852 
The Great Drought of 1893 . 
was no rain at all after the middle of the month. In Ajyril the defi- 
ciency was far more striking than in March, less than one-tenth of the 
average being registered over nearly the whole of our eastern, southern, 
and south-western counties, as well as in the more southern parts of 
the Midlands. The driest region of all was undoubtedly the extreme 
south ; at Hastings the month’s rainfall amounted to only 002 inch, 
and at Dungeness to 0 01 inch, while at Hurst Castle and the North 
Foreland there was none at all. May was less dry than either March 
or April, an actual excess of rain being reported at several stations 
situated in central and northern England. In the eastern and 
southern counties, however, there was again a large deficiency, less 
than half the average being reported in many places. In June the 
deficiency was more general than in May, the total fall being 
considerably below the normal over the whole of England, and less 
than half the normal at the majority of stations in the central and 
southern districts. Taking the period of four months as a whole, 
the aggregate rainfall amounted to less than half the average over 
the entire southern and eastern half of England, as well as in 
certain portions of Durham and Northumberland. Over a con- 
siderable portion of our southern counties, as well as in Cornwall 
and South "Wales, the fall amounted to less than one-third of the 
average, the only southern localities in which this proportion was 
exceeded being some of the more central parts of Devonshire. In 
London and at Oxford there was exactly one-quarter of the average 
quantity, while at Pembroke there was very little more than one- 
quarter. The driest localities of all were, however, those situated 
in the extreme south-east and south-west of England. At Scilly 
and Falmouth the total fall amounted to only 21 per cent, of the 
average, while at Dungeness the percentage value was as low as 14, 
the rainfall for the whole four months at the last-named station 
being less than one-seventh of the usual quantity. 
In order to test the truth of the general impression regarding 
the very exceptional character of the period, recourse was had to 
the records made over a long series of years in London and at Oxford. 
The London record for more than 80 years past failed to show 
any period of four months at any time of the year with so small a 
rainfall as that of the present year. In the period under discussion 
the total for the four months in London was only P83 inch, the 
nearest approach to it being in the months of October 1879 to 
January 1880, when the total was 2T7 inches. The Oxford record 
for 42 years past also contains no such an amount as that recorded 
in the few months under review. The nearest approach to it was in 
the months of January to April 1892, when the total was 2‘50 inches ; 
after which came, as in London, the four months October 1879 to 
J anuary 1880, with a total of 2'54 inches. This year the fall was only 
1 '85 inch. It seems not a little singular that one of the driest periods 
on record should have occurred in 1879, a year which was remark- 
able for bad weather, and in which the rainfall for the entire twelve 
months was largely in excess of the average. 
The drought statistics given in the paper were drawn up on the 
