ORDINARY MEETING-, Maech 21, 1881. 
H. Cadman Jones, Esq., in the Chair. 
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed, and the 
following elections were announced : — 
Associates : — Colonel H. Hume, C.B., London ; Rev. T. Robinson, D.D., 
Morpeth. 
Also the presentation of the following Works for the Library 
“ Glacial Moraines.” By J. F. Frisbie, M.D. From the same » 
“ The Cliff Dwellers of Ancient America.” Professor J. K. 
Richardson. Ditto. 
The following paper was then read by the Author ; — 
METEOROLOGY: RAINFALL. By John Frederick 
Bateman, Esq., F.R.S.L.&E. 
M ETEOROLOGY is a subject in which every dweller 
in Great Britain must feel an interest, and though it 
will probably never be subject to such laws as will make it an 
exact science, yet a great deal of valuable information has 
been collected by patient observers which is useful to many 
classes of the community. All are interested in the crops of 
the land and the fruits of the garden, the productions of which 
greatly depend on rain, cold, heat, and sunshine. 
Without rain our rivers would become dry beds, and our 
springs would be exhausted. Those only who have lived in 
rainless countries know the privations that are suffered, and 
