Extract of a Register of the Barometer, Thermometer, and Rain, at Lyndon, in Rutland, 1774. By Thomas Barker, Esquire. Communicated by Sir John Pringle, Bart. P. R. S.

XVIII. Extract of a Register of the Barometer, Thermometer, and Rain, at Lyndon, in Rutland, 1774. By Thomas Barker, Esquire. Communicated by Sir John Pringle, Bart. P. R. S. Redde, March 23, 1775. | | Barometer. | Thermometer. | Rain. | |-------|------------|--------------|-------| | | Highest | Lowest | Mean | In the House. | Abroad. | | | | | | High | Low | Mean | High | Low | Mean | | Jan. | Morn. | 29.77 | 28.32 | 29.15 | 42 | 31½ | 35 | 43 | 20 | 29 | 3,308 | | | Aftern. | | | | 43 | 32 | 36 | 46 | 28 | 33½ | | | Feb. | Morn. | 30.95 | 28.49 | 29.25 | 46 | 33½ | 40 | 45 | 22 | 34½ | 1,946 | | | Aftern. | | | | 46½ | 35 | 41 | 51½ | 29½ | 41 | | | Mar. | Morn. | 29.81 | 28.56 | 29.30 | 48½ | 38 | 43 | 44 | 28½ | 36 | 2,728 | | | Aftern. | | | | 51 | 39 | 44½ | 57½ | 35½ | 46 | | | Apr. | Morn. | 29.77 | 28.72 | 29.24 | 53 | 44½ | 48 | 52½ | 32½ | 42 | 1,523 | | | Aftern. | | | | 54½ | 45½ | 49 | 62½ | 37½ | 51 | | | May | Morn. | 29.67 | 28.76 | 29.35 | 55 | 48 | 51½ | 55½ | 40 | 46 | 3,142 | | | Aftern. | | | | 56½ | 49 | 53 | 69½ | 45 | 57 | | | Jun. | Morn. | 29.76 | 28.87 | 29.33 | 62 | 54 | 59 | 61 | 50 | 55 | 2,483 | | | Aftern. | | | | 66 | 55½ | 60 | 73½ | 56 | 65½ | | | July | Morn. | 29.76 | 29.10 | 29.41 | 63½ | 57½ | 60 | 61 | 52 | 56 | 3,227 | | | Aftern. | | | | 66½ | 58½ | 62 | 76½ | 61 | 66 | | | Aug. | Morn. | 29.80 | 28.80 | 29.38 | 68 | 58 | 61½ | 64 | 47 | 55½ | 3,910 | | | Aftern. | | | | 70 | 60 | 63½ | 78½ | 59 | 67 | | | Sept. | Morn. | 29.74 | 28.70 | 29.28 | 65 | 53 | 56 | 61 | 40 | 49½ | 8,000 | | | Aftern. | | | | 68½ | 53½ | 57½ | 73 | 48½ | 59 | | | Oct. | Morn. | 30.06 | 28.92 | 29.64 | 56½ | 46 | 52 | 51 | 34 | 43½ | 1,150 | | | Aftern. | | | | 57½ | 46 | 53½ | 64½ | 42 | 53 | | | Nov. | Morn. | 29.73 | 28.73 | 29.36 | 52½ | 35½ | 43 | 49 | 28 | 37 | 1,530 | | | Aftern. | | | | 52½ | 36 | 44 | 55½ | 32 | 41 | | | Dec. | Morn. | 30.21 | 28.68 | 29.60 | 46 | 32½ | 40 | 47 | 25 | 38 | 2,280 | | | Aftern. | | | | 46 | 32½ | 40 | 47 | 25 | 38 | | Total: 35,235 The quantity of rain this year having exceeded any I ever had before, I have added here a new table of the wettest months from one to twelve to those I had before given. See vol. LXI. p. 226. In the seventeen months from May 1773 to September 1774 there fell 55,890 inches of rain, which is 3,288 inches each month; and in the three years 1772, 1773, and 1774, there came 93,258 inches; that is, 31,046 inches each year. The year began very feverish with a sharp frost, which was not out of the ground for seven weeks together, though in the mean time there were several breaks, attended with great rains or snows and floods, and then freezing again. After the frost it was windy and wet for near a month, till above a week in March; the latter part of that month and all April were more fair, a good seed-time; and though with some frosty mornings, yet we had in general more mild weather than there has been in spring of late years. There was at times a good deal of fine weather in summer, yet mixed with a great deal of wet; it was a great grass year, and a cool summer. The hay-time and beginning of harvest were showery, yet more hindering than hurting; but the latter part of harvest in September was exceeding bad indeed. No grain could be carried for three weeks together; for it rained every day, day, and in great quantities. I never measured so wet a month before. The wheat and oats were chiefly got in before it, and a great deal of barley; yet, as it was a late harvest, there was a great deal of the barley out, some wheat, and almost all the beans and peas. The wheat through the severe and wet winter was all along thin, and much of it mildewed by the wet towards harvest. The crop of barley was not amiss, if it could have been all well got; but some of it suffered by the wet after it was cut. The beans and peas were a remarkable great crop till harvest; but almost entirely spoiled in it. There was a great deal of winter meat for the cattle this year, plenty of good grass, a great deal of hay, and fine crops of turnips; but the straw of that corn, which was out in the wet, was spoiled. The weather settled just at the beginning of October, which was a very fine month, almost like summer; and it was not till then that the harvest could be finished. The wheat seed-time was good, and the rest of the year favourable upon the whole; though a frost at the end of November and beginning of December was earlier than usual, attended with snow, and threatened a severe winter in most parts of Europe; yet it grew mild again afterward, was in general fair, and the ground continued tolerably dry, and a few frosty days concluded the year.