Page:Item 7 1858.pdf/187

ports, he had sometimes found his mean temperature for the quarter lower than that of any other station, excepting one or two of the most northerly. In the quarter ending March 31st, 1858, the only station that exhibited a lower temperature was Allenheads in Durham. In the corresponding quarter of 1859, York and Allenheads were the only two stations that had an equally low or lower mean temperature, York having exactly the same (41.2). He had been struck with the similarity which frequently occurred between the observations made at York and those which he had made at Fairlight; and, were it not for the much lower readings of the minimum thermometer at York, it might almost be inferred that the difference of elevation was almost equivalent to the difference of latitude. The difference between the extreme temperatures at all the stations was 86 degrees, and at Fairlight only 63 degrees - a proof of the equability of climate in the latter locality. Hastings, although warmer than Fairlight, had exactly the same range of temperature in the two years under observation. He could compare Hastings with Fairlight as to the amount of wind, cloud and ozone, only in three quarters of the year 1857, and from that limited comparison it appeared that Hastings had nearly one third more wind than Fairlight, and one third less ozone. The amount of cloud was nearly equal. If the presence of ozone in large quantities were indicative of a healthy state of the atmosphere, then ought Fairlight to be one of the healthiest places in the kingdom. Whatever ozone might be, it appeared to exhibit itself in the greatest intensity on high ground; whether that arose from the atmosphere at great elevations containing more of it than at lower levels, or from there being less of that which served to fix or absorb it than on lower ground he would not venture to say. Possibly, as supposed by some, it was dependent on magnetism, it was not unlikely that the geological formation of any locality might have something to do with its amount of ozone. The amount of cloud observed at any place was an important element in determining the character of its climate. In that respect the climate of Fairlight would seem to be a pleasant and cheerful one if the two years under consideration could be taken as a sufficient criterion. In 1857 Fairlight had one-third less cloud than at 42 other stations, and in 1858, one-fourth less. With regard to the wind he had made no numerical comparison, the mode of observation being necessarily uncertain. From personal observations made both at Fairlight and Hastings on the same day, he should say that the former had less wind than the latter. The seawinds which had the longest duration and were the strongest, appeared to be somewhat weakened in climbing the slopes of the hill -