XIV 
REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR I917. 
There is also being added to the Library, by order of the 
Council under the rules regulating the disposal of the income of 
the Reed Trust for specific purposes, Seward’s '‘Fossil Plants/’ 
The Museums of the late Jonathan Hutchinson in Chenies 
St., W.C., at Haslemere, Selby and Hunstanton were founded 
and maintained as instruments for education, and were supplied 
with guide books, etc., for the free use of all visitors. 
Influenced by this example and acting in conjunction with 
the General Purposes Committee, we have placed a very 
small number of British Museum guide books, etc., about the 
Galleries as an experiment. 
Up to the present only 23 books costing 17/6, which includes 
2/6 for Mr. Grabham’s “ Yorks. Potteries,” have been obtained 
for this purpose. In order to ascertain whether the books were 
appreciated by our visitors, slips were placed inside the covers 
asking users of the books to write their initials in them, and 
while conscious of many sources of error in calculations based 
on the number of these initials, the total for the 23 volumes is 
such as to impress us, viz. ; 387. 
Meteorology. —Statistics of Station : — Longitude, 1° 5' W. ; 
Latitude, 53° 57' N. ; height above mean sea level, 56 feet. 
Generally speaking 1917 was marked by suitable weather 
conditions. After a winter of unbroken hard weather favour¬ 
able conditions continued, fruit trees had full bloom, and ,good 
crops were gathered. 
The accentuation of rainfall density in the south-east of 
England has again been noted, but close observation does not 
connect this with heavy gun firing in Flanders. 
Temperature ranged in 1917 between 11° F., which was re¬ 
corded on April 2nd, and 83^^ F. which was the reading of June 
17th, the range of temperature being thus 72° F., ten degrees 
more than in 1916. 
In respect of barometric pressure it should be remembered 
that this is now expressed in terms of the new unit—the 
millibar,—1000 millibars= 29*531 mercury inches. 
A Mean Pressure of ioi2‘9 mbs. has been recorded as against 
a pressure of loii mbs. for 1916. October was lowest with 
1002*6 mbs., August next with 1003*0 mbs., and March next 
with 1009*2 mbs. December was highest with 1021*1 mbs., 
