CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



The growth of hops in England is almost wholly 

 confined to this district, Worcestershire and 

 Herefordshire being the only counties north of 

 the Thames in which they are cultivated. 



GEOLOGY. 



The geology of England is best understood by 

 taking the island of Great Britain as a whole ; 

 and, for the sake of space, it is more convenient 

 to bring it in under the head of Scotland, in the 

 next sheet. 



CLIMATE. 



The general characteristics of the English 

 climate, compared with those of the west of Europe, 

 between the forty-fifth and fifty-fifth parallels of 

 latitude, are, its milder winters, cooler summers, 

 greater humidity, and greater variability. But 

 England has a variety of climates, and these 

 change relatively, according to the season of the 

 year. The mean temperature of January in 

 London, and on the south-east coast generally, is 

 38, which is i below that of Cape Wrath, 

 in the north of Scotland, and the same as that 

 of the Faroe Islands, in 62 N. lat Going 

 west along the south coast, the winter temperature 

 rises rapidly ; the mean of January at Portsmouth 

 being 39, at the Isle of Wight 40 , at Exeter 42, 

 at Plymouth 43, and at Land's End 45, which is 

 but 2 below that of Nice (47-1, according to the 



Scottish Meteorological Society), and 4-5 above 

 that of Pau (40-5 according to the same authority). 

 It is necessary, however, to keep in mind that 

 this high mean temperature of the south-west 

 coast of England, in winter, arises chiefly during 

 the night, and during westerly winds, whose 

 moisture, imbibed from the Atlantic, is condensed 

 into cloud on reaching land, at this season many 

 degrees colder than the sea, and nocturnal radiation 

 is thus impeded. Still, there can be no doubt that 

 the south coasts of Devon and Cornwall possess 

 the best stations in England for those who require 

 a high winter temperature. The advance of tem- 

 perature is, however, much slower on the west 

 than on the east coast In March, London and 

 Bristol have both a mean of 43, Land's End of 46 ; 

 and during June, July, and August, the warmest 

 part of Great Britain is embraced in a circle, 

 whose centre is about half-way between London 

 and Bath, with Cambridge for the northern limit 

 Broadly, we may say that the temperature of 

 Great Britain is determined by longitude from 

 November to March, and by latitude from March 

 to November. The mean July temperature of 

 London is 64, which is equal to that of Nice and 

 of the French Riviera generally, in May. It falls 

 rapidly going north, being but 60 at York, and 

 59_ at Newcastle. The following table, taken from 

 Sir James Clark's valuable work, shews the mean 

 monthly and annual rainfall at one or two places 

 in England, and also, for the sake of contrast, at 

 one or two places elsewhere : 



GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION. 



Respecting the political constitution, laws, re- 

 ligion, and education of England, the reader is 

 referred to the article on the CONSTITUTION AND 

 RESOURCES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, in which 

 he will find statistics and details, which we do 

 not think it expedient here to repeat. 



For administrative purposes England is divided 

 into fifty-two counties, twelve of which are in 

 Wales. The Channel Islands and the Isle of 

 Man are under peculiar jurisdiction. 



The table on next page shews the areas of the 

 counties, their population in 1871 and 1881, and 

 the number of their inhabited houses at the former 

 date. 



POPULATION. 



Ethnology. The constituent elements of the 

 English population are to be traced in the history 

 of the country. The first inhabitants were Britons, 

 probably a mixed Celtic race, who, during the 

 time of the possession of the country by the 



226 



Romans, must have become slightly changed by 

 the admixture of that race. Upon a scattered 

 population of Romanised Britons came the great 

 wave of the Saxon invasion in the 5th and 6th 

 centuries. After this, the predominant element 

 of English society was undoubtedly Saxon ; the 

 Norman conquest only adding to it a French 

 aristocracy, which had little effect on the bulk of 

 the population. The English therefore, exclusive 

 of the Welsh, who are almost purely British, may 

 be regarded as mainly a Teutonic people ; the 

 British element diminishing as we recede from 

 Wales and approach the east coast, where the 

 people are nearly pure Teutonic. 



English Character. It has been said that if 

 a suggestion of action were made to a French- 

 man, a Scotchman, and an Englishman, the first 

 would ask if it would bring him glory ; the 

 second, if it was reasonable ; and the third, 

 if it would 'pay.' Frenchmen and Scotchmen 

 probably value money as much as an English- 

 man does, but of course we talk of the general 

 rule they place less value on lavish expenditure, 

 at least the Scotchman certainly does. It is the 



