Meteorology of Whitehaven. 51 



On the 25th, the Borrowdale mountains were capped with snow. 



The temperature of the quarter ending September 30, is o, 32 

 below the average. The deaths in the town and suburb are 92, 

 being 30 beloiv the average number. 



October. — Mild and wet. Temperature 2°*77 above the ave- 

 rage. Aurorse on the nights of the 1st and 2d; the latter covered 

 three-fourths of the sky, and it was particularly noticed that the 

 streamers did not generally emanate from the horizon, but at vari- 

 ous altitudes above it. One very bright streamer appeared to pro- 

 ceed from Arided, and shot beyond the zenith. A still more 

 splendid aurora occurred on the night of the 1st October 1850, 

 which is described in my report for that year, published in this 

 Journal. 



On the 24th ; a very singular irridescent phenomenon was witnessed 

 on Windermere Lake, but as the. description of it would occupy too 

 much space in this report, it will probably form the subject of a 

 separate paper. 



November. — The coldest November on record at this place. The 

 temperature is 4 0, 32 below the average, and a naked thermometer 

 exposed on a grass-plot, fell below the freezing point on 21 nights. 



December. — A mild but exceedingly dull and damp month. The 

 air was nearly saturated with moisture, yet the rain-fall did not 

 exceed 1-67 inches. The solar rays pierced through the thick 

 stratum of cloud on 1 1 days only. 



The mean temperature of the last quarter of 1851 is nearly 

 coincident with the average of the preceding 18 years. The deaths 

 are 120, or 15 under the average number. 



Winds. — In 1851 the winds have been distributed as under: — 



N., 25 days: NE., 52 days; E., 19£ days; SE., 23^ days; 

 S., 69 days; SW., 89 days; W., 27 days, and NW., 60 days. 



Weather. — In the past year, there have been 19 perfectly clear 

 days; 195 wet days ; 151 cloudy without rain ; 276 days on which 

 the sun shone out more or less ; 22 days of frost ; 5 snow showers, 

 and 13 days on which hail fell. There have also been 9 solar and 4 

 lunar halos ; 5 parhelia ; 1 day of thunder and lightning ; 5 days 

 of thunder without lightning; 1 day of lightning without thunder; 

 and 13 exhibitions of the aurora borealis. 



The mean temperature of the year 1851 is about a quarter of a 

 degree above the average of 18 years, and the fall of rain is 3*83 

 inches under the mean annual quantity. 



The deaths in 1851 are 452, being 82, or 18 per cent, under 

 the average number ; the births exceed the deaths by 285, and are 

 72 above the average of the preceding 12 years, from 1839 to 1850 

 inclusive. 



The mortality in the town and suburb in 1851, with a population 

 of 19,281, is equivalent to 23*4 deaths per thousand, or 1 death 

 in every 42*6 inhabitants. 



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