Meteorology of Whitehaven. 27 



also by persons leaving the church at Ennerdale. I was in the 

 Observatory about this time, when dense fog again set in, but I did 

 not perceive any trace of the meteor. The light from it was how- 

 ever perceived by those walking in the streets of the town, and was 

 supposed to be lightning. I am told that this object was seen at 

 many other places, both in England and Scotland. 



Lunar Rainbow. — On the 20th of November, about 1 minutes 

 past 7 o'cloek in the evening, a very beautiful and perfect lunar rain- 

 bow was seen by Mr Isaac Fletcher, from the railway station at 

 Aspatria. " The arch was bright and distinct throughout, but most 

 so towards the extremities ; its colour was milky white, but towards 

 its edges some of the prismatic colours were perceptible. It con- 

 tinued visible nearly twenty minutes. Light rain was falling at the 

 time, but the sky was quite clear towards the south, and in the north 

 it was densely clouded." 



I conclude the report with a few remarks on the relative tempe- 

 rature, humidity, &c, of the air, in each quarterly period, in con- 

 nection with the comparative mortality in the town of Whitehaven, 

 during the past year. 



January. — A very mild, damp, and wet month. The mean 

 temperature and fall of rain are both above the averages of the pre- 

 vious nineteen years, the former by 3°*75, and the latter 3*73 inches. 



February. — Heavy rains till the 17th ; afterwards, fair and fine 

 to the end. Temperature 0°*70 above the average of the month. 

 On the 23d, the barometer rose to 30-680. 



March. — Very fine, mild, and remarkably dry. The tempera- 

 ture is 0°*92, or nearly 1° above the average, and the depth of rain 

 only amounts to a quarter of an inch. The mean daily difference 

 between the temperature of the air and of the dew-point is 9° : on 

 the 19th and 29th, the difference was 14°; on the 20th, 20 c *8 ; and 

 on the 21st, 18° nearly. On the 3d, the atmospheric pressure rose 

 to 30*750, at 90 feet above the sea. On the 7th, a Peacock But- 

 terfly was captured, and one of the Tortoise-shell species was seen in 

 the vicinity of Cockermouth. On the 25th, a specimen of the Sand- 

 martin (Hirundo Riparia) was shot in the same neighbourhood. 

 The earliest arrivals of this bird previously on record, are the 4th 

 and 11th of April. On the 23d, bees were carrying burdens. 



First Quarter. — The temperature of the quarter ending March 

 31st, is 1°*79 above the average of the last nineteen years. 



The deaths in the town and suburb of Preston Quarter are 35 

 under the corrected average number, which is 153. By the Regis- 

 trar-General's report, it appears, " that notwithstanding the peculi- 

 arities of the weather, the mortality over the kingdom has been 

 considerably below the average for the season. The rate of mor- 

 tality is 2*364 per cent., which is less by 0*111 than the mean 

 annual rate in the ten previous winter quarters." It may be well 

 to state the mode of correcting the average number of deaths in each 



