The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-18 00:00:00

TEMPERATURE OF THE AIR.

On the ground was 42 deg., decreased to 381 by 2 10 ;
then increased to 45 deg by 2 25, and the sensation was one
of great warmth ; at 2 28 it decreased to 411 deg, was 38
deg at 2 30, and 31 deg at 2 35, at 6,2001 t high; it was then
nearly constant about 30 deg, till 3 0, when cur height was
7,500tt ; it then decreased to 20 deg by 3 16, at the height
of 9,500 ft, and continued to decrease, and was 11 deg at 3 31
at the height of 13,0001 t; it increased to 16 deg in six mi-
nutes on descending to 10,000 ft, and constantly increased
with decrease of elevation to 40 deg at the height of I,oooft,
and to 42 deg on the ground. _ _ _

Although it was expected that warm currents of air might
be met with, it was quite unexpected to meet with such
within 1,000 feet of the earth, and extending to nearly 4,000
feet nigh, the thickness of this warm S.W. wind was fully
3,000 feet.

At the height of half a mile the temperature was nearly
4 deg warmer than on the ground ; at this height hitherto
we have always found the temperature from 12 deg to 16
deg colder, in this respect differing from all previous ex-
periments
TEMPRILATURE, ox:, TILE. DEW POINT.
Dew _was rlapoassi.C.Lt a temperature .00-.94-deg before
starting ; at 36 deg between the heights of 1,500 and 3,000
feet ; at 26 deg at 4,000 feet, decreased to zero at 9,500 feet ;
and the dew point was 4 deg, 5 deg, and 6 deg below zero,
at heights exceeding 10,000 feet ; on pissing below 10,000
feet the dew point was the same as the temperature of the
air, and therefore the air was saturated with moisture, and
continued so till we very nearly reached the earth.
APPEARANCES OF THE EARTH, AND ABOVE THE CLOUDS.
On leaving the earth was dull and the air very misty.
When afterwards viewed, its appearance was very different
from that in summer. All looked barren, bleak, and ice-
bound ; every sheet of water was covered with ice, and Mr.
Coxwell, notwithstanding his 602 ascents, said he never
before had seen sheets of water in their frozen aspect, with
those peculiar white fringed edges which attracted our spe-
cial attention.
At 2 45, at tie height of 7,000 feet, we heard a railway
train, and then thla" tick, tick" of a threshing machine, and
afterwards, at the htaht of 7,200 feet, we heard people's
voices, and these were tilt) onl7 sounds we heard.
At 3 29, on looking doA, m saw snow falling upon a fine
cloud, whose surface was unbroken and even being free from
irregularities, and whose boundary lines were very sharply
defined. At this time dense clouds were far above us, and
the air seemed to be full of snow.
At 3 31 we were about 13,000 feet high, and as we are
quite &ice), conditions in the higher
atmosphere
this
l m
t imeet eOOO
fr
thelo year, it was with the deepest
regret I heard Mr. Coxwell's decision to descend; we were
in fine but thick snow, we had lost sight of the earth, with,
we believed, no great length of land before us, and even that
ignorant
a t o f
tha
being towards the sea. Had we ascended another mile our
descent must have been very near the coast, and, consider-
ing that the sun was about setting, with large sheets of
vapour obscuring the view, I felt that Mr. Coxwell's judg-
ment was again wisely exercised, and I abstained from in-
fluencing him in any way whatever.
From 3 32 fine granular snow covered my notebook, and
continued till 3 47, when we were about entering cloud in
descending, whose thickness was about 600 feet, through
which space we passed in two minutes. The balloon must
have been laden with snow. The cloud was saturated with
moisture, as was the air below the cloud, till within 1,000
feet of the earth.
At 4 9 it became so dark that it was with difficulty I
could read the instruments. The sun had set, a dense mist
was everywhere, and we could not see far ahead. Mr. Cox-
welt then began the descent ; the place was quite barren, and
seemed uninhabited, the grapnel passed through light sand
for some little time, but the descent was managed so admi-
rably that we came down without own causing injury to a single
,nstrument.