200 
164 days; the largest amount occurred the following year 
1866, the amount being 43169 falling upon 214 days. 
From the longer period of observations, 1794 to 1870, it 
seems to be quite well established that in this district the 
minimum rainfall occurs in April, and the maximum in 
October, and but for the departure from symmetry in Sep- 
tember we should have a simple curve with one maximum 
and one minimum. 
In October, 1870, the largest fall of rain for the month 
occurred of any October between 1794 and 1870, and 
during this entire period there were only two months 
approaching so large a fall, viz., July, 1828, ]l - 280ins., and 
August, 1799, 8‘740ins. (Society’s Memoirs, second series, 
Yol. XV.) 
The summer months of 1868, 1869, and 1870 were ex- 
cessively dry. The four months of May, June, July, and 
August had a total rainfall of 
1868, 4T94ins. ; 1869, 7'612ins.; 1870, 4 -997ms. 
The average for seventy-seven years being 12 -048ins., show- 
ing a very great falling off', especially in 1868 and 1870. 
In trying to trace some law of periodicity in this long- 
series of rainfall observations I have not been able to find 
any defined period. 
Going back to 1786, it would appear from Mr. Walker’s 
rainfall returns, 1786 — 1793, that the heaviest rainfalls did 
not occur at the period of lowest annual mean temperature, 
but a few years later; but the irregularities arc so great 
that some other method must be adopted to reduce the 
irregularities of the temperature and rain curves for the 
year : perhaps taking 5 yearly means might enable a better 
comparison to be made, that is, the year itself and the 
two preceding and two following ones in each case. 
