154 TRANSACTIONS. 
Burnside, then minister of the New Church, afterwards minister of 
the Old Church. It is given in full in the MSS. book lately com- 
mitted to the custody of this Society, and in an abbreviated form 
in the ‘Statistical Account of Scotland,” edited by Sir John 
Sinclair. I have lately had an opportunity of again reading the 
MSS. book prepared by Dr Burnside, and have been much struck 
with the very able manner in which it is written. I am convinced 
that if printed and properly edited, it would form one of the best 
contributions to the history of Dumfries that has yet been made 
public. As a foretaste of what may be in store for those interested 
in this subject when some one with sufficient leisure, knowledge, 
and enthusiasm can undertake the work I have indicated, I give a 
few notes shewing some differences between the Dumfries described 
in Dr Burnside’s Statistical Account and the Dumfries of 1889. 
Regarding the first head of inquiry, that of geography and 
natural history, there is not much to notice. Physical conditions 
do not alter greatly in the course of a century. Under this heading 
he observes that the distempers, as he calls them, are fever, 
rheumatism, and consumption. In this respect there is much 
change for the better. Dumfries, thanks to improved sanitary 
arrangements, is now more free from fever than almost any other 
town in Scotland. As regards rheumatism, the statistics shew 
that Dumfries occupies about an average position, and in regard to 
consumption that the death-rate is, as it was a hundred years ago, 
very high, Dr Burnside refers to the well-known characteristics of 
our climate—the moisture of the air, the dryness of the soil, the 
short time snow lies on the ground, and the high winds which often 
prevail. There is mention of floods which are now unknown to 
the extent to which they existed a hundred years ago. ‘The 
parish is subject to considerable swellings of the river which often 
lay the lower part of the town under water. In the houses near 
the bridge it will sometimes rise two or three feet. These floods 
are most frequent towards the end of harvest and the beginning of 
winter. The two most remarkable of late were in October, 1778, 
and in November, 1772. It was in the last-mentioned flood that 
the Solway Moss was carried off.” 
There are more changes to note in regard to the second head 
of enquiry, “Respecting the population of the parish.” The 
estimate of the population is given from information derived from 
parochial visitations made by himself and his colleague in St. 
