MR. T. SOUTHWELL ON MR. MARSIIAM’s “INDICATIONS OK SPRING.” 247 
the weather and its influence on vegetation, also various natural 
phenomena as well as other circumstances which interested 
the writer of the “Journal,” and without which the recorded 
“Indications” lose much of their significance; for these I must 
refer you to my original paper, and confine myself on the present 
occasion to endeavouring to explain, as far as possible, the meteoro- 
logical conditions under which the earliest and latest extremes of 
the observations recorded since the year 187-1 occurred. See Table I. 
In looking at the records of these typical years it will be noticed 
how very irregular the relative succession of the occurrences in any 
given year frequently is ; certain phenomena in the months of 
January and February may be very early, but those happening later 
in the same year may be deferred till long past their normal date, 
or vice verm ; such irregularities are of course entirely due to 
varying weather, all may be going on well, when a sudden spell of 
bad weather puts a temporary stop to further progress; this was 
notably the case in 1883 ; the winter was mild until March, and 
vegetation started unusually early, but with the advent of that 
month the weather assumed a most winterly type, and throughout 
the month there was no possibility of any advance being made. 
It will be seen that the Sycamore showed leaf very early in that year 
(the 25th of February), but I suspect that it was a prematurely 
early development, and had it been delayed a few days it would 
have been so checked by the sudden change that it would have 
made no further progress till more genial weather set in considerably 
later; in fact the leafing of the Sycamore, one of our earliest trees, 
as observed by Mr. Preston that year, did not take place till 
April 16th. On the other hand a sudden burst of warmth and 
sunshine may result in inducing a degree of progress which is truly 
amazing, thus suddenly restoring the balance or even converting 
what had hitherto been a backward season into an early one. 
The weather of January and February seems to have very little 
permanent influence on subsequent vegetation ; nature is waiting 
expectantly, and should genial weather follow, the various later 
phenomena will appear in due course notwithstanding the severity 
of the earlier months. 
It will thus be seen that without a key to their interpretation 
these observations may lose much of their significance, or even be 
misleading, and fortunately such a key has been supplied by the 
