Francis Darwin. 
A PHRENOLOGICAL STUDY. 
By Francis Darwin. 
287 
I N the Spring of 1917 I was struck by the fact that Ranunculus 
Ficaria did not flower until April 1st, whereas the average date 
according to Blomefield 1 is February 28th: the earliest recorded 
date being January 21st, and the latest March 28th. 2 It seemed 
worth while to follow up the observation and the following pages 
give a record of the flowering dates of the commoner plants near 
Brookthorpe, Gloucestershire, for the years 1917, 1918 and 1919. 
I have only recorded one of the elements which make up the 
environment and which may influence the date of flowering:— 
namely the temperatures. These are taken from the Weekly 
Weather Report of the Meteorological Office : and I have taken the 
temperatures at Clifton as probably giving those for the neighbour¬ 
hood of Gloucester with fair accuracy. I have not only given the 
actual temperatures, but what is more important:—the weekly 
“ deviations from the normal.” 
Table 1. Clifton, 1917. 
Week 
ending. 
Mean 
Temp. °F. 
Deviation 
from 
Normal. 
Week 
ending. 
Mean 
Temp. °F. 
Deviation 
from 
Normal. 
1 
Jan. 
6 
46-4 
+ 6!) 
27 
July 
7 
59 3 
-2-6 
2 
13 
379 
— 1-4 
28 
» > 
14 
65-4 
— 1-8 
3 
11 
20 
33-7 
~ 5*6 
29 
» » 
21 
63-3 
+ 0-7 
4 
27 
30-3 
—90 
30* 
„ 
28 
63-8 
+ 3-5 
5 
Feb. 
3 
29-3 
— 10-3 
31 
Aug. 
4 
60-0 
- 2-5 
6 
10 
26-5 
— 13-5 
32 
t t 
11 
62-8 
+ 0-6 
7 
17 
34-2 
-5-9 
33 
i y 
18 
62-2 
+ 0-4 
8 
24 
415 
+ P3 
34 
y y 
25 
61-3 
+ 02 
9 
Mar. 
3 
41-8 
+ 0-9 
35 
Sept 
1 
57-1 
—2-8 
10 
10 
35-4 
—5-9 
36 
» y 
8 
60-6 
+ 1-5 
11 
17 
430 
+ 0-4 
37 
i y 
15 
59-3 
+ 1T 
12 
24 
39-2 
—3-5 
38 
« y 
22 
58-9 
+ 2-2 
13 
31 
39-4 
—50 
39 
y) 
29 
57-3 
+2-4 
14 
Apr 
7 
37-8 
-81 
40 
Oct. 
6 
540 
+ 1-1 
15 
14 
39-7 
—68 
41 
y y 
13 
47-8 
—3-4 
16 
21 
46-0 
—1-8 
42 
y y 
20 
45-9 
-4-0 
17 
28 
50 9 
+ 1-4 
43 
y y 
27 
46-6 
—1-1 
18 
May 
5 
56-7 
+ 6-2 
44 
Nov. 
3 
461 
—1.0 
19 
12 
54-6 
+ 2-4 
45 
»y 
10 
47-1 
+ 1-2 
20 
19 
54-2 
+ 0-4 
46 
y y 
17 
43-4 
00 
21 
26 
60S 
+ 5-4 
47 
y y 
24 
50-7 
+ 5-4 
22 
June 
2 
58-9 
+ P7 
48 
Dec. 
1 
47-7 
+ 4-7 
23 
9 
60-7 
+ 2-5 
49 
y y 
8 
39-2 
—2-8 
24 
16 
65-2 
+ 7-2 
50 
y y 
15 
400 
— 1-8 
25 
23 
61-7 
+ 21 
51 
y y 
22 
32-1 
-8-7 
26 
» * 
30 
56-5 
—4-9 
52 
i y 
29 
35-9 
—44 
* Hereford. 
1 A Naturalist's Calendar by Leonard Blomefield (formerly Jenyns), edited 
by Francis Darwin, Cambridge University Press, 1903. 
* My results for 1917 were published in the Proceedings of the Cotteswold 
Nat. Field Club, Vol. XX, Pt. i, 1918. 
