86 



Asia and Africa caused aji indraft of the vapour laden winds of the 

 South Pacific and Indian Oceans in the one case, and the dry air from 

 the heated plains, in the other. 



Although the effects of the sun and moon's attractive influences in 

 causing tides in the atmosphere were insignificant by reason of the 

 elasticity of the atmosphere, and its more readily yielding to the effect 

 of heat ; the Lecturer suggested that the combined effect of this power 

 of gravity might be sufficient, under certain astronomical conditions of 

 the sun and moon, to alter the circular direction of the atmosphere at 

 the equinoxes and solstices so as to induce a prevailing northerly or 

 southerly wind in our winter, and by that means cause a cyclic change 

 of climate. This was thrown out merely as a suggestion. But it 

 was evident we had cycles of favourable and unfavourable seasons in 

 our European quarter of the globe. 



XXIV. 



THE CLIMATIC CHANGE NOW COMMENCED IN GREAT 



BRITAIN, AND ITS PROBABLE INFLUENCES ON 



OUR FUTURE FAUNA AND FLORA. 



PAPEa BY 



Mr. SYDNEY WEBB, 



Eeap at Dover Field Club, 



November, 1889. 



Although the wise man declares that there is nothing new under 

 the sun — and assuredly his proverbs and sayings are as applicable to our 

 present every-day life and surroundings, as they were when uttered 

 nearly three thousand years ago — yet there are constant changes, cycles 

 if you please to call them by that name, that produce revolutions of life 

 among the lower orders of the animal kingdom upsetting at least for a 

 time the natural course of events, and tending towards those great 

 changes in the life histories of the creatures or plants affected by them, 

 that we are constantly reminded of when examining the geological 

 sequences of the rock systems, whether expressed in a total change of 

 climate or in a partial transformation of pre-existing circumstances. 



For the purposes of this paper, I will ask you to cast your memories 

 over the weather we have experienced during the last few years. In 

 Dover we had a long and severe winter in 1886-87, and complaints of 

 its great changes in temperature were not confined to the good people of 

 Dover. In 1887-88 there was another winter of a duration almost 

 unheard of for Great Britain ; there were extreme variations of tempera- 

 ture, followed by an unparalleled summer ; whilst in other parts of the 



