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average of ten years, it was 16.2°; and for the same years in Guernsey exactly half, or 8.1°. The following tabular statement of the mean daily range of each month will, however, be the best illustration of this:

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September. 19.8

The difference thus indicated is total, and is connected with another, also very important, namely the total absence of night frosts in Guernsey. The effects on vegetation are very remarkable.

The extremes of temperature in Guernsey also range within narrow limits. There has been no reading of an accurate thermometer recorded higher than 83°, or below 24.5°.

2. Barometric pressure.-The fluctuations of the barometer in Guernsey are frequent, but moderate. The maximum height of the column is in September and December, and the minimum in October and April; and, as in England, the pressure is generally greater in summer than in winter.

3. Winds.-The absolute force of the wind does not seem to be excessive, though squalls are frequent and violent. North-west winds blow, on an average, 109 days, north-east winds 107, south-west 100, and south-east 50. North-east winds prevail in September, May, and March, the average being 121, 12, and 11 days. North-west winds preponderate in August; and in April north-east and north-west winds are equal. In no month is there an average of more than 6 days of southeast wind. During June, July, August, October, and January, nearly two-thirds of the weather is from westerly quarters; and during March, May, and September, from easterly quarters.

4. Rain-fall-The mean annual rain-fall in Guernsey is nearly 35 inches, falling on 164 days. October is the wettest month, and January the month in which the number of rainy days is greatest. From May to August, inclusive, are the driest months, the total rain-fall being 8 inches; and from October to January the wettest, when 16 inches fall. More rain falls in the night than during the day. A continuance of twelve hours' rain is rare, and the finest days often succeed the worst mornings. Snow rarely falls, and when it does, is generally with a south-east wind late in the season. Hail occurs at all seasons, but not often very heavily.

5. Cloud and Moisture.-The air is very frequently clouded in Guernsey, but only partially. The mean cloudiness of the year is about 5, a completely clouded sky being 10. The air is seldom saturated with moisture, though the mean humidity is 854. The extreme of humidity is in February, when the temperature is lowest. The driest month is August, when the temperature is highest. Dense sea-fogs are common in May and June; but the total number of days of thick weather in the year is not large. The dews are very heavy.

6. Ozone. The ozone-observations range over too short a period to be of much value, but the means during that period were not high, especially during the summer months. September to January, inclusive, were the months of maximum ozone.

JERSEY.

The climate of Jersey differs from that of Guernsey much more than would be expected from its close vicinity and similarity of form, elevation, and soil. The mean temperature is nearly the same, Jersey being 0.3° higher; but the spring, summer, and autumn are warmer than the mean, and the winter colder. Thus from April to October, inclusive, the mean of Jersey is one degree higher than in Guernsey; and from November to January, inclusive, three-quarters of a degree lower. During the other months the means correspond. The daily range differs considerably. Thus in December it is 17.7° in Jersey, and in Guernsey only 7°; in January the figures are 7·1° and 6.7°, and in July 6.8° and 6°. August alone shows a small difference the other way, the range then being somewhat greater in Guernsey, and the mean temperature more than one degree lower.

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Elements of the Climate of Guernsey.-Mean Results of Observations extending over sixteen years, from January 1st, 1843, to December 31st, 1858. By S. Elliott Hoskins, M.D., F.R.S. [Latitude of Station, 49° 27' N. Longitude, 2° 32′ W. Height of Station above mean sea-level, 204 feet.]

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The general result shows a greater variability in the climate of Jersey. The daily range during six years of mutual good observation was 11.6° in Jersey and 8° in Guernsey, and the mean monthly range 27-9° and 20-6° respectively. All these particulars of climate are further illustrated by a careful comparison of tabulated results.

The barometric pressure in Jersey generally varies less than in Guernsey; and the two islands by no means correspond in range or actual pressure. They occupy different positions with regard to the great atmospheric wave.

Jersey is less cloudy than Guernsey; the number of days of rain-fall is smaller, and the quantity of rain is also smaller. The two islands are exceedingly different in respect to humidity, both in amount and season. The monthly range of humidity is greatest in Jersey.

On the whole, Jersey is drier and warmer than Guernsey, and has a clearer atmosphere; it is hotter in summer and cooler in winter. The pressure of the air varies less frequently, but within larger limits; heavier rain falls there, but more rain falls in the year, and it falls on more days, in Guernsey.

The climates of Alderney and Sark have not been carefully observed. It is generally considered that both are more bracing than the larger islands.

All the Channel Islands agree in some general conditions of the climate. A general summary of these will be useful.

The equability and duration of autumn are, in ordinary seasons, extremely remarkable. Storms, and occasional heavy rains, usher in this season; but they are not succeeded by cold. In the intervals, up to the end of the year, the weather is remarkably fine and genial, with no night frosts. From the 10th October to the end of the month is what is called St. Martin's summer, and the weather is then singularly agreeable. The same kind of weather often recurs in the middle of December.

During the spring months, east, north-east, and north winds, and sometimes north-west winds, are frequent and violent, and often extremely disagreeable. They feel cold, but do not bring down the thermometer. They are often very dry. The night temperature is still comparatively high, hoar frost being rarely seen, except in exposed, bleak, and high positions, and in the months of January and February. February is the coldest month of the year.

The days in summer are rarely hot; the nights are cool and pleasant, almost without exception. The latter part of summer is generally fine and pleasant, passing into early autumn without perceptible change.

A Journey to Harran in Padan-Aram and thence over Mount Gilead into the Promised Land. By CHARLES T. BEKE, Ph.D., F.S.A., F.R.G.S., &c.* Towards the close of the year 1861, Dr. Beke, accompanied by his wife, undertook a journey to Harran, the residence of the Patriarch Terah and his descendants, and thence over Mount Gilead into the Promised Land, by the road taken by the Patriarch Jacob in his flight from his father-in-law Laban.

Harran is a village situate at the eastern extremity of the Ghuthah or Plain of Damascus, which Dr. Beke identifies with the Land of Uz (Hütz) of the Book of Jobt. It is usually distinguished as Harran-el-Awamid, or Harran of the Columns, from three Ionic columns, which, with numerous other remains, prove that in the intervening ages there was here a Greek or Roman city. The name of this city is lost, Harran having resumed its Scriptural appellation before the twelfth century, when it was described by the Arabian geographer Yakut as "one of the towns of the Ghuthah of Damascus."

At the entrance from the west is a draw-well of great antiquity, which Dr. Beke identifies with the well at which Abraham's steward, Eliezer of Damascus, met Rebekah. Some of the water has been analysed at the Royal School of Mines, by direction of Sir Roderick I. Murchison, and found to contain 109.76 grains of solid

* See also Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xxxii. pp. 76–100.
+ See Origines Biblica,' pp. 137–153.

matter in the gallon. The water of a second well near the former is so impure as to be no longer fit for use, and at the present day the inhabitants obtain their chief supply of water through an artificial canal.

On the first day of the present year (1862), the travellers left Harran on their way to Mount Gilead. They first came to the river Awaj, the ancient Pharpar, forming with the Barada-the Abana of Scripture-the two "Rivers of Damascus, the capital of Aram or Syria; which rivers gave to Aram Naharaim, or “Aram of the Two Rivers," its distinguishing appellation. This district, though not incorrectly called "Mesopotamia of Syria," has been supposed to be the Mesopotamia of Assyria, between the two rivers Euphrates and Tigris, whence have arisen considerable errors in Scripture geography and history.

When, according to the Scripture narrative, Laban set "three days' journey" between his flocks and those of his son-in-law Jacob, it is reasonable to infer that the latter led his flocks in the direction best adapted for his contemplated flight from Padan-Aram; that is to say, up the left bank of the Awaj. The spot where he crossed the river would consequently have been at or near Kiswe, à town on the great pilgrim-road between Damascus and Mekka; and thence he would have proceeded south over the plains of Harran. This is the road taken by Dr. Beke; and certainly nothing could so graphically describe it as the few simple words of Scripture::-"He passed over the river, and set his face toward the Mount Gilead." A traveller, however much unacquainted with the country, has only to proceed along the high road, running straight from north to south over an almost level plain, without a mountain intervening to lead him astray, and he soon sees before him the summit of Gilead, standing out separately and distinctly, and towards it he "sets his face."

The distance travelled by Jacob before Laban "overtook him in the Mount Gilead" is stated to have been "seven days' journey." Travelling much quicker than the patriarch could have done, it was on their fifth day from Harran that Dr. and Mrs. Beke ascended the side of Gilead, where they soon came to some delicious springs of water in the midst of luxuriant pasturage. At such a spot the Patriarch Jacob, with his wearied flocks and herds, would naturally have stopped and pitched his "tent in the mount," where he was overtaken by Laban. A few minutes more brought the travellers to the summit of Gilead, where they enjoyed an extensive view over the Promised Land, embracing Mount Tabor, Nazareth, Cana, Tiberias, and other places rendered ever memorable by Our Lord's ministry and miracles. After the reconciliation between Laban and Jacob, it is said that "Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him, .... and he called the name of the place Mahanaim." Close to where Dr. Beke crossed the summit of Gilead is a ruin called Mahneh, which may be looked on as representing the spot where the patriarch, on his first coming within sight of his native country after an absence of twenty years, was favoured with this manifestation of the Divine pre

sence.

Shortly after leaving the pass of the mountain, Dr. and Mrs. Beke came to a cromlech, in form and appearance almost identical with Kits-Coty House, in Kent. Thence proceeding down Wady Ajlun, and then crossing Wady Rajib, they reached the Ghor, or plain of the Jordan, not far to the north of Wady Zerka, the river Jabbok of Scripture, over which the Patriarch Jacob crossed before meeting his brother Esau, and where "there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day; .... and Jacob called the name of the place Peniel."

After his meeting with his brother, Jacob, professing to accompany him, journeyed to Succoth, "leading on softly," and there stopped to "build him an house, and make booths for his cattle;" whilst "Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir." Succoth has been supposed to be on the west side of Jordan, a few miles to the north of the Jabbok; but the whole context shows that the patriarch, in order to get free from his brother, pretended to be going on with him towards Seir, but stopped all at once, as if weary, at Succoth, whilst Esau unsuspectingly continued his journey. Succoth is accordingly placed by Dr. Beke at a short distance to the south of the Jabbok, on the east side of Jordan. Crossing here the river, the patriarch would, on the opposite side, have entered the mouth of Wady Far'a, where it joins the Jordan from the north-west, and continuing up the valley, he at length

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'came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-Aram, and pitched his tent before the city."

Dr. and Mrs. Beke, being unable to obtain an escort to accompany them as far south as the Jabbok, crossed the Jordan at the point where they first reached it. While proceeding along the opposite bank, they were attacked by a party of Beduins; after freeing themselves from whom, they at once crossed the mountains between the Ghor and Wady Far'a, where they again fell into the road taken by the Patriarch Jacob, along which they continued to Nablus, the ancient Shechem, arriving there on the tenth day after their departure from Harran.

On the Geography of Mont Pelvoux, in Dauphiné.

By the Rev. T. G. BONNEY, M.A., F.G.S.

This district of the Alps is very imperfectly laid down on all the maps at present published. The following are the principal authorities known to me :-(1.) A map by General Bourcet, published at Paris in the year 1758. It is a most laborious performance, and very accurate for all parts below the snow-line, but above that of little use. (2.) A paper by M. Elie de Beaumont, in the Annales des Mines,' 3me Série, tome v. In this there is some very valuable information, but given in so confused a manner, that it requires a thorough knowledge of the district to understand it. (3.) A most interesting article on Dauphiné, by Professor Forbes, at the end of his work on Norway and its Glaciers (published 1853). He did not, however, pierce the "massif" of the Pelvoux, and consequently, being misled by Bourcet's map, he speaks of it as a single mountain, overhanging the valley of La Berarde. (4.) A paper by Mr. Whymper, in the second volume of the second series of Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers' (published in 1862). This gentleman ascended, for the first time on record, the highest peak of the Pelvoux, but misunderstanding Elie de Beaumont, he has fallen into several topographical errors. The Pelvoux was also ascended during the past summer by Mr. Tuckett, of Bristol, who was the first person to clear up the difficulties about the heights and names of the mountain. On his return through Paris, he saw at the Département de la Guerre the manuscript map made from Capt. Durand's survey in 1828. He obtained a tracing of the district in the immediate neighbourhood of the Pelvoux, of which he has kindly sent the author a copy. It is impossible to speak in too high terms of commendation of this map, but unfortunately it will not (as he was informed at the Department) be published for five years. The chief features of the district are as follows. The watershed between the Romanche and the Durance, after passing the Col du Lautaret and running south for some four miles, turns to the south-west for about three miles, and then turns to the south again, passing through the Pointe des Ecrins (the highest mountain in the group), 13,462 feet, and l'Aléfroide, 12,878 feet. Where the line turns to the south, a large offshoot runs in a north-westerly direction, in which are the Aiguille du Midi de la Grave, 13,081 feet, and the great Glacier du Mont de Lans. From the Pointe des Ecrins a short spur runs out to the east, dividing the Glaciers Blanc and Noir. From the Aléfroide another large spur runs out to the east, terminating in the Grand Pelvoux, 12,973 feet. This portion of the chain may be said to consist of four distinct peaks-(1) l'Aléfroide, two rocky aiguilles without name, 11,772 feet? and 12,845 feet? respectively, and the Grand Pelvoux, with its five heads. Besides these there are several other mountains in the district, from 11,000 to a little over 12,000 feet. The authority for the heights is a list obtained by Mr. Tuckett from the Etat-Major Français. The scenery of this part of Dauphiné is of the grandest description; some of the snow-fields and glaciers are of great extent, and the magnificent precipices that surround them equal, if they do not surpass, anything that can be found in Switzerland or Savoy.

On Colour as a Test of the Races of Man. By J. CRAWFURD, F.R.S. Colour in different races appeared to be a character imprinted upon them from the beginning, because, as far as our experience goes, neither time, climate, nor locality has produced any change. Egyptian paintings 4000 years old represent the people as they are now. The Parsees in India who went from Persia are now

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