MAXIMUM OBSERVATIONS.-Morning-3rd, 19th, and 24th, 10°, all directions; 6th, 10th, and 26th, 8°.2, all directions. Noon– 3d, N. to W. and S. W.; 10th, all directions; 17th, 10° W. to N.W. Evening-1st, W.N.W.; 2nd, all directions; 10th and 24th, 10°.

MEDIUM OBSERVATIONS.-Morning-9th, scattered; 17th, 5° N.W. and S.W. Noon-6th, S.E. to N.W.; 26th, 5°, scattered; Evening-18th, scattered; 25th, 5o, N. and S.E.

MINIMUM OBSERVATIONS.-Morning-7th, S. W. to S.; 16th, W. and N.E.; 18th and 25th, 1°, scattered. Noon-25th, 0°.3, S.W. to NE. Evening-4th, 0°.5. W.N.W.

Ozonometer.

DAY OBSERVATIONS.-Maximum-30th and 31st, 5°; 25th, 4°.9. Medium-4th, 14th, 16th, 23rd, 24th, 26th, and 29th, 3°. mum—2nd, 0°•2.

Mini

NIGHT OBSERVATIONS.-Maximum-31st, 7°4; 16th, 26th, and 30th, 6o4. Medium-22nd and 28th, 4°. Minimum-14th, 0°.3.

November.

Barometer.

MAXIMUM OBSERVATIONS.-Morning-10th, 30°-77; 12th, 30°-75; 17th and 25th, 30°-74. Noon-13th and 15th, 30°-80; 17th, 30°-75. Evening-9th and 14th, 30°-80.

MEDIUM OBSERVATIONS.-Morning-13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 19th, 21st, 23rd, 24th, and 27th, 30°-70. Noon-9th, 19th, and 24th, 30° 70. Evening-16th and 17th, 30°.70.

MINIMUM OBSERVATIONS.-Morning-29th, 30°-66. Noon-16th, 30°-68. Evening-17th, 30°.70.

Weather.

Wet-Days, 3; nights, 7. Fair-Days, 25; nights, 20. Cloudy -Days, 2; nights, 3.

December.
Barometer.

MAXIMUM OBSERVATIONS.-Morning-14th, 30°-75; 2nd, 9th, 12th, 23rd, and 29th, 30°-70. Noon-3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 15th, and 25th, 30°-70. Evening-16th and 17th, 30°-73; 15th and 22nd, 30°.70.

MEDIUM OBSERVATIONS. - Morning--14th, 30°-68. Noon-8th and 20th, 30° 69. Evening-10th, 30°·69.

MINIMUM OBSERVATIONS.-Morning-7th, 30°.55. Noon-9th, 30°-68. Evening-6th, 30°.65.

Weather.

Wet-Days, 0; nights, 2. Fair-Days, 29; nights, 24. Cloudy -Days, 2; nights, 5.

BAROMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS TAKEN AT THE MILITARY HOSPITAL, FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE, IN 1820. (BOYLE.)

173

CHAPTER IX.

THE SEASONS OF WESTERN AFRICA-GENERAL OBSERVATIONS-
THE SUMMER SEASON.

mer, autumn,

THE division of the year into seasons must depend entirely on the climate of the country; and, consequently, we find it to present endless varieties in different latitudes, and this is governed by the unequal distribution of light and heat, caused by the spherical condition of the earth; by its obliquity in relation to the equatorial plane; by its axial diurnal revolution, and by "its motion in its elliptical orbit, by which every part of the surface between 23 north and south latitudes are in turn exposed to the perpendicular influence of the sun's rays.' Amongst the ancient Greeks and Egyptians the year was Spring, sumdivided, as it now is in England, into spring, summer, and winter. autumn, and winter; but their respective dates of commencement and termination differ materially, each having special reference to their respective climate. Thus, with the first, i. e., the ancient Greeks, spring commenced on or about the 20th of March, when the sun enters the first degree of Aries, and terminates on or about the 7th of May, at the heliacal rising of the Vergiliæ or Pleiades: with the second, i. e., the Egyptians, spring occupies the months of January and February with the third, i.e., the English or modern, spring commences at the vernal equinox, on the day or hour when the distance of the meridian altitude of the sun from the zenith is at a mean between the greatest and the least, which is the 20th of March,

:

and terminates on or about the 21st of June, as soon as the sun is about to enter the first degree of Cancer.

With the first, the summer commences from the 7th of May to the heliacal rising of Sirius, a star of the first magnitude in the constellation Canis major; or on the heliacal rising of Arcturus, a star also of the first magnitude in the constellation Bootes or Arctophylax, which takes place about the 15th September; sometimes it is reckoned from the heliacal rising. of Procyon, in the constellation Canis minor: with the second, the summer commences in March and continues on to the end of August with the third, the summer commences on the summer solstice, or the hour when the sun attains its maximum distance from the equator, or northern declination, i. e., 21st June, and terminates on or about the 22d of September, just as the sun is about to enter Libra.

With the first, the autumn commences on or about the 15th September, at the heliacal rising of Sirius, Arcturus, or Procyon, and terminates about the 5th of November; or the heliacal setting of the Vergilio or Pleiades: with the second, the autumn commences in September and terminates with the last day in October: with the third, the autumn commences on the beginning of the autumnal equinox, or the day the meridian distance of the sun from the zenith is at a mean between the greatest and the least, viz., about the 22d September, and terminates on or about the 21st day of December, just as the sun is about to enter Capricornus.

With the first, the winter commences with the heliacal setting of the Pleiades, on or about the 5th November, and terminates on the day the distance of the sun's meridian altitude from the zenith is at a mean between the greatest and the least with the second, the winter commences in November and terminates in December: with the third, the winter commences on or about the 21st of December, on the winter solstice, when the distance of the sun from the zenith is greatest, and terminates at the vernal equinox.

From the foregoing, therefore, it proves that amongst the