382 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 
west coast of Scotland,—mild and humid, with a mean 
annual temperature ranging from 46°4 to 46°6 degrees. 
The prevailing westerly and south-westerly winds are 
generally accompanied by mist and rain—easterly winds 
bring dry, and in summer often very hot weather. 
The winters are usually mild, and snow does not often lie 
long on the low grounds. The rainfall is excessive. The table 
given below shows the annual and mean rainfall during six 
years at five stations, fairly distributed over the district 
from north to south. It will be seen that only at Apple- 
cross and Strome Ferry is the mean fall. below 60 inches. 
Both of these are coast stations, situated opposite to and at 
no great distance from the hills of Skye, which to a certain 
extent drain the clouds before they reach the mainland. 
At Torridon and Glen Carron, situated in narrow glens 
among lofty mountains, the mean ranges from 78 up to nearly 
89 inches, and at the latter station reached the high figure 
of 109 inches in the wet season of 1890. 
That this excessive rainfall probably affects, both directly 
and indirectly, the abundance and distribution of certain 
species, will be shown later on. 
’ RAINFALL IN INCHES. 
Height 
above = 
Sea-level. 
3 | Mean of 
1887. | 1888. | 1889. | 1890. | 1891. | 1892. gia ase 
Loch Broom, . | Sea-level | 61°11 | 61°71 | 61°43 | 66°82 | 61°54 | 57°50 61°58 
Loch Torridon, | Sea-level | 71:09 | 74°88 | 70°56 | 82:88 | 88°58 | 81°73 78°28 
Applecross, .| Sea-level | 42°99 | 53°44 | 46°41 | 63°44| 57°46 |56°63| 53°39 
Glen Carron, . 500 | 80°27 | 80°80 | 79°71 | 109°78 | 90°23 | 91°78 88°76 
Strome Ferry, Sea-level | 54°79 | 56°76 | 51°83 | 62°88 | 60°81 | 57°52 57°42 
Mean of all the Stations, . ‘ g ‘ £1 e6G88 
Geology.—It is perhaps hardly necessary to call attention 
to the intimate connection that exists between the geology 
and animal life of every district. The mutual interdepend- 
ence of plant, insect, and bird life, and the obvious influence 
of the geological features. of a country upon its flora, alone 
render these features of importance when considering its 
