I860.] FLORA OF THE ISLE OF MAN. 163 



whilst the Orkneys are more than 4° cohler. We are accustomed 

 to regard Italy and the south of France with something of an 

 envious feelings because of the reputed warmth of their winters ; 

 but what is the fact ? The noted Montpellier, the great resort of 

 valetudinarians, and which is 11° south of us, has for its mean 

 January temperature 42°; our own is nearly 41°. Again, the 

 January temperature of Rodez (south of France), more than 12° 

 south of us, is only 32°, i. e. 9° colder than we are. At Milan the 

 January temperature is but 33 j°, whilst their mean July tempera- 

 ture rises to nearly 75°, — a difference of extreme temperature 

 amounting to upwards of 41°; yet the extreme of our hottest and 

 coldest months is not 20°. Even the mean temperature of Milan 

 is more than 5|° colder than the Isle of Man. Strangers who 

 merely look at our northerly position on a map, or, passing our 

 shores, observe our almost treeless country and our overcast sky, 

 are apt to form an unfavourable opinion of the island as a perma- 

 nent residence. Such an opinion is, however, a very false one. 

 No place can bemore healthy." 



Owing to the remarkable mildness of the winters, the fuchsia, 

 the myrtle, and other exotic shrubs, flourish and flower freely in 

 the open air. The most unobservant visitor can hardly fail to 

 have noticed the luxuriance of the fuchsias, which are the most 

 conspicuous ornaments of the cottage gardens in many parts of 

 the island, attaining a height of 12 or 14 feet, and sometimes 

 employed, in the neighbourhood of Douglas, to form hedges be- 

 tween garden and garden, for which purpose they answer admi- 

 rably, and are, I need hardly say, highly ornamental. During 

 the very mild winter of 1858-9, the fuchsias in my garden here, 

 at an altitude of 500 feet above the neighbouring coast, and 

 growing on a slope exposed to the fury of every wind that blows, 

 retained their leaves until they were pushed off by the new foliage 

 of the spring. 



The Flora of the island has found no chronicler, so far as I can 

 ascertain, save and except a paper, only too brief, on the Mosses, 

 by Mr. Davis, which appeared in your pages ; and a very slight 

 general notice by the ever-to-be-lamented Edward Forbes, him- 

 self the pride of this his native isle, which is appended to Mr. 

 Cumming's ' The Isle of Man.'"^ Less fortunate than her Sar- 



* 'The Isle of Man, its History, Physical, Ecclesiastical, Civil, and Legendary ;. 

 by the Rev. J. Gr. Cumming, M.A., F.G.S., etc. ; published by Van Voorst, 1848. 

 A work of great interest to all who would inspect the island geologically. 



