PROCEEDINGS OF THE CHEMICAL DEPARTMENT. 



225 



season from the fact that No. 2 in Sect. 2 stood on slightly 

 elevated dry ground, whilst that No. in Sect. 1 stood lower and 

 on slightly damper soil naturally, the two plots being at opposite 

 corners of the sections. These plots produced, particularly in 

 Sect. 2, coarse, ungainly bulbs, with thick-necked tops ; whilst 

 those containing coprolites, &c, &c, were handsome in these 

 respects, the bulbs being more globular. The plots were all 

 weighed, roots and tops separately, on the 16th and 17th Dec, 

 in a uniformly dry state, and in the most careful manner, the 

 number of bulbs in each plot being at same time counted. 

 The following table gives the rainfall of the district from the 

 careful observations of Mr Alexander Brown, Arbroath : — 



Two curious facts are here brought out, and which are ex- 

 tremely interesting, viz., that notwithstanding the low tempera- 

 ture of last summer — spoken of in a general way — it is quite or 

 within the smallest fraction of being equal to the temperature 

 of the same six months of the last twenty-two years. Again, 

 Mr Brown's table shows, in connexion with the admittedly 

 deficient crop of 1867, the fallacy of trusting to averages. In 

 fact, the disasters of the year are clearly traceable to the montli 

 of July, with its excessive rainfall and low temperature. June, 

 August, and September were above the average temperature of 

 the last twenty-two years, and it cannot be doubted that it was 

 July which did all the mischief. 



The results of Mr Bowie's experiments are contained in 

 Tables V. and VI. 



These experiments are in all respects most satisfactory, and 

 the conclusions to be drawn from them are peculiarly interesting. 

 The most prominent point is, again, the absence of all effect from 

 muriate of potash, whether employed alone or associated with 

 other substances. Only in the case of dissolved guano along 



