XXII PROCEEDINGS—PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
The last twelve months have been marked by very great extremes 
of meteorological conditions. Mr. P. W. Fairgrieve, of Dunkeld 
Gardens, who has kept very accurate records of the temperature for 
a number of years, has kindly sent me a copy of his readings during 
the past year. From these I find that a maximum of 88 deg. F. 
was registered in the shade on Tuesday, 15th August, 1893, and 
a minimum of - 7 deg. F. on Saturday, 6th January, 1894. This 
brings out the remarkable result of a range of variation amounting to 
95 deg. F. within the period noted. The year has also been marked 
by the prevalence of storms of exceptional severity. Of these the 
most destructive was that which occurred on Friday, 17th November, 
1893, when so much damage was done to wooding in many parts of 
Perthshire. Commenting on this storm in an article published in 
Nature for 25th January, 1S94, Mr. Charles Harding states that the 
velocity of the wind recorded by the anemometer at Orkney reached 
the remarkable figure of 96 miles an hour. This was the highest 
velocity ever recorded in this country, the previous maximum having 
been 91 miles an hour on 20th May, 1887.* Lastly, the record of 
the year for rainfall and flooding has also been exceptional, and, as 
one consequence of this, the soil is at the present time more fully 
charged with moisture than it has been for several years. For the 
statistics of the rainfall I am again indebted to Mr. Fairgrieve, who 
informs me that during the month of February in the present year he 
recorded a total of 7.99 inches. The significance of this figure is 
apparent when we compare it with the totals for the same month in 
the three previous years, which were as follows 
February, 1891, - - '34 inches. 
Do. 1892, - - 76 ,, 
Do. 1893, - - 2‘9o „ 
The greatest flooding in the Tay Valley during the past year occurred 
on Wednesday, 7th February last, when the water covered the lower 
haughland throughout the greater part of the river’s course, and left 
traces behind it which have not yet disappeared. Mr. Davidson, 
Water Manager, informs me that at 5.20 p.m. on that date the water 
at Perth Bridge rose to a height of 12 feet 6 inches above its mean 
level. This is 14 inches below the flood-mark of 7th October, 1847, 
as marked on Perth Bridge. It would have been interesting to 
compare it with more recent floods, but of these, unfortunately, no 
precise records appear to have been kept. Mr. Davidson also 
informs me that on 7th February the water rose to a height of 11 feet 
6 inches over the top of the new filter bed above the bridge, and 
2 feet 6 inches over the top of the filter bed on Moncreiffe Island. 
Such exceptional phenomena as those which we have been con¬ 
sidering are not without their lessons for the naturalist and the 
geologist. The storm showed us how large tracts of woodland, 
covered with the growth of hundreds of years, may be laid bare in 
a single night, thus changing the character of the vegetation, and 
perhaps even of the climate, over a wide area. In low-lying districts 
*See Nature , Vol. XLIX., p. 295. 
