Meteorological Observations, 



529 



point streets or avenues were seen diverging over the tree in every 

 direction, all teeming with a busy population." — Ibid, pp. 29, 30. 



Dominica. — " The zoology of Dominica is quite interesting. The 

 wild boar is found in the woods ; a species of boa constrictor is also 

 met with, and not unfrequently pays a fatal visit to the poultry- 

 yard. Paroquets are numerous, and several kinds of humming- 

 birds abound. Immense numbers of land-crabs, at certain seasons, 

 afford excellent food for all who take the trouble of catching them. 

 The same may be said of the crapeaus, very large frogs, which fre- 

 quent the pure, running waters, and are, as we can testify, an ex- 

 cellent article of diet, the meat tasting like that of a chicken. But 

 it is the vegetable luxuriance of this island which is the most striking 

 to the eye of a stranger, far exceeding anything that we have else- 

 where witnessed, except, perhaps, in some parts of Jamaica. Innu- 

 merable shrubs, plants and trees, novel to us, with broad-leaved 

 creepers of various kinds, cover the hills with a remarkable depth 

 of verdure. The most beautiful of these productions is the tree-fern, 

 which grows to the height of twenty or even thirty feet, and waves 

 its bright green feathers over the whole scenery of the island." — 

 Ibid, pp. 77, 78. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR DEC. 1840. 



Chiswick. — Dec. i. Hazy : overcast and mild. 2. Very fine. 3. Frosty : fine. 

 4. Sharp frost : overcast. 5, 6. Hazy. 7. Overcast. 8. Rain. 9. Frosty : 

 clear. 10. Thawing: hazy. 11. Hazy. 12, 13. Overcast and cold. 14. Sharp 

 frost. 15. Dry frosty air. 16. Overcast: snowing. 17. Snowing: cloudy: 

 severe frost at night. 18. Frosty: overcast and cold. 19. Hazy : rain. 20,21. 

 Overcast and cold. 22 — 24. Severe frost. 25. Intense frost : Dense fog. 26. 

 Thick hoar frost. 27 — 29. Foggy. 30. Clear: cloudy: rain at night. 31. 

 Cloudy : clear and fine. 



The mean temperature of this month was lower than that of any December 

 within at least the last forty years. 



Boston. — Dec. I. Cloudy : rain early a.m. 2 — 4. Fine. 5 — 7. Cloudy. 8. 

 Rain: rain early a.m. 9. Fine. 10 — 13. Cloudy. 14. Cloudy: snow p.m. 

 15. Cloudy : snow a.m. 16. Snow. 1 7, 18, Cloudy. 19. Rain. 20,21. 

 Cloudy. 22—24. Fine. 25 — 29. Cloudy. 30. Fine: rain p.m. 31. Fine. 



This is the coldest December since 1829. 



Applegarlh Manse, Dumfries-shire. — Dec. I. Raw but fair. 2,3. Fine and 

 fair. 4. Slight showers. 5, 6. Drizzling. 7. Wet and stormy. 8. Fair, but 

 cloudy. 9, 10. Fair, but wet preceding night. 11 — 13. Fair throughout. 

 14 — 16. Hard frost. 17. Thaw, with slight drizzle. 18. Frost again. 19. 

 Slight frost a.m. : drizzle. 20. Frost : Aurora Borealis. 2! — 24. Frost. 25. 

 Frost a.m. : thaw p m. 26. Frost again, but cloudy. 27. Thaw a.m. : cloudy 

 and dark. 28. Frost but slight. 29. Frost— moderate. 30. Thaw and snow. 

 31. Raw and drizzly. 



Sun shone out 21 days. Rain fell 9 days. Snow 1 day. Frost 14 days. 



Wind north 1 day. North -north-east 1 day. North-east 7| days. East-north- 

 east 1 day. East 4 days. East-south-east 3 days. South-east 3 days. South - 

 south-east 1 day. South 1 dav. South-west 34 days. West south-west 1 day. 

 West 2 days. North-west 2 days. 



Calm 12 days. Moderate 8 days. Brisk 6 day>. Strong breeze 1 day. 

 Boisterous 4 days. 



Mean temperature of the month 36° 



Mean temperature of December 1839 ... 34 *9 

 Mean temperature ofspring-uater 42 *16 



Ann. oj- Mag. N. Hist. Vol. Svppl. 2 m 



