300
This gravelly soil must contain a great quantity of water. This can be seen to be a fact inasmuch as there are springs or sources of water in the City which even during the longest droughts do not dry up.
As a consequence the soil below the ground floor of houses and frequently the basements of houses themselves are more or less damp.
These matters have of course long been recognised and legislated for, but in actual practice i think that there is much to be desired. There appears to be great difficulty in obtaining, for example, lime concrete of a good enough quality to render a ground floor dry and impervious, and I am of the opinion that, wherever it is desired to lay down a ground surface which is to be impervious, good cement concrete should be insisted on in lieu of the lime concrete at present accepted as sufficient by the law.
The following table, compiled from the monthly report of the Director of the Observatory, gives the monthly means or totals, as the case may be, of certain meteorological phenomena recorded throughout the year:-
TEMPERATURE.
WIND.
HUMIDITY. SUNSHINE. RAINFALL.
MONTH.
Max. Min.
Mean.
Direction. Force.
January,
63
54.2
58.3
.89
1073
1:370
ENE
11-8
February,
62.7
55.1
584
73
77.2
*210
E by N
12.6
March,
70.1
63-0
66.3
89
64.3
2-655
E
15.0
April,.
76.8
68.7
72.4
83
86.6
4.725
E by S
13-2
May,
79-5
72.2
75.4
87
82-5
13.960
E by S
13.8
June,
86.4
78.5
82.0
151-6
25.230
SSW
11-7
July,
86-2
78-1
81.7
84
208.1 11.160
E by S
11.4
August,
85-8
77.1
80.9
85
157.5
14.970
SSW
8.7
September,
82.9
75-8
78.6
81
165-7
16:535
E
13:0
October,
81-5
72.2
76.1
70
173-9
1-660
NE by N
13.9
November,
73-8
62.1
67-2
62
209-2
1-099
NĚ
9.6
December,
66.9
56.0
61.1
56
222-3
-085
NE by N
12.0
The month of June shews the highest mean nonthly temperature while the greatest height of the thermometer was reached at 92.4 F. on July 31st.
The lowest mean monthly temperature is that for Januiry 58 3, but the low- est daily mean is that for Febrary 2nd when a temperature of 46.0 was recorded.
The lowest temperature recorde i by the minimum thermometer was 41.9 on February 3rd.
In my report on the epidemic of plague during 1903 I have discussed at some length the possible relationship of the epidemic to the meteorological data,
I should like however here a gain to draw attention to the very great differ- ence between the recor 1 for December, 1902, and that for December, 1903.
It is perhaps best shewn in the form of a table :-
WIND.
Month.
Relative Mean Temp. Humidity.
Sunshine. Rainfall.
Direction Force.
Dec., 1902. 64.6 Dec., 1903, 61.1
75% 56%
719 222.3
2-965 085
ENE 11-2 NE by E 120
In December, 1902, therefore the mean temperature of the month was 3.5° F. higher, there was 18 times as much moisture in the air, and the amount of sun- shine was less than one-third that of December, 1903. The rainfall too in December, 1902, was nearly 3 inches, while in December, 1903, was practically nil.
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