Scientific Intelligence.—Meteorology. 195 
ture that are felt in continents of such a high latitude, the surround- 
ing ocean tempering the heat of summer, and the cold of winter; so 
that for more than 12 years, the thermometer has only once fallen so 
low as 18° of Fahrenheit, and the snow does not lie so long here as 
in the more inland parts of the south of Scotland, or, I believe, the 
north of England. Indeed, the mean temperature of every month 
was above the freezing point, except that of February 1838. Our 
mean annual temperature is 46° 25’, and the mean height of the ba- 
rometer 29.640, as will be seen from the annexed tables, but the na- 
ture of our climate will be more correctly understood by comparing 
the mean temperature of each month, as there stated, with that of 
other places. The highest hill commands an extensive view, not only 
of the west mainland, but of part of the north and south isles, and 
from it, and other elevated grounds near the west coast, may be seen 
the hills of Hoy, terminating in stupendous precipices, and, in calm 
and clear weather, those of Sutherland in the distance, stretching 
out towards Cape Wrath, add much to the beauty of the scene; but 
during a storm from the west it is awfully grand. The huge accu- 
mulations of water that then roll after each other, foaming with ter- 
rible violence to the shore, impress the mind with their irresistible 
power, and might well give a stranger a feeling of insecurity, and 
when they dash themselves against the precipice, it seems half sunk, 
for a time, like a wrecked vessel amid the waves; sheets of spray are 
thrown far up into the air, and carried over all the country, making 
springs a mile from the coast brackish for some days, and encrusting 
every thing with salt, even fifteen or twenty miles off. I am told 
by those living a few hundred yards from the spot, that the floors of 
their cottages are shaken by the violence with which the wayes strike 
the crags; and I have seen innumerable sea insects alive on their 
summits, and even a limpet adhering to them after such a storm ; 
also numerous fragments of the slaty stone, some of them a foot long, 
which had been whirled into the air, and had penetrated six inches 
into the soil in falling. 
Our climate, in short, is more remarkable for dampness and storms, 
than for cold; the atmosphere being often loaded with sea spray in 
winter, and moistened with the constant evaporation in summer, 
Pulmonary and rheumatic complaints seem to be prevalent, owing to 
this peculiarity of the climate; and on our sudden and frequent 
changes of weather, some cases of cramp may also be ascribed to the 
dampness ; and a neighbouring clergyman, who is afflicted with loss 
of voice, has, more than once, been immediately cured by the air of 
Edinburgh. Dyspeptic complaints are very common among the pea- 
santry, but they are probably caused by poor diet. 
