12 
REPORT OF THE 
Mineralogy. —The collections are in good order. The only 
accessions during the year are specimens of some of the most 
important Salts found at the well-known deposits at Stassfurt. 
For these, we are indebted to the kindness of Mr. H. Richard¬ 
son. 
Meteorology. —Statistics of Station :—Longitude i° 5' W.; 
Latitude 53 0 57' N. ; height above mean sea level 56 feet. 
Temperature in 1903 had a range smaller by 4 0 than that of 
the previous year, being *7° F. higher, viz., 48° as against 47’3°. 
The lowest temperature was recorded on Jan. 14th, when the 
absolute minimum thermometer read ig°F., whilst the highest 
reading was taken on July 9th and 10th, viz., 8o° F. The 
spring of the year was marked by cold and wet, the summer 
maintaining the sequence of unfavourable weather, yet two 
courses combined to raise the mean annual temperature during 
the last quarter of the year. The heavy rainfall set free a 
large amount of latent heat, and the general cloudiness of the 
same quarter checked radiation. Yet such heat cannot be as 
beneficial as the higher rays of direct sunlight. It is pointed 
out by medical authorities that the high rainfall acted bene¬ 
ficially on the general health of the community by its direct 
cleansing of our drains, and also by its purifying the air. 
A Mean Pressure of 29*863 inches at normal temperature and 
mean sea-level has been recorded as against 29*947 inches for 
1902, March and December being lowest with 29*715 and 
29*751 inches respectively, and June and September highest 
with 30*082 and 30*008 inches respectively. The extreme 
range of pressure being 1*790 inches as against 2*269 inches 
in 1893, the highest reading being taken on Jan. 14th, 30*665 
inches at 9 a.m., and the lowest being 28*595 inches at 9 p.m. 
on March 2nd. 
Rain or Snow (0*005 inches or over) fell on 218 days, 26 more 
rainy days than in 1902, the total rainfall being 30*31 inches 
as against 18*69 inches for 1902, an increase of 11*62 inches for 
the year, or over 62 per cent. This stamps the year 1903 as a 
year of excessive rainfall, and the amount is well compared 
with Mr. J. E. Clark’s determination of 24*5 inches as the 
average fall for the last 60 years. The extra fall occurred in 
