THE METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATE OF PLYMOUTH. 421 
THE METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATE OF 
PLYMOUTH. 
BY DR. J. MERRIFIELD, F.R.A.S., F.M.S, 
(Read February 17th, 1881.) 
Mereoro1oey is a term which most people understand even if they 
cannot define, and an assumed knowledge of weather forms almost 
a part of an Englishman’s existence. This may be accounted for, and 
perhaps is accounted for, by our geographical position. Pushed out as 
it were to the very verge of Western Europe, we are surrounded 
by the “melancholy ocean,” which Lord Beaconsfield suggested 
plays such an important part in the Irishman’s character. In passing 
I may remark that in this he was neither original nor singular, 
as Albert Guyot many years before attempted to show how char- 
acter was modified by man’s natural environments. To return; at 
the same time we lie in the direct track of the Gulf Stream and 
of the Return Trade Winds; hence I think we may fairly charge to 
our geographical position many of the changes which we experi- 
ence. This being conceded, what wonder then that the weather is 
such an unfailing source of conversation amongst us. We can 
hardly imagine meeting a friend, and after shaking hands with him, 
and exchanging the usual salutations, not saying, “ A fine morn- 
ing,” or ‘‘Gloomy, isn’t it?” or, perhaps, “ Very cold ;” whilst 
others, with a far deeper pretence to weather knowledge, may 
remark, “I think we shall have a change,” or, ‘ This weather 
won't last.” But how many an average Englishman can tell what 
he means by weather, by climate, or by meteorology ? 
By weather, I mean the condition of the atmosphere at any par- 
ticular time in a certain place. It simply says whether it is 
raining or not, whether hot or cold, and tells of the direction and 
strength of the winds, the pressure of the atmosphere, &c., at a 
specified place at any particular moment. 
By climate, I mean the average of all weathers experienced at 
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