IRELAND. 



279 



i 



From a register kept at the Botanic Garden, from 

 to 1 81 1, it appear* that the following is the order 

 of the months, according to their dirness. June, ^Fe- 

 bruary, April, March, May, October, January, Sep- 

 tember, August, Novemlier, July, December. In alt 

 the months of June, durng the above period, there 

 foil only 12,070 inches, and in February only 12.321 ; 

 rosin December there fell 27.SIO, and in July, 

 24,1 I 



From the following Table it will appear, that the or- 

 ths, taken according to their dry new, 

 varies considerably from this at lielfast. 



The months, arranged according to their dryness, 

 are June, March, April, I-Yl>ruary, May, November, 

 October, August, December, January, September, and 

 July, 



Register of the Rain Gauge and Hygrontltr of De Luc, 

 at Londonderry. 



Y 



1795 

 1796 

 1797 

 I7M 

 1790 



i- i 



M. 

 53| 



503 



471 

 S2J 

 52f 



M., 

 M 

 31 



SI 



Mean 51.37+ 89.13 + 



S2.8M + 

 25.718 



MM 



S3.*:H 



M M 



31.118 



vious that the flora of Ireland, when complete, will Statistic^ 

 probably contain several species that are strangers to "*~^f~~* 

 the rest of the British islands. On the mountains of 

 Sligo is found the Saxifraga umbrosa, known in our 

 gardens by the name of Lnndon pride ; and the roman- 

 tic scenery of Killarney, in the county of Kerry, is the 

 most northern habitat of the Arbutus Unedo. The heaths 

 abound with the stately Erica Dabocri ; and the moun- 

 tain aven, bear-berry, with other alpine plants, expand 

 their neglected blossoms, and trail their glowing fes- 

 toons of clustered berries, unnoticed amidst the wild 

 solitude of their rocky fastnesses." 



The zoology of Ireland is very similar to that of Eng- Zoology, 

 land. It is said that magpies and frogs were unknown 

 here, till introduced by the F.nglish, toward the begin- 

 ning of the 18th century. Moles, toads, and all kinds 

 of serpents, are still- unknown. The Iri?h grey-hound, 

 or wolf-dog, formerly of great use in clearing the coun- 

 try of wolves, is now seldom met with, the breed being 

 nearly extinct. Its appearance is at once beautiful and 

 majestic ; its height about three feet ; its colour gene- 

 rally a white or cinnamon ; its aspect mild ; its dispo- 

 sition gentle and peaceable ; but its courage and strength 

 to great, that, in combat, the mastiff' or bull-dog is far 

 from being equal* to it. The breed of the wolf was not 

 extinguished in Ireland till the beginning of the 18th 

 century. Herds of deer were formerly very numerous ; 

 but the progress of cultivation has rendered them rare. 

 A species, at present entirely extinct, existed in ancient 

 times, a* enormous horns are dug up in various parts 

 of the kingdom. " Some of these horns have been 

 found of the extent of fourteen feet from tip to tip, fur- 

 ished with brow antlers, and weighing three hundred 

 pounds. The whole skeleton ia frequently found with 

 them. It is supposed, that the animal must have been 

 about twelve feet high." The cattle, horse, sheep, &c. 

 of Ireland, will be noticed under the head of agricul- 

 ture ; and the salmon and other fish, which are made 

 an object of important traffic, under the head of fishe- 

 ries. Bat, to this short notice of the ecology of Ire. 

 land, we shall her* add a few words regarding some 

 rather rare species of fish, which are found in its 



Quantity of Rain nkihftll at Curk, 



The materials foe the natural history of Ireland are 

 by DO means rich or abundant Cnwwqnently, a* they 

 cannot be tyitematiced, and as our limits, as well as 

 the nature and object of this article, compel us to be 

 brief and general, We shall merely give some notices 

 on the three great branches of botany, ecology, and 

 mineralogy. 



' The ittidy of botany, (observes Mr. Aikin,) has 

 been less cultivated here than in any other part of the 

 united empire; *nd the neighbourhood of Dublin, 

 i has been the Iwst explored, aflorda no rare ami 

 few characteristic plant*. From the general mildness 

 of the c liroate, the extensive tracts of bog, and the vat 

 mountainous ranges that intertet-t the country, and af- 

 fuids capacious basins for its numerous lakes, it is ob. 



Ixwgh Neagh contains a great variety of fish. Be- 

 sides salmon, a large kind of trout, brr.im, and perch, 

 it contains the pollen, which is the same as the ftrra of 

 the lake of Geneva, and the girynia of Bala Lake in 

 North Wales. Lough Erin, a small water in the coun- 

 ty of Down, is remarkable for producing pike, trout, 

 and eels, of an enormous ize. Pikes of '26 Ib. weight; 

 and yellow trout*, little inferior in flavour to the char, 

 of 12 Ib. weight. The char is said to be found in the 

 looghs in the mountainous part of the county of Wa- 

 iMfuid. The oynter* taken near Carlingford, are cele- 

 brated for the peculiar richness and delicacy of their 

 flavour. 



Ireland is said to rest on a bed of granite ; and this 

 is highly probable, since granite is very conspicuous Mineralogy. 

 and abundant on its highest mountains. Of it the Granite, 

 central mountains in the county of Wicklow are form- 

 ed, and likewise that ridge which separates the coun- 

 ties of Wexford and Cnrlow. That portion of the 

 county of Kilkenny, which lies between the Nore and 

 the Harrow, alxnind* in granite of various shades, grey, 

 red, and yellow ; there is a valuable quarry of it at 

 Mount l-oftus. In some psrts of the county ,,f Down, 

 it is met with in detached masses ; and in other parts 

 it appears to compose the hills; it also abounds in the 

 neighbourhood of Dublin ; and is found emerging from 



