70 Proceedings of the Boyal Physical Society. 



Glasgow was wetter than Edinburgh, and that unfortunate 

 place Greenock was worse off than Glasgow, things got worse 

 and worse, till they reached a climax in the Hebrides. But 

 the fact was they counted too much on longitude and latitude, 

 and too little on the topographical configuration of the gTound, 

 and thus it was that while some portions of Skye, for example, 

 were deluged by a rainfall of no less than 148 inches, another 

 island (Tyree) had only 36 inches of rain. As regarded 

 Islay, the rainfall on an average of eight years was 48 J inches, 

 which was 14 inches less than Greenock. But this gave no 

 idea of the dryness of Islay during midsummer, as in June 

 there was only 1*86 inches of rain, against 2 '49 in Edinburgh. 

 October, however, was a bad month in Islay, the equinoctial 

 gales being strong and the rainfaU excessive. After giving a 

 general sketch of the geological structure of Islay, which 

 consisted chiefly of gneiss, micaceous schists, trap, and mica- 

 slate, traversed by several very remarkable greenstone dykes, 

 Mr Skirving, in touching on the botany of the island, recom- 

 mended a large increase of plantation, as the existing trees 

 proved that it was quite possible to grow timber. 



Speaking of plants and shrubs, he showed that several of 

 these, both wild and cultivated, attained extraordinary dimen- 

 sions. As regards the former, the common whin, the honey- 

 suckle, and the blackberry were developed in a manner 

 unknown on the mainland, the whin having burst into 

 brilliant bloom in October, and was only checked by a 

 sharp frost on the 9th November. In the gardens, all ever- 

 greens attained stately proportions, especially the rhododendron 

 and the hydrangea — the great blossoms of the latter remaining 

 in full beauty till the frost of 9th November. The fuchsia 

 also was gigantic, one plant being 66 feet in circumference 

 and 18 feet high. This plant was covered with blossom, 

 which quite withstood the November frost. Among ferns, 

 which were numerous, the Eoyal (Osmunda regalis) attracts 

 chief notice. 



Taking man as the foremost of the animals, Mr Skirving 

 said he saw no cause to join in the jeremiads that were con- 

 stantly raised by sentimental persons on account of the de- 

 population of the Western Highlands. Islay once contained 



