It is strange that it should have been in a dry year that fruits did not ripen from want of sun, that much hay was spoilt by rain, that the harvest was, generally, several weeks late, and that, as one of Mr. Symons's correspondents wrote from the banks of the Tweed, "I did not get in the last of my corn until November 9." The explanation lies in the irregular distribution over the months, though, as Mr. Symons was anxious not to overload his paper with figures, he substituted for a formal table a running commentary.

"January.-Dry in all parts of the British Isles. February.-Dry at all stations except Inverness. March.-Generally rather wetter than usual; but at its close no station except Inverness had had as much rain as usual. April, May, and June had nearly their average; at the end of the six months only Warringstown, county Down, had had its average fall, while the deficiency at Bodmin and at Haverfordwest amounted to 703 in., and 7.99 in. respectively. July.Wet, or very wet, everywhere; at many places it made up for all previous deficiencies. August.-The total fall was less than the average at all stations except London. September.-Rainfall less than the average at every station, and of the stations we are now considering at the end of the third quarter, only one had had its average for the nine months; this time the station was London. October had less than its average rainfall everywhere, except at Inverness. November was wet, except on the east coast of England. December had, at some stations, within an inch of the average; at some, especially at Cork, it had above the average, at others below it, as at Inverness. This inquiry has brought us nearer to the explanation of the anomaly, for it shows that much of the total deficiency was due to the dry spring, and that July, which is so important for harvest work, was much wetter than usual. As the study of rainfall progresses it becomes more and more obvious that total quantities are not all that we want to know. A thunderstorm lasting two hours may bring down more water than usually falls in a month, and we might have a month with the total fall above the average, and yet with thirty cloudless and sunny days. The converse also holds good : last August being a good illustration, it was largely responsible for the apparent enigma; it had almost everywhere less than the usual quantity, but its frequency was excessive. Taking the average of a large number of stations all over the British Isles, at most of them there were out of the thirty-one more than seventeen days with rain. As we had a very wet July, and an August with more wet days than dry, and as both months were distinguished by an absence of sun and by very low temperatures, it is not remarkable that agriculturists. suffered and that the country at large complained."

A most interesting letter from the same pen appeared in the "Times" last November. I give it practically verbatim. It was entitled, "A Wet Week in the English Lakes," and ran as follows:

"The rainfall in the English Lake District at the end of October was so exceptionally heavy, that I think the following details may be acceptable:

TOTAL RAINFALL ON EACH DAY FROM OCTOBER 25 TO OCTOBER 30.

"This shows that at the heads of Windermere, Derwentwater, Thirlmere, Buttermere, and Ulleswater the fall on the 26th and 27th exceeded six inches, and that the fall in those localities during the six days ranged from 10 to 13 inches. When I mention that the total fall in London for the whole of October was less than an inch and a quarter, the contrast becomes very striking. So large a fall in so short a time would do mischief almost anywhere, and even in the Lakes such a fall is quite unusual. Many roads became impassable; temporary streams rushed through houses; at two (perhaps more) places of worship service was impossible, as the surrounding roads were flooded; gates, fences, and timber were carried down the streams, as well as numerous fowls and other small animals. A farmer in Borrowdale had twenty sheep washed away. The waters of Lodore could be seen from Keswick coming down the gorge foaming torrent, and the roaring was like continuous thunder, but as the road was under water, few could get a close view. The total quantity of water deposited is almost incredible; it was certainly ten inches deep over an area of 400 square miles, and if spread over the area of the City of London would have risen to the level of the golden gallery of St. Paul's; or, to put it in another form, had Messrs. Hemans and Hassard's scheme for supplying London with pure mountain water been carried out, these six days would have provided

in a

all that London needs and wastes, for half a year. Or, to put it in tons' weight, it must have exceeded one hundred million tons."

The table given shows that in most months the amount of bright sunshine last year was small. In December the sun only shone 7 per cent. of the possible duration, and in the other winter months the amounts were almost equally insignificant: unfortunately our British winter is never conspicuous for cloudless skies and bright invigorating sunshine. The only months with a large percentage were May and September. During the year there were eighty-two frosty nights, eight fewer than in 1887, but slightly in excess of those of 1886, whilst 1884 had only twenty-four. There were in 1888 fifty-two frosty nights during the first three months. At Greenwich 234 days had a temperature below the mean, and 132 days had an excess; whilst from January to October there were 218 cold against 87 warm days. There was not a single hot day that is, a day with the mean decidedly above the average, from June 27 to August 6, and only eighteen during the whole summer. So low is our normal summer temperature, and so accustomed are we to heated rooms, that even in summer only those days with a mean somewhat above the average seem pleasantly hot to most of us.

The Registrar General's returns show, however, that the weather was exceptionally healthy; in the Metropolitan district 79,690 deaths occurred from all causes during the fifty-two weeks from December 25, 1887, to December 22, 1888, which gives an average of 18.5 per 1,000 in a population estimated at 4,282,921. This is the lowest death-rate ever recorded, and is o'3 per 1,000 under that of 1887, which was, up to that time, the healthiest year ever known. The cool summer and mild autumn had much to do with the low death-rate, although the steady decrease of late years points to other causes, and among these must be included better sanitary arrangements. A similar improvement is seen in the twenty-eight great towns, the rate being 19'3 per 1,000 in 1888, and 2018 in 1887. Only five weeks had a death-rate in excess of that of the previous ten years, and of these two were in January, when much fog prevailed over England generally, and in Scotland, and a cold spell was experienced, the changes of temperature being also sudden and considerable. The other three weeks with a high death-rate occurred in October, when very dense fogs prevailed, while at the commencement of the month the weather was exceptionally severe. The death-rate from all causes was below the average from January 22 to October 6, and the deaths from diseases of the respiratory organs were also below the mean with the exception of one week, in which they exceeded it by two.

The deaths from zymotic diseases were below the average from February 26 to October 13, and during the year there were from this cause 3,143 fewer than usual, the deaths in the summer months being about 2,400 below the average, whereas in 1887 for the corresponding three months the deaths from zymotic diseases exceeded the average by nearly 900, which gives a difference of about 3,300, attributable to the very different meteorological conditions which characterised the two summers. The absolutely lowest death-rate in London was 142 per 1,000 in the week ending June 16, and this was lower than in any week since September 26, 1885, then the lowest rate since the first publication of the Registrar General's returns half a century ago.

No record of the weather of 1888 would be complete that did not go more into detail respecting some of the exceptional phenomena experienced during the year. In February, a sharp spell of cold occurred towards the end of the month, and from the 22nd to the 24th the thermometer in London did not rise above freezing point, whilst on the 23rd it did not reach 29°, the lowest day reading in February during the last fifteen years; the weather was unusually severe in many parts of England, and with the excep tion of 1886, so cold a February has not been experienced since 1873. In London the night temperatures in the shade fell below freezing point on nineteen consecutive nights from February 17 to March 6; there are, by the way, only five instances at Greenwich of frost lasting twenty days or more since 1845. March was very cold, the mean for the whole of the British Islands being one degree lower than in January, and in the middle of the month gales and snowstorms were frequent. The summer was cold and wet, the weather of July standing out conspicuously for its low temperature and excessive rainfall, whilst on the 11th snow fell in the Isle of Wight and in some other parts of England. The maximum July temperatures in London were the lowest in any July during the last half century, and the mean temperature on some days was many degrees lower than on several days in March and in December. At Greenwich the rainfall for the month was 709 in., or six times as large as that of July 1887 and 120 in. in excess of the largest previous July fall. The early autumn was exceptionally fine, and the harvest was gathered in in fair condition. October opened with a spell of cold altogether without precedent so early in the autumn, the shade thermometer in London falling to freezing point, or below, on six consecutive nights from the 5th to the 10th, while the Greenwich records for the last fifty years do not show more than two consecutive frosty nights so early in the month. November and December were exceptionally mild, and

higher temperatures were registered than for years past. The last day of the year was, however, excessively cold, the thermometer in London registering two degrees of frost at mid-day, and frost, in the shade at day time, is very rare in the south of England.

Having thus disposed of last year let us inquire what are, scientifically speaking, the characteristic features of British weather? Just these: mild, but raw, damp, foggy, stormy winters, cool summers, and an overcast sky. Ours is not, on the whole, a wet climate, so far as the amount of rain in inches goes, though parts of Cornwall, Devon, Wales, the Lake district, the Western Highlands, and the Irish mountains have a rainfall that would not disgrace a tropical hill country. But all parts of the British Isles have a large number of rainy days, and still worse, as far as the enjoyment of outdoor life goes, very many threatening ones. The driest parts of the kingdom have a rainfall ranging from twenty-five to thirty-five or forty inches a year, not a very large amount it must be confessed; and distributed pretty evenly over the twelve months, while the rain falling on any given day is usually trifling in amount. Twelve hours of steady, heavy rain roughly represent one inch, so that the rainfall of Bournemouth would, were it continuous and heavy, be represented by twelve days and nights; that of Lincoln by eight or nine; and that of Staffordshire by seventeen or eighteen. Tremendous downpours, far in excess of our usual wet days, though rare, are not however unknown.

One inch and a half usually falls on the wettest day of the year at every meteorological station in the United Kingdom, but not a year passes on which four inches do not fall at one or more stations. But vastly larger amounts may fall-at Black Hambledon, near Todmorden, on July 9, 1870, the rainfall exceeded nine inches, and at Scarborough on August 6, 1857, the only rain-gauge in the town was found to be running over; it held nine inches and a half; so that the actual fall probably much exceeded that figure, and it may be assumed that even in our temperate climate nearly twelve inches may fall in a single day, and three inches, at longer intervals, come down in a few hours in thunderstorms in almost every part of the kingdom. But what are these quantities compared with intertropical totals? On the Khasia Hills, N.E. of Calcutta, 610 inches of rain represent the average fall, though at Kurrachee the fall is only seven inches. Even in our Lake District many stations register 100 inches a year, while one reaches 140, and another 175. Were our sky clear, and had we brilliant sunshine instead of our normal leaden canopy, most parts of England might have to complain of