to lie flat upon the sea, suddenly 

 shot up into a tall spiral column, apparently ten times its usual height, 

 surrounded by battlements rising tier on tier, and presenting a most 

 imposing spectacle. The Isle of May, in the course of the afternoon, 

 underwent an almost innumerable series of transformations. At one time 

 it was apparently as round as a circle, at another seemingly drawn out for 

 miles against the horizon, now flat upon the water, then rising to ten times 

 its usual height. Occasionally portions appeared to break off and sail 

 away, then to return and unite again, all within the space of a few minutes. 

 Vessels in the offing appeared double, one on the water and another in- 

 verted in the air, and in one instance three figures of one vessel were dis- 

 tinctly visible. The fishing-boats proceeding to sea in the evening under- 

 went the same transformations when only a few yards off the shore, the 

 double appearance being distinctly visible within a certain distance. The 

 rocks at the harbour also seemed to play fantastic tricks, opening and 

 shutting, rising and falling, with apparent regularity. These extraordinary 

 phenomena lasted from midday till nightfall. 



August 19. Sky very clear at 1 a.m. Auroral bank of light strong 

 on N.W. horizon. 



August 20. At midnight a beam of aurora vertical in N.W. 



September 13. Severe gale at 2.30 p.m. Building in course of erection 

 and almost completed, 100 feet long, 75 feet wide and 24 feet in height, 

 belonging to A. B. Fleming & Co., printing-ink manufacturers, blown 

 down. 



January 1 and 2. Severe N.E. gale, with high tide. Nearly the whole 

 of the sea-wall between Portobello and Joppa washed away. 



October 11. Gale and snowstorm, accompanied with several peals of 

 thunder, in forenoon. 



November 14. A number of bright meteors observed. 



January 31. Violent snow-squall from 7.55 to 8.8 a.m. The melted 

 snow yielded 0"15 inch of water. 



March 30. At 9 p.m. a most magnificent and extensive display of 

 aurora, first stationary, with bifurcate streamers N.W. and E.S.E., then 

 serpentine curves, with pulsations of varying brightness from horizon to 

 zenith. 



November 19. 



December 21. 



February 2. Slight shock of earthquake. 



The epidemic breaks out on December 20, reaching a maximum in the 

 second week of 1890. Epidemic over by end of February. 



Slight epidemic from April 12 to July 12. 



Influenza prevailed in epidemic form from 25th October 1891 to 13th 

 February 1892. 



Epidemic from March 1 1 to April 28. 



Epidemic from 15th October 1893 to 31st January 1894. 



Severe epidemic from February 11 to March 31. In the three weeks 

 ending with March 23 the average rate of mortality in Edinburgh was 

 43'7 per 1000, being the highest for at least twenty years. 



October 10. 



February 25. At 9 p.m. the sky was cloudless, but the air was saturated, 

 rain falling heavily. A strong gale was blowing at the time. 



During the ten months ending with June 1897, the total bright sun- 

 shine amounted to only 712 hours, or 20 per cent, of the possible. 



February 6. A thunderstorm, with heavy snow and hail, was ex- 

 perienced at 3.31 i\m. 



March 15. Brilliant aurora. 



August 30. During a thunderstorm D42 inch of rain fell in four 

 hours. 



