What is most remarkable, this unusual coldness does not appear to have been experienced at all in the southern counties of England. At Greenwich, the temperature is stated to be of the same value as that of the average from 70 years, but less than that of the preceding eight years, by 1°·9. According to Mr Glaisher's tables, published in the Registrar-General's Report for the June quarter, the mean temperature in Cornwall and Devonshire exceeds that of the corresponding month in 1847, by 0°·7, and south of lat. 52°, it is in excess 9/10ths of a degree. Between the parallels 52° and 53°, the temperature is 1°·2 below that of June 1847; between 53° and 54°, it is 2°·1, and at Whitehaven, in lat. 54½°, it is 2°·7 below that of June 1847.
The extraordinary depression in the temperature has therefore been unparticipated in, by places situated south of the parallel of 53°.
Second Quarter.—The mean temperature of the quarter ending June 30, is 1°·92 below the average of twelve preceding years; and the difference between the air and dew-point temperatures is 1°·32 above that of the corresponding quarter in the years 1847 and 1848.
The average fall of rain is 8·15 inches; in the second quarter of 1849, the fall is 5·74 inches, or 2·40 inches under the normal quantity.
The deaths in the town and suburb are 139, being 21 above the corrected average number, which is 117. In the June quarters of 1847 and 1848 the deaths were 177 and 147 respectively. The births exceed the deaths by 59.
July.—Cold and wet. Temperature 1°·82 below the average. The hay harvest began in this neighbourhood about the 20th June; meadow hay was rather light on the ground, but the crop generally was well secured.
August.—Average temperature and depth of rain, with a serene and stagnant atmosphere. The complement of the dew point is 1°·78 below the average of the month in the two preceding years.
September.—A fine, mild, and rather dry month, with serene atmosphere. At the close of the month, several of the public fountains were dry, and most of the pumps in the town had ceased to yield their supplies.
Third Quarter.—The temperature of the quarter ending September 30th is 0°·37 below the average, and the complement of the dew-point, as compared with the two previous years, is 0°·5 below the mean. The depth of rain is 0·36 inch under the average quantity, which is 12·42 inches. The deaths in the third quarter of 1849, in the town and suburb, are 168, or 47 above the corrected average number; and, except in 1846, a greater number than has occurred in any September quarter since the register was begun in 1839. In the September quarter of the last four years, the deaths are as under: 1846, 255; 1847, 148; 1848, 142; and 1849, 168. The births exceed the deaths by six in number. During this quarter we had a few cases of Asiatic cholera in this town, chiefly in the month of September; and at the adjacent seaport of Workington the disease was of a most malignant character, and exceedingly fatal. The total number of deaths from the commencement of the epidemic on the 13th of August, till it entirely ceased on the 6th of November, was 172. In 1841, the population was 6041, which gives a mortality of 2·8 per cent., or one death in every 35 persons, from cholera. It is, however, believed that the population of Workington has decreased since the last census was taken; and at the time the epidemic was raging, most of the respectable inhabitants had left the place; so that the ratio of mortality amongst the then residents must have been considerably greater than is here stated. A singular fact connected with the disease is its sudden cessation for several days, at the expiration of which it returns with increased virulence. In the week between the 25th and 31st of August, the deaths were 65; from the 31st August to the 8th September there were none; on the 8th, 12; 9th and 10th, none; on the 11th, 13; and on the 12th only one death; 13th, 11; from the 14th to the 19th inclusive, the deaths averaged 2·5 daily, but on the 20th they rose to 13; and between the 21st and the end of September there were only eight deaths, which occurred on the 21st, 22d, 25th, and 27th.
Between the 1st and 20th of October the deaths were 32, and during that period there were frequently none for three or four consecutive days. There was only one death after the 20th October. It occurred on the 6th of November, when the pestilence ceased. I am informed by a resident medical gentleman, that at the commencement of the disease the cases were rapidly fatal, many of them after eight or ten hours' illness, and it was then almost entirely confined to the lower classes.