Papers on meteorology : relating especially to the climate of Britain, and to the variations of the barometer / by Luke Howard.

  • Howard, Luke, 1772-1864.
Date:
1850-1854
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Papers on meteorology : relating especially to the climate of Britain, and to the variations of the barometer / by Luke Howard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    VARIATIONS OF THE BAROMETER, ETC., FROM 1815 TO 1823. 191 now and then happens, a second flowering and a second crop, on the aftershoots at the top of the stem: not an aphis was anywhere to be seen upon the plants. Turnips, it was observed, though a good crop, would have been larger with more of warmth. Of grass and clover, I need not say we had plenty, and that up to quite a late period; and those who carefully watched for the dry intervals, and diligently used them, got their crops pretty well; but some portion was inevitably damaged or lost. It is plain, that, with some minor inconveniences and losses attending it, this very wet summer, coming as it did, has been productive of a great and general good. Tottenham, 23rd January, 1840. ON CERTAIN VARIATIONS OF THE MEAN HEIGHT OF THE BAROMETER, MEAN TEMPERATURE AND FALL OF RAIN, CONNECTED WITH THE MOON’S PHASES, IN THE CYCLE OF YEARS FROM 1815 TO 1823*. Some observations made as far back as the year 1798, on the subject of this paper, will be found treated in the ‘ Climate of Londonf,’ vol i., under the head of “ Peri- odical variations.” In the same division of the work, I have submitted the very dry year 1807 and the very wet year 1816 to an examination in respect of the natural periods and efficient causes of these variations in the atmosphere of our own climate. The results, as far as they Avent, were satisfactory, and tended to encourage further search, the materials for which were presented in the work itself; but I do not find that anything has yet been done with them by others. In the mean time, the curiosity of the public on these subjects increases; and too many seem prepared to feed it with anything but real knowledge—the result of actual observation and fair inferences. I shall not here revert to what I have before published : my purpose in this paper is to show what may be done by such an inquiry extended through a period of nine years : and I have selected, as the most perfect in detail and most suitable to my present aim, the nine years from 1815 to 1823 inclusive; the obser- vations being all in the neighbourhood of London. I shall not be able to complete * Read before the Royal Society on the 12th of March, 1840. See Proceedings, No. 42 (vol. iv. p. 211). [f The present and all future references to the ‘ Climate of London,’ contained in this collection of Papers communicated to the Royal Society, unless otherwise stated, are to the second edition of that work, published in 1833.]