NATURAL HISTORY. 
123 
and that the inquiries will be carried on upon the 
principles which recent improvements render desira- 
ble.^ 
It will be an interesting object of research for your 
Committee to investigate the climate of Worcester- 
shire^ and to trace all those circumstances connected 
with it^ which have an especial reference to the health 
and longevity of the inhabitants. 
The climate of this county is soft, warm, and 
healthy ; and, even as far back as the time of Henry 
III., when its marshes were undrained, and its 
surface was almost covered by an immense forest, 
we may infer that this was the case, for the county 
was then noted for its abundance of fruit. 
The vale of the Severn, as might be expected from 
its low level, being, on an average not more than 
1 The Association recommend the following observations to be particularly 
attended to. 
" That persons travelling on mountains, or ascending in balloons, should observe 
the state of the thermometer, and of the dew-point hygrometer, below, in, and 
above the clouds, and determine how the different kinds of clouds differ in these 
respects. 
" That the decrease of temperature at increasing heights in the atmosphere, should 
be investigated by continued observations at stated hours, and known heights. The 
hours of 9^ A. M., and 8f p, m., as giving nearly the mean temperature of the year, 
are suggested for the purpose. 
*' That the temperature of springs should be observed at different heights above 
the mean level of the sea, and at different depths below the surface of the earth, and 
compared with the mean temperature of the air and the ground. — Detached obser- 
vations on this subject will be useful, but a continued and regular series of results 
for each locality will be more valuable. 
" That series of comparative experiments should be made on the temperature of 
the dew-point, and the indications of the wet-bulb hygrometer, and that the theory 
of tliis instrument should be further investigated." 
