at variance with what I myself had been led to deduce from common observation during my residence there, and I believe it is different from the impression on the minds of the inhabitants generally. The greater frequency there than in other parts of England, of showers, at least, if not of rainy days, seemed universally admitted. I had said in my pamphlet published in 1821, "we have heavy showers on many of our finest days; and this is so well known and expected, that the circumstance is hardly looked upon as an inconvenience;" and Dr. Borlase, the accurate historian of Cornwall, who resided in this district, gave a similar opinion sixty years before. "Our rains in Cornwall, he says, are rather frequent than heavy or excessive; and we have very seldom a day so thoroughly wet, but that there is some intermission, nor so cloudy but the sun will find a time to shine."[1]
I am unacquainted with any hygrometrical observations that have been made in this part of the country; I cannot, therefore, give any precise statement either of the comparative or actual humidity of its atmosphere. There can be no doubt, however, that this is much greater than in the interior counties. Its situation alone may be deemed sufficient to prove this; but the fact is further demonstrated by many well-known peculiarities. There is much greater difficulty, for instance, of guarding against the oxidation of iron at Penzance than at London: and of preserving articles of dress, &c. from the effects of damp, a fact well known and admitted
- ↑ The Natural History of Cornwall, by William Borlase, LL. D. F. It S. Oxford, 1758, fol.
