The natural history of Selborne : with observations on various parts of nature, and the naturalist's calendar / by the late Rev. Gilbert White ; with extensive additions by Captain Thomas Brown.

  • Gilbert White
Date:
1838
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The natural history of Selborne : with observations on various parts of nature, and the naturalist's calendar / by the late Rev. Gilbert White ; with extensive additions by Captain Thomas Brown. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    27/392 (page 11)
    RAIN— POPULATION. Bi with game ; even now, hares, partridges, and pheasants abound ; and in old days woodcocks were as plentiful. There are few quails, because they more affect open fields than enclosures. After harvest, some few land-rails are seen. The parish of Selborne, by taking in so much of the forest, is a vast district. ‘Those who tread the bounds are employed part of three days in the business, and are of opinion that the outline, in all its curves and indentings, does not comprise less than thirty miles. . | The village stands in a sheltered spot, secured by the Hanger from the strong westerly winds. ‘The air is soft, but rather moist, from the effluvia of so many trees ; yet perfectly healthy and free from agues. The quantity of rain that falls on it is very considerable, as may be supposed in so woody and mountainous a district. As my experience in measuring the water is but of short date, I am not qualified to give the mean quantity.* I only know that, Inch. Hund. From May 1, 1779, to the end of the year, there fell . Osi ST! From January J, 1780, to January 1,1781 . ‘ : 27 «82 From January }], 1781, to January 1, 1782 ° : - sO 71 From January 1, 1782, to January 1, 3783. ‘ 50 «26! From January I, 1783, to January 1, 1784 : : <p ae From January 1, 1784, to January 1,1785 . é ‘ 33 = 80 From January 1, 1785, to January 1, 1786 ° . « CO OS From January 1, 1786, to January 1,1787 . 39 579 The village of Selborne, and large hamlet of Oakhanger, with the single farms, and many scattered houses along the verge of the forest, contain upwards of six hundred and seventy inhabitants. We abound with poor, many of whom are sober and industrious, and live comfortably, in good stone or brick cottages, which are glazed, and have chambers above stairs : mud buildings we have none. Besides the employment from husbandry, the men work in hop gardens, of which we have many, and fell and bark timber. In the spring and summer * A very intelligent gentleman assures me, (and he speaks from upwards of forty years’ experience,) that the mean rain of any place cannot be ascertained till a person has measured it for a very long period. “If I had only measured the rain,” says he, “ for the four first years, from 1740 to 1743, I should have said the mean rain at Lyndon was 16% inches for the year ; if from 1740 to 1750, 18 inches. The mean rain before. 1763, was 204; from 1763 and since, 25% ; from 1770 to 1780, 26. If only 1773, 1774, and 1775, had been measured, Lyndon mean rain would have been called 32 inches, increasing from 16.6 to 32.”