GREAT BRITAIN 



375 



the Irish specie*, an- much fewer than thorn* on the 



iiiaiiiliiinl. Insulation, however, aUouliHs tin- modi- 

 fication .if >|.'.'i."., ami tlms w- tin. I a few form* 

 |i.M-nliar to Britain, Mich as tin- red grouse ( Lo^optt* 



nn), a sinew (Si;:i i a. it it- us), OS well as some 

 l.ui.l .sh.'IU mid insect*. Hut if we exclude Hi'-. 



\ci'|itions, an<l take account furthermore of 

 ili.- '\inct forms, the general conclusion is simply 

 that tin- Kriiish fauna resembles that of the corre- 

 -I-.. inline parts of the great Pahearctic region. 



A.iiks by Wallace, Murray, Sclater, Heilprin, 



.it.-. i at GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



/'/,,rrt. The British flora corresponds in a general 

 way to that of the Continent, but appears to con- 

 sist of several more or less distinct sets. The 

 -iicral resemblance may be shown by the fact 

 that out of 117 plants recorded by De Candolle as 

 characteristic of more than a third of the earth's 

 Miriarf, 100 occur in Britain. As to the various 

 sets, Watson in his Cybele Britannica (1847) dis- 

 tinguishes British, English, Scottish, Highland, 

 tJi'inianic, and Atlantic types; while Forbes (Mem. 

 <;i-i>l. Soc., i. 336) also considered the vegetation of 

 Britain as cpmposed of outposts of several floras 

 from France, tne Pyrenean region, Scandinavia, 

 and other parts. Watson also distinguishes Agra- 

 rian and Arctic zones of distribution in Britain, each 

 with three subdivisions marked by characteristic 

 vegetation. The numl>er of Phanerogams has been 

 computed at 1600 species, and there are probably 

 at least twice as many Cryptogams. Among the 

 very rare flowering plants, Oxytropis campestris, 



Lydinia alpitut, Astrugnliu alpintu, tiaxifraga 

 i, Eriocaulon scptangulare may be noted. 

 See Watson and Forbes as al>ove ; London's fata- 

 I, ,</, /// r.ndxh I'lnnt* (6th ed. 1867); Halfour'n 

 Manual of botany (1871); Turnbull'n Index of 

 llritislt I'linita (after the 'London Catalogue,' 

 1889) ; and Hooker's Student's Flora. 



COMPARATIVE STATISTICS. 



AGRICULTURE. This industry no longer holds 

 the same relative importance as in previous times 

 of our history. It made a great start after the fall of 

 the Stuarts, and its golden ej>och was the reign of 

 George II. (1/27-60). In 17'() the agrimltural 

 wealth (as shown l>elow) was 581 millions sterling, 

 or 53 per cent, of the total wealth of Great Britain, 

 as estimated in 1770 by Young. In 1887 it was 

 under 24 percent, of the total. 1 1 Young's estimates 

 be correct, the numler of sheep in 1774 was much 

 greater than at present, and as for tillage, the acre*. 

 under crops in 1812 (according to Comber) were 

 only 2,000,000 less than at present. The following 

 table shows merely the state of tillage in the 

 three kingdoms during sixty-one years : 



The cultivated area, as compared with total ex- 

 tent, is 75 per cent, in England, 75 per cent, in 

 Ireland, and only 25 per cent, in Scotland ; but the 

 value of products is relatively highest in Scotland, 

 as shown below. In 1887 England and Wales pro- 

 duced 110s. per cultivated acre, Ireland, 72s., Scot- 

 land, 163s. Thus, Scotland has only 10 per cent, of 

 the cultivated area of the United kingdom, while 

 the gross product of tillage and pasture reached 

 40 millions sterling, or 16 per cent, of the total for 

 the three kingdoms. Respecting tillage at past 

 dates the reader is referred to the works of Comber 

 (1H12), Middleton (1820), M'Culloch (1831), and 

 Caird, Porter, &c., for detailed statistics. The 

 prod notion of grain has been approximately as 

 follows, in millions of bushels : 



You. 



nio 



1846. 

 18tttt. 

 1876 



18S7. 



.104 

 .143 

 . 98 

 . 84 

 . 76 



Barter. 

 OaU, Ac. 



304 

 268 

 290 

 270 

 235 



408 

 401 



364 

 811 



Buahela per 

 Inhabitant. 



17 

 16 

 14 



11 

 8 



From the foregoing table it will be seen that we 

 produce now only 8 bushels of grain per inhabitant, 

 against 17 in the year 1830. At present the aver- 

 age is 19 bushels per inhabitant in France, 15 in 

 Germany, 42 in Denmark, 42 in United States, 34 

 in Canada, and 18 in Australia. 



The following statistics of live-stock are for 



England and Wales down to 1831, and the United 

 Kingdom afterwards : 



Horse*. 



Cattle. 



Year. 



1688 



1774 



1800 



1831 1,500,000 5,220,000 



1867 8,730,000 



1877 1 ,890,000 9,730,000 



1888 1 ,940,000 10,270,000 



Sheep. 

 12,000,000 

 25.600,000 

 26,150,000 

 39,650,000 

 33,820,000 

 82,220,000 

 28,940,000 



Pigs. 



4,2-20,000 



:<.::;<>.<*."> 



The returns for 1888 show as follows : 



