Page:Transactions of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, volume 2.djvu/89

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.


As possibly bearing on the subject of health, I shall only further notice the marked effect of the easterly winds in raising the mercury, and of the westerly winds in depressing it. This will appear from the following statement, which gives the proportional prevalence of the two winds during the times that the barometer stood at its highest and lowest points during three years.


Wind Easterly. Wind Westerly.
Days. Days.
Barometer at its highest, 21 12
Barometer at its lowest, 90 22

Humidity.─Cornwall has ever been obnoxious to the charge of great humidity, and I can vouch for the accuracy of the charge as far as its western extremity is concerned. There falls at Penzance nearly twice as much rain as at London, the annual average at the former place being 44.7, and at the latter only 25 inches. The following table will show its distribution through the different periods of the year at both these places:─


Fall of Rain in Inches and parts of Inches in each Month and Season.
Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Penzance, (12yrs.) 3.7 8.8 3.4 2.9 2.9 9.4. 3.1 8.8 3.7 4.6 4.9 5.5
London, (20 yrs.) 1.9 1.4 1.2 1.6 1.8 1.9 2.6 2.1 1.9 2.5 2.9 2.4


Winter. Spring. Summer. Autumn.
Penzance, 12.5 9.2 9.3 13.2
London, 5.8 4.8 6.6 7.4


Number of Days on which Rain falls in each Month and Season.
PENZANCE, (12 Years.)
Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Total.
15.2 14.1 14.8 13.4 12.4 11.0 13.4 14.8 13.1 16.1 18.8 91.4 179.2
LONDON, (10 Years.)
14 16 13 14 16 12 16 16 12 16 15 18 178


Winter. Spring. Summer. Autumn.
Penzance, 50.7 40.3 39.2 48
London, 48 48 44 43