114 
Che Flora of Wiltshrre, 
COMPRISING THE 
Flowering Plants and Ferns indigenous to the County; 
By Tuomas Bruces Frower, M.R.C.S., F.L.S., &e., &e. 
No. II. 
PuysicaAL GEOGRAPHY. 
qQILTSHIRE one of the south-western counties of England, 
LY) is bounded north-west, and north by Gloucestershire; north- 
east by Berkshire; south-east by Hampshire; south-west by Dor- 
setshire, and west by Somersetshire. The form or outline of the 
county is nearly that of a quadrangle, having its angles respectively, 
near Lechlade, Sopworth, west of Malmesbury; Stourhead, west of 
Mere; and Cadnam, on the verge of the New Forest. Its utmost 
length from north to south is almost 54 miles, and its extreme 
breadth east and west, nearly 37 miles.!_ The area is estimated at 
1352 square miles, and it lies between the parallels 50° 55° and 51° 
43° north latitude, 1° 29° and 2° 21° west longitude. 
The surface of the county is varied and undulating throughout. It 
includes lofty hills, spacious valleys, extensive irrigated cornfields 
(both upland and plain), and open downs, presenting very bold and 
commanding views. On a general survey, Wiltshire will be found to 
present as great a variety of scenery as any inland county in the 
kingdom. In some parts the naked downs impart a wildness to 
the prospect, which is strikingly contrasted with the numberless 
beauties scattered over the face of the county by the hand of art: 
while the hills, aspiring to the bold character and picturesque 
1 From a recent survey, the greatest dimension or length of the county, mea- 
sured north and south, is from the border of Gloucestershire, between Cirencester 
and Fairford, to the border of Dorsetshire near South Damerham, between Cran- 
bourne in Dorsetshire and Fordingbridge in Hampshire. The greatest breadth 
from east to west is from the junction of the three counties of Hampshire, Berk- 
shire, and Wiltshire at Inkpen Beacon, to the border of Somersetshire at Midford 
Bridge, south of Bath. 
