and the mean of the whole ten months is 82 per cent. The variations
quoted must be regarded as very small. On the other hand, the figures
themselves are very high, when the low temperatures are considered,
and this is doubtless the result of there being open water not very
far away. The daily course of humidity is contrary to the course of the
temperature, and does not show itself very markedly, except in January.

The absolute humidity, or partial pressure of aqueous vapour in the
air, expressed in millimetres in the height of the mercury in the
same way as the pressure of the atmosphere, follows in the main the
temperature of the air. The mean value for the whole period is only 0.8
millimetre (0.031 inch); December has the highest monthly mean with
2.5 millimetres (0.097 inch), August the lowest with 0.1 millimetre
(0.004 inch). The absolutely highest observation occurred on December
5 with 4.4 millimetres (0.173 inch), while the lowest of all is less
than 0.05 millimetre, and can therefore only be expressed by 0.0;
it occurred frequently in the course of the winter.



Precipitation.

Any attempt to measure the quantity of precipitation -- even
approximately -- had to be abandoned. Snowfall never occurred in
still weather, and in a wind there was always a drift that entirely
filled the gauge. On June 1 and 7 actual snowfall was observed,
but it was so insignificant that it could not be measured; it was,
however, composed of genuine flakes of snow. It sometimes happened
that precipitation of very small particles of ice was noticed;
these grains of ice can be seen against the observation lantern,