M‘Sweeny, on the Climate of Ireland. 193 
land to suffer from too much cold and wet, but never from too much heat.”—JV7il- 
liams’s Climate of Great Britain, p. 227. 
Howard, in the preface to the second volume of his Climate of London, published 
in 1820, says: ‘“ The result of my experience is, on the whole, unfavourable to the 
opinion of a permanent change having taken place of latter times, either for the better 
or the worse, in the climate of this country ; our recollection of the weather, even at 
the distance of a few years, being very imperfect, we are apt to suppose that the sea- 
sons are not what they formerly were ; while, in fact, they are only going through a 
series of changes such as we may have heretofore already witnessed and forgotten.” 
Howard also thinks that in its great leading features the climate differs little from what 
» it was at a remote period. 
Doctor Rutty, in his Natural History of the County of Dublin, instituted a compa- 
rison between the climate of London and the climate of Dublin, by means of re- 
gistries kept in both cities, from which he concluded that the winters in Dublin were 
warmer and moister, than in London. 
We have the decided opinion of Howard, that no change has taken place in the 
climate of England, a man, who in knowledge of meteorological details, stands un- 
| rivalled. 
The comparison which Caesar made between the climate of Britain, and of Gaul, 
is what a foreigner would be apt to make at the present day. 
The description of the climate and vegetation of Britain, by Tacitus, holds good at 
the present day. 
From the proximity of Ireland to England, we may conclude that no great change 
has taken place in the climate of Ireland since the time of Cesar. 
That the temperature of Europe in antediluvian times, was greater than it is at the 
present day, is a subject that admits of no doubt. Attempts have been made, to ex- 
plain away the fact of the bones of the elephant being found in cold countries; but 
the finding of thé numerous impressions of plants, that now only thrive in tropical 
| regions, sets the matter at rest. . 
\ The subject of fossil plants has been studied with great care by M. Brogniart. 
Not only in England have been found the remains of the elephant, but also in 
Scotland.— Buckland’s Reliquie Diluviane, p.179. 
From the bones and vegetable impressions found in England, we would from analogy 
be fully warranted in concluding, that the temperature of Ireland was also great in 
antediluvian times; but the bones of the elephant have been found in Ireland also. 
In Grierson’s edition of Boate’s and Molyneux’s Natural History of Ireland, there 
. is an account from the Philosophical Transactions, of the remains of the elephant 
) found in Ireland. ‘The writer who describes the finding of them, is sadly at a loss to 
account for their being found in such a climate ; he thinks that no ship of the ancient 
