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having been noted on the 12th of April. The third quarter was
comparatively more unseasonable even than the second, the mean
temperature of July being 4 deg., of August 1.6 deg., and of
September nearly 1 deg. below the average, so that the mean for
the eleven months ending September 30th was, with the exception
of 1813-14 and 1814-15, the lowest recorded during the whole
of the present century. The last quarter of the year was no
exception as regards cold, the mean temperature of December
having been only 32.4 deg., against 31.9 deg. in January, and
39.l degrees for the preceding 108 years. November also was
4 degrees below the average of 108 years. October was comparatively
fine, but even in that month the temperature was below
the average. The lowest temperatures recorded at my house
during November and December were as follows: viz., in
November, 23.2 degrees, and in December, 11.4 degrees. The
rainfall was 2.38 inches in January; 3.36 inches in February;
0.74 inches in March; 2.39 inches in April; 3.24 inches in
May; 3.89 inches in June; 3.0 inches in July; as much as 4.58
inches in August; 2.61 inches in September; 0.97 inches in
October; 0.86 inches in November; and 0.80 inches in December,
making a total of 29.02 inches in the year, which, as the
gauge is more than six feet above the ground, is less than would
have been recorded if it had been placed on the grass. There
were two days on which an inch of rain or more fell, viz., on
May 29th and September 24th, the amount on the latter day
having reached 1.28 inches, so that it was not so much the
heavy as the very frequent rainfall that brought up the total to
so large an amount.
I remain, Gentlemen,
Yours obediently,
JOHN W. TRIPE, M.D.,
Medical Officer of Health.
April 26, 1880.
Ordered to be printed and circulated.
MICHAEL YOUNG, Chairman.