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37
cistern was found to be fairly clean, but the interior of the pipes
was covered with a gelatinous deposit. The New River water,
as reported by Drs. Frankland and Tidy, was generally clear and
bright, but the East London was not quite clear in July and
December. They contained between 16.22 and 23.21 grains per
gallon of total solids, which is not excessive, or in any way
injurious, indeed, on the contrary,.especially for children, would
be likely to be beneficial as supplying some of the salts necessary
for maintaining the bodily structure. I also made some analyses
of the East London water, and found the total solids to vary
between 18.02 and 19.40 grains per gallon.
The meteorology of the year was somewhat unusual, as the
mean temperature was 50°1, which is 1°3 F. above the average
of 105 years, as deduced from the observations taken at the
Observatory, Greenwich. The mean temperature for January
was 37°3; for February, 41°1; for March, 41°1; for April,
47°2; for May, 49°4; for June, 58°5; for July, 65°9; for
August, 63°7; for September, 55°8; for October, 52°8; for
November, 44°0; and for December, 44°1; so that the mean
temperature for February and March were the same, and that
for December was absolutely 0°1 higher than that of November.
The average temperature for July was 4°3 in excess, and for
August, 2°9; the highest temperature in the shade'recorded
in July having been 94°0, and in August 93°8; the mean of all
the highest in July having been 80°0, and in August 76°8.
The lowest temperature recorded in January was 17°1; in
February, 21°8; in November, 25°5; and in December, 28°3.
The rainfall was 24.2 inches, which is nearly an average, but as
much as 8.9 inches fell in November and December, being the
largest amount of rain in that month that has been recorded since
1821. There were but two weeks in which-the mean temperature
fell below freezing point, viz., in the second week in January
and in February. The temperature in July was in excess for
each week as follows, 4°0, 3°1, 8°0, and 1°3 F.; whilst in the