192 mr. a. w. preston’s meteorological notes. 
slight when compared with those of the previous July. The mean 
temperature was in close agreement with the average, and, by 
a singular coincidence, precisely the same as in the two previous 
years. 
August. 
To the 14th the weather was rainy, close, and thundery. The 
remainder of the month was remarkable for its warmth and fineness, 
interrupted only by a severe thunderstorm on the morning of 
the 22nd, and some squally showers on the 27th. The mean 
temperature was about 2J degrees warmer than the previous 
August, and about one degree above the average for the month. 
September. 
This was a remarkable month, and will long he remembered. 
Entering with a continuance of the fine, warm weather with which 
August closed, the thermometer reached 70 degrees and upwards 
on each of the first ten days, and on the 2nd a maximum of 
81 degrees was attained. Thunderstorms occurred on the 3rd and 
6th, the latter yielding 0.41 in. of rain, which was within 0.05 
of the total month’s fall. The third week was fine, and warm, but 
the heat was not excessive. The chief feature of the month was the 
last week, which was, probably, the warmest week so late in 
the year upon record. The thermometer considerably exceeded 
70 degrees on each day, and on the 25th rose to 79 degrees, on the 
26th to 80 degrees, and on the 28th to 77 degrees. During 
this time the sky was nearly cloudless, and the heat, particularly 
indoors, was almost overpowering, as, from the low declination 
of the sun, its rays penetrated into dwellings in the hottest part 
of the day to a far greater extent than during June and July when 
the sun is nearly overhead. The results of the measurements of the 
amount of sunshine at the various stations showed that the excess 
was greater during this month than any previously recorded. Rain 
tell on three days only. The mean temperature of the month was 
about 4 degrees above the average, but was less than in 1865, 
which gave more warm days, and no rain whatever, although 
the last week was not then so warm as the three previous weeks. 
1 lie only other instance during the present century of a reading 
