25(3 Dr Miller on the Climate 



or 2 J, 2 below the freezing point. The naked thermometer on wool 

 frequently fell below 20°, and once to 17°, although the standard 

 instrument did not descend below 35° during the month. The mean 

 temperature is T 3 „ ths of a degree under its average value. On the 7th, 

 there were some slight snow showers, and between the 3d and 7th, 

 the maximum temperature fell 15 degrees. On the 9th, there 

 were 9 inches of snow on the ground between Keswick and Cocker- 

 mouth. At Liverpool, snow covered the streets to the depth of 3 

 inches at 8 o'clock in the morning. At Holmfirth, snow fell heavily 

 throughout the day, — it was 18 inches deep on the streets. 



During this beautifully fine clear month, the astral definition was 

 so deplorable, that only three sets of Positions were obtained at this 

 Observatory in as many weeks, with the apparent advantage of an 

 almost continuously bright and unclouded sky. The hygrometrical 

 condition of the air was unusually low, the dew-point ranging from 

 12° to 24° below the temperature of the air. On the 13th, the com- 

 plement of the dew-point was 17°*1 ; on the 15th, 20°*5 ; on the 

 17th, 22°-5 ; and, on the 24th. 24°-5, — approaching to the extreme 

 of hygroscopic dryness in this climate. 



To the very unequal distribution of moisture over the upper and 

 lower strata of the atmosphere, the twirling, moulding, and blotted 

 appearance of the stars is no doubt to be attributed. 



The Cabbage Butterfly was seen on the 1st. 



The Cuckoo was heard at Seathwaite on the 1st, and Swallows 

 were seen on the 17th, for the first time this season. Snow fell in 

 the Lake District on every day between the 6th and 9th inclusive, 

 amounting to 0*35 inch of water. 



June. — A fine but rather cold month. The temperature is half 

 a degree below the average. The sun shone out on 28 days. 



Second Quarter. — The temperature of the quarter ending June 

 30th, is o, 3 below the average of 20 years. The deaths in the town 

 and suburb are 99, being 23 in number, or 19 per cent, under the 

 average of the 14 previous spring quarters. In the 1st and 2d 

 quarters of the year 1853, the sanitary condition of Whitehaven is 

 very favourably contrasted with that of the kingdom generally. The 

 Registrar-General in his report for this'quarter says: — " The average 

 mortality for the spring quarter is 2-223. This average is exceeded 

 by the present return, which shews a mortality at the rate of 2-383 

 per cent, per annum higher than the rate in the corresponding 

 quarter of every year from 1843-52, except the spring quarter of 

 1847, when the population was infested by scurvy and its attendant 

 diseases, after the great failure of the potato crop in 1846. The 

 rate of mortality was then 2*506 ; in the autumn, influenza broke 

 out, and cholera followed in its footsteps in 1848 and 1849." 



July. — A cold, damp, and rather wet month. The mean tem- 

 perature l°-49 below the average, and6°*l under that of July 1852. 

 A thunder storm occurred on the evening of the 13th, accompanied 

 by heavy rain. The sun shone out on 24 days. 



