greeted by the sailors with waving of hats and handkerchiefs. During their stay in La Rochelle the shipwrecked persons were treated with great kindness and attention. A concert was given in their behalf, which was well attended, the front seats being reserved for them; and various collections were made, the result being that a sum of 2996 francs was obtained. Before leaving La Rochelle, the officers and crew of the "Germany" drew up and signed an address to the Mayor, thanking him for the kindness with which they had been treated, and expressing the hope that at some future time they might be able to show their gratitude in a more substantial manner. It seems there is but little prospect of saving anything from the wreck, as the vessel is completely buried in the sand.

Shortly after one o'clock on Friday morning, the 27th, a violent thunderstorm broke over Cork, lasting for nearly an hour. The flashes of lightning were incessant, each being followed by loud peals of thunder.

At ten o'clock on Friday morning dark clouds gathered over Birmingham, and a terrific storm of hail, thunder, and lightning followed, being most severe in the southern suburbs. The streets were flooded.

At one o'clock the same morning a heavy storm burst over Queenstown, attended by vivid lightning and a hurricane of wind from the south-west. Heavy rain also fell. The storm continued with great violence until 3 a.m. Such a furious thunderstorm is not remembered to have occurred before in that part of Ireland.

Over sixty yards of permanent way on the South Devon Railway were washed away by the sea at Dawlish on Wednesday, the 25th, and a further adjoining portion of the railway soon followed it.

30. DOUBLE MURDER NEAR BELFAST.-A retired villa residence at Holywood, in the vicinity of Belfast, has been the scene of a horribly cold-blooded murder. Miss Kerr, an elderly lady, and her servant-girl were the only inmates of the house in which this morning their bodies, shockingly mutilated, were discovered, lying in pools of blood. A postman observed two females coming out of the house at eight o'clock in the morning. One was tall and muscular, and the other low in stature. They were also met by a second postman. They both carried bundles-one containing articles of apparel which can be identified, and the other, which was covered by a piece of waterproof cloth, seemed to be made up of pieces of plate. Miss Kerr was a middle-aged lady and a Presbyterian. She was somewhat peculiar in her habits, but was a very intelligent person. From her many acts of charity she had an excellent reputation in Holywood, and was highly esteemed by all who were either directly or indirectly connected with her. The servant was a Roman Catholic. No other intention but that of plunder is assigned as the cause of the murder, and the building being so far removed from the scene, the noise of a struggle would not be heard.

On Tuesday an arrest was made. The prisoner is a servant woman named Mary Raw, aged about twenty-eight years.

being arrested a quantity of blood was found on several parts of her clothing.

31. SPECIAL SERVICES were held in many of the principal London churches, in connexion with a rapidly growing practice of "seeing the old year out and the new year in." It is believed that the system was first adopted by the Wesleyan Methodists, who called the last few hours of the old year "Watch Night;" but now Dissenters of all sorts follow out the plan, and Churchmen-high, low, and broad-have their special midnight services. In the churches in connexion with the Establishment the proceedings, as a rule, began at eleven o'clock with the Litany, or what is now popularly known as "the shortened service;" then came a brief sermon. In the Wesleyan chapels the services were of a similar character, except that no set form of prayer was used. Deep silence was observed during the passing away of the year, and in all cases a joyous hymn was sung before the congregation dispersed.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.

THE following summary of the meteorological calculations of this extraordinary year, sent to the Times, by Dr. Allnatt, of Frant, from observations taken at his residence, 495 feet above the mean level of the sea, may be fitly appended to our "Chronicle:

JANUARY.

This wet and tempestuous month was marked by specific features characteristic of great elemental perturbation. The cloud modifications often presented forms of the most symmetrical structural beauty, and at sunset ponderous radii were produced by the action of the dynamical electro-magnetic forces of the atmosphere. Gales of disastrous violence swept over England and the Continent of Europe, some straight and persistently equatorial, and some cyclonic, with sudden alternations of direction. A hurricane on the 17th came in squalls of impetuous force, and another on the 23rd-24th was accompanied with vivid lightning, thunder, hail, and bursts of heavy rainfall. Pressures were generally low, and during the culminating squall of this great gale the barometer ran down to 27.70 in.—the lowest point I ever remember to have recorded at Frant. On twenty-four days the temperature was in excess, and on five nights it was below the freezing-point of Fahrenheit. The ultimate range of the mean was from 31.6 deg. to 443 deg. There were no severe frosts, and the mean of the month was 1 deg. in excess.

A despatch from Adelaide describes a wave of intense heat that visited South Australia for 12 days; the thermometer never fell below 80 deg., and ranged to 108 deg. in shade. Great mortality ensued.

The rainfall in England during this month was in excess, and the low lands in many districts were flooded. In some parts of Devonshire the guage exceeded 12 in. In this part of Sussex the surplus was 3-87 in.

FEBRUARY.

During the 29 days of this month the mean temperature was in excess on 24 days, storm-cloud was the predominant modification, and the wind was almost persistently equatorial. On some days, after sunset, the ascending vapour was wrought by the electro-magnetic conditions of the atmosphere into symmetrical radii. On the 18th an equatorial gale blew all night and far into the following day. On the 25th a rough and squally wind brought up flying rain clouds, and in Scotland and on the Yorkshire coast freshened into a wild tempestuous gale destructive to human life. On the 29th a stiff gale passed over the southern coast.

On the evening of the 4th there was a grand and a simultaneous display of the Austral and Boreal Aurora. Advices subsequently reached us that it was

seen in England, France, Lisbon, Constantinople, Alexandria, Bombay, Suez, and Aden. Probably an electro-magnetic zone surrounded the earth.

Rain fell on 16 days, and, notwithstanding the copious falls of the preceding month, the gauge was again in excess. On the evenings of the 16th, 18th, 19th, and 22nd lunar coronæ and halos existed with marked chromatic peripheries. On the night of the 11th a great atmospheric wave of cold passed over the continent of America. At Chicago the mercury suddenly fell 33 deg. The wave then passed S.E. at the rate of 25 or 30 miles an hour. The thermometer dropped 15 deg. below zero, and the barometer rose as rapidly as the thermometer fell.

MARCH.

Advices from South Australia state that up to the 15th of this month no such continuous heat had been for many years known at Adelaide and throughout the colonies. There existed also an unusual dearth of water. In England, on the contrary, the consecutive months of the new year had been preternaturally wet, and March, from the 20th, abnormally frigid. From the 1st to the 26th there were 13 days on which rain fell, and the ultimate range of excess over the estimated value was upwards of 5.25 in. In Devonshire, near the coast, the rainfall exceeded 12 in. This is the third or fourth time I have placed in apposition the coincident meteorological conditions of the opposite hemispheres, and in all cases the equilibrium of the atmosphere appears to have been destroyed.

From the beginning of the month to the 9th the temperature was above the average; then came a period below the computed value. The temperature again rose, but was soon followed by another fall, and from the 20th to the 27th was a season of great rigour. The night temperature ranged from 24 deg. to 29 deg., and on each occasion hard frosts prevailed. On the 22nd the mean was 12·1 deg., and on the 26th 10-2 deg. below the average. On the evening of the 28th the wind backed from Pole to Equator, and a tempestuous gale sprang up and raged in paroxysms of great force throughout the night into the evening of the following day, with squalls of heavy rainfall. In 48 hours the mean temperature had run up from 32 deg. to 51 deg.—a range of nearly 20 deg. During the last four days the temperature was in

excess.

APRIL.

The temperature of this month shows 18 days of excess, 11 of deficiency, and one day of equal temperature-that is to say, it tallied with the computed average of 50 years. The range was from 37 to 57 deg.; the difference, therefore, between the maximum and minimum was 20 deg.

On the 4th a frigid wave passed over and sent down the thermometer to 29 deg. On the following morning the mercury stood at 40 deg.

Equatorial winds prevailed on 18 days, and rain fell on 15 days, and was again excessive.

Widespread and destructive thunderstorms raged on the 25th and 26th, with vivid lightning and loud peals of thunder. On the 10th an aurora appeared in N.w. that consisted of bright homogeneous light, interspersed with the dark lenticular Polar matter so often seen in auroras. On the 21st a luminous solar rainbow, with well-defined chromatic periphery, spanned the

N.E. horizon, and on the following day another was produced by the setting On the 28th and 29th there were solar halos for several hours.

sun.

In South Australia the heat this month was excessive; "no such continuous heat," says the report, "has been known for several years, and the colonies throughout are threatened with drought."

In Southern India a cyclone of great force bore up from the Bay of Bengal, traversed the coast of Ceylon at the speed of 170 miles an hour, and committed great havock in its onward course. This great wind current is stated to have been 400 miles in circumference.

MAY.

This month presents an aspect peculiarly ungenial. From the 1st to the 4th the diurnal averages of temperature were somewhat in excess, but from the 5th to the 25th inclusive a consecutive run of temperature occurred far short of the normal standard. On the 11th it was no less than 12.3 deg. below the mean, and on the 12th the night temperature sank to 300 deg. of Fahrenheit. On the whole day the average was 94 deg. below the mean of 50 years. On the 18th and 19th the defalcation was 13.3 deg. and 11.5 deg. respectively below the acknowledged mean.

From almost all parts of England the prevalence of cold and stormy weather is reported, and during this inclement period snow and sleet were of frequent occurrence, and the electro-magnetic conditions of the atmosphere were so abnormally developed that even during the prevalence of frigid polar winds thunderstorms of destructive violence raged. In Yorkshire the hills were covered with snow, and by the biting winds vegetation throughout the whole country was greatly retarded, and early crops of vegetables destroyed. In accordance with the preternatural development of the elemental forces the cloud modifications often presented a grand and imposing spectacle, especially during the violent storms which prevailed throughout the month. Heavy thunderclouds often overspread the whole heavens, and sometimes the sky was chequered by a canopy of silvery ripple marks. On the evening of the 28th an aurora appeared in the eastern horizon, and the stars shone with preternatural lustre as through a gauze veil, produced by the interception. of the polar matter of the aurora.

JUNE.

This was a variable month, and somewhat remarkable for the demonstration of the local diversities of its thermal conditions. On the 5th the night temperature was 440 deg.; morning, 56'0 deg.; and afternoon, 650 deg.; mean of day, 550 deg. On that date at Egremont, Cheshire, a sheet of ice formed on exposed water, and at Newton it was reported that ice as thick as a shilling appeared on the morning of the 6th. The highest night temperature here was on the 17th, and registered 610 deg. ; the lowest, 400 deg., was on the 1st, 2nd, 7th, and 8th; the range, therefore, was 210 deg. The highest morning temperature was 720 deg., the lowest 480 deg., the range 240 deg. The highest mid-day temperature happened on the 18th and 19th, when 760 deg. were respectively registered. This was the culminating point of day temperature in shade, and the maximum excess over the computed value reached 10-5 deg.

The predominant cloud modification was the nimbus or storm cloud. Two

I