522 



NATURE 



[June 30, 19 10 



IHE FRESH-WATER LOCHS OF SCOTLAND.' 



APATHETIC interest is associated with this great 

 work. A bathynietrical survey of the Scotch 

 fresh-water lochs, which had been already attempted 

 in a few instances, was in vain pressed upon the 

 Government in 1883 by the Royal Societies of London 

 and Edinburgh, and was undertaken in 1897 by Sir 

 J. Murray and Mr. F. P. PuUar, a young Scotch- 

 man who added to a deep interest in meteorological 

 and hydrographical problems much practical skill as 

 an engineer. Considerable progress had been made 

 when, on February 15, 1901, Mr. Pullar was drowned 

 in Airthing Loch, near his own home. The ice had 

 broken, immersing a number of people; he rescued 

 three, and perished in an heroic, though vain, attempt 

 to save a fourth. As a memorial, the bereaved father, 

 Mr. L. Pullar, devoted a sum of io,oooL to the com- 

 pletion of the task, so that the book will be an 

 enduring memorial to one who died to save others. 



A staff was organised, and the work resumed in 

 the spring of 1902. By the end of 1906 all the 

 Scottish lochs of any importance, 562 in number, had 

 been surveyed, and altogether more than 60,000 sound- 



FiG. 1. — Loch Maree, the Islands in the Middle Distance. From " Bathymetrical Survey of the 

 Scottish Fresh- water Lochs." 



ings had been taken. Biological and physical work 

 was continued during the next three years ; but from 

 time to time the maps, with some of the results, en- 

 riched the pages of the Geographical Journal, and 

 these, together with much new material, are now 

 collected into the present work. The first two volumes 

 contain the text, with various illustrations, from 

 which we are able to reproduce two of the smaller 

 size ; the remaining four volumes the tinted maps, 

 which — though it adds considerably to bulk and cost 

 — are wisely mounted on linen. 



The first voluine deals with general scientific ques- 

 tions. Prof. Chrystal discusses seiches ; for these 

 abnormal oscillations in the water-level — first noted in 

 the Lake of Geneva, and first seriously studied there 

 bv Prof. Forel — can be observed on the Scottish lochs, 

 though on a inuch smaller scale. They are mainly 

 due, as Prof. Chrystal shows, to variations in baro- 

 metric pressure, though winds or heavy local rains or 



1 Bathymetrical Survey of the Scottish Fresh-water Lochs, conducted 

 under the Direction of Sir John Murray, K.C.B., F.R.S., and Laurence 

 Pullar, during the Years 1857 to 1908. Report on the Scientific Results. 

 2 vols, of text with illustrations, and 4 mainly of maps. (Edinburgh : 

 Challenger Office, 1910.) Price 5/. 55. the set. 



NO. 2122, VOL. 83] 



Hoods may be among the causes. Mr. E. RL Wedder 

 burn writes on temperatures. In that respect tht 

 bottom water of a deep loch such as Loch Ness varies 

 little throughout the year, and is sometimes hardlv 

 less than 2° F. below the mean temperature of tht 

 year, but conduction produces considerable intermix- 

 ture in the upper layers of water. This indirecti) 

 affects the distribution of plant and animal life, anc 

 presents some interesting problems, which must bt 

 left without further notice. Mr. G. West gives th« 

 results of studies of the phanerogams and highei 

 cryptogams in seven Scotch lake areas. This flora 

 like that of the mountains, has been much affected 

 directly or indirectly, by the Glacial epoch, but thf 

 vertical range of the plants, strictly aquatic in habit 

 depends on a number of factors — such as the amount 

 of humic or other acids in the waters, the surrounding 

 rocks, and the altitude. A full discussion of these anc 

 summaries of the results form a contribution which 

 will be of permanent value to the botanist. Dr. Caspar 

 gives a useful summarj' of' information about the 

 chemical composition of lake waters, and has aisc 

 examined about seven hundred samples of bottonr 

 deposits from these lochs, of which, however, thf 

 mineralogical aspect is fairly uni 

 form, as might be expected frorr 

 the generally similar geologica 

 conditions. Mr. John Hewitt write: 

 on the distinctive characters of tht 

 fresh-water plankton, Dr. W. A 

 Cunnington on the nature am^ 

 origin of fresh-water organisms: 

 Dr. C. Wesenberg-Lund on varioiii 

 limnological problems, and M 

 James Murray on the biology of t 

 Scottish lochs. According to tii 

 last-named, the following peculiar 

 ties are noteworthy : — a richness 1 , 

 species of Desmids (only approachei 

 by the lakes of Ireland), a conspici 

 ous Arctic element in the Crustacer 

 the local distribution of many of th 

 one and some of the other, anc 

 lastly, the absence or rarity of cei 

 tain species common to the gener;) 

 European plankton. 



As a prelude to the seconi 

 volume, which is occupied by a d<; 

 tailed description of the several lak'' 

 basins, grouped according to the 

 drainage, Drs. B. X. Peach ai 

 Home contribute to the first one an artic 

 the relation of the lochs to the gener 

 of Scotland, ending with a sketch of i 



J- 

 on 



geology 



mountain regions and valley systems, and of it> h 

 tory during the Glacial epoch. In their opinion, tl 

 ice attained its maximum during the earlier part ' 

 this, when it buried the whole region in a vast shee 

 which, as they tell us, was met on the bed of tl 

 North Sea by another one from Scandinavia, at 

 thus diverted north'.vards and southwards. In the lat" 

 part of this epoch, probably after a warmer intfe 

 lude, valley glaciers, which occasionally became cw 

 fluent, radiated from the several mountain groups, Jtf 

 to their action, according to the authors, the lak 

 basins are mainly to be attributed. In regard to til 

 subject, though it may be thought presumptuous, v 

 venture to remark that both the map illustrating % 

 maximum extent of the ice and some statements abo» 

 the erosive action of the latter involve difficulties| 

 which it would have been better to warn the ordinf 

 reader. 



The maps and sections, which occupy the remj 

 ing four volumes of the work, will, however, suf 



