RE-DISTRIBUTION OF THE MONTHS 87 
At Barnstaple, for instance, the lowest temperature recorded 
last November was 20’ on the 27th, and this value still remains 
the lowest of the entire season up to the date (March 18) of 
revising this article. These notes concerning the month of 
November are well worthy of attention. Can it be that the 
warmth of the ocean off W estern Europe and the latent heat 
thrown out during the autumnal rains lead to the setting-in of 
a chill current of air from northerly or easterly regions, in which 
the cold of W'inter is then beginning to make itself strongly felt? 
We all know how a draught enters with unpleasant strength 
into an overheated chamber. If this explanation be correct, our 
coast-towns, still protected from a great degree of cold by the 
warm water, might not suffer greatly ; but inland localities, 
especially with a clear sky and with conditions favourable to 
nocturnal radiation, might be exposed to severe frost. The 
Beddington reading must have been an extremely delicate 
matter, if I may employ the word “ delicate ” in connection 
with the strong grip of Winter. Even a passing umbrella might 
have caused the temperature to tend upwards. The lowest 
value at Greenwich on the same day (and indeed throughout the 
fifty Novembers) is 18-3°; and this comparatively high reading 
was doubtless due to topographical peculiarities, to a greater 
share of London’s smoke-canopy, and to the importation of a 
little warmth by the tidal water of the Thames. 
The results of the Greenwich meteorological observations 
from 1841 to 1890 show that the mean temperature of the 
Summer is 61 ’2°, and of its divisions respectively 59’5°, 63 6°, 
and 60-5^. This result is very satisfactory : it indicates, for 
instance, that the first division is of a supravernal character, 
while the next (the true Midsummer) is distinguished by a very 
marked increase of heat. The mean temperature of the Winter 
is 39’8°, and of its sections 39‘9"', 38-6°, and 40 8°, revealing a 
range much less than that of the Summer. Spring claims a mean 
temperature of 48'8°, and Autumn one of 48’9°. It is instructive 
to note that the hottest day of the year, on the average, is July 15 
(65‘2°). On this date, in 1881, the maximum temperature reaches 
97-1°, and this high reading seems to have a visible influence on 
the fifty years' mean of that day. August 13 is also a very 
warm day, the mean reaching 64-5°. On this date, in 1876, the 
maximum is 92*6° ; the Meteorological Office, however, reports a 
maximum of about 96° as having occurred in London (Brixton). 
92-6° is not the highest known at Greenwich in August, as, on 
the nth, in 1884, the temperature touches 94'2°. The coldest 
day, on the average, is January 12 (37'0°). July 15 and January 
12 occur only a week before the middle of the Summer and 
Winter respectively. It might reasonably be supposed that the 
long mean of fifty years would have rendered a large difference 
between two consecutive days almost impossible, but this is not 
the case. For instance, July 2 is i*4° warmer than the ist, and 
the 15th is i‘i° warmer than the i6th. The results of the 
