550 THE CLIMATES OF PARIS AND LONDON COMPARED. 



does between that of Somerset House and Tottenham for 

 instance. Luke Howard^ one of our first and most acute 

 British meteorologists^ on the strength of many thousands 

 of observations made at Plaistow, Stratford^ and Tottenham, 

 gives the difference between the mean temperature of 

 London and the country at 2° F. exactly, and a careful 

 examination of his data has proved his figures to be correct 

 within a fraction. This difierence sinks to less than half 

 a degree in spring ; it increases in summer and autumn, 

 and often rises on winter nights to as much as 4f° F. It 

 is a singular fact that towards the end of spring, when the 

 fires are being discontinued, and the sun has not yet reached 

 his full power, it sometimes happens that the day tempera- 

 ture is somewhat greater in the country. This is doubtless 

 to be attributed to the veil of smoke and cloud that is 

 hanging over the metropolis. The efifects of the higher 

 mean winter temperature in the city are singularly apparent 

 in the earlier budding and blooming of the trees, which 

 frequently begin their spring life several days before their 

 suburban cousins — a fact which may be easily verified by a 

 walk from Haverstock-hill to Tottenham-court-road, just as 

 the Elms are beginning to bud, or when the Pear trees are 

 putting on their early spring livery. 



The amount of annual rainfall in London only slightly 

 exceeds that of Paris, although any unprejudiced person 

 would feel inclined to give it as his opinion that the num- 

 ber of rainy days in London greatly exceeded those in 

 Paris. The French authorities that have been con- 

 sulted diflPer somewhat in their calculations, owing possibly 

 to having collected the rain with dissimilar instruments. 

 The English figures are from Luke Howard, the French 

 from Gasparin and Bouvard. 



Gasparin 

 Inches. 



Bouvard. 

 Inches. 



Howard. 

 Inches. 



Rainfall in Spring 



6-6 

 6-8 

 5-3 

 4-6 



4-0 

 60 

 6-4 

 4-8 



5- 0 



6- 5 



7- 5 

 60 



Summer 

 Autumn 

 Winter 



212 



