298 



NATURE 



[July 27, 1 ! 



rapidly the means of transit is being developed, and of 

 accommodation multiplied, it is evident that for some 

 years to come this popularity will continue to grow. 

 These great advantages and attractiveness are due to 

 physical configuration and climate. 



As regards climate, the two points to be specially con- 

 sidered are the rainfall and temperature. Of these the 

 most varied, and apparently the most capricious, is the 

 rainfall, which alone imparts to the Highlands very great 

 diversity in its climates. 



An annual rainfall of forty inches may be taken as the 

 limit separating the dry climates of the East from the 

 wet climates of the West Highlands. If a line be drawn 

 from Perth to Cape Wrath, all parts of Scotland to the 

 east of it have, roughly speaking, a rainfall not exceeding 

 forty inches, whereas to westward of that line the annual 

 rainfall exceeds that amount. Hence the Eastern Gram- 

 pians, the Highlands between the Don and Moray Firth, 

 and the Highlands of Eastern Perth, Eastern Inverness, 

 Eastern Ross, Eastern Sutherland, and Caithness are 

 characterised by climates which are comparatively dry, 

 and therefore bracing. 



A glance at the map will show that the whole of the 

 Scottish Highlands is, with respect to the west-south-west 

 winds, entirely unprotected by Ireland, and completely 

 exposed to these vapour-laden winds of the Atlantic. 

 Over the whole of Scotland to the south of the Forth 

 and Clyde, which may be regarded as under the lee of 

 Ireland, the average rainfall at no station exceeds 66 

 inches, with the single exception of Ettrick Pen Top, 

 2268 feet high, at which fourteen years' observations 

 gave an annual average of 71 inches. 



On the other hand, the Highlands to the north of the 

 Clyde are fully open to the west-south-west winds of the 

 Atlantic, and there accordingly the late summer and 

 autumnal rains set in early and with great copiousness. 

 Over an extensive tract resting, as it were, on a base line 

 stretching from Dunoon to Balquhidder, and extending 

 north-westward to beyond Dunvegan, in Sk>e, the annual 

 rainfall is at least 80 inches. In this extensive region the 

 heaviest rainfalls, and therefore wettest climates are met 

 with in situations either inclosed among mountains of 

 rugged grandeur, such as the districts about Lochs 

 Coruisk, Hourn, and Shiel, or up and over such plateaux 

 as that whence rise the Tay, Leven, Orchy, Aray, and 

 Falloch. The spot of largest rainfall in Scotland, so far 

 as known, is near the head of Glencroe, situated between 

 Lochs Fyne and Long, the mean annual amount there 

 being 128 inches. Surrounding in a somewhat irregular 

 manner this wet district, and stretching northward along 

 the watershed, as far as Loch Assynt, is another region 

 of twice the extent over which the rainfall is from 60 to 

 80 inches. Again, on the east of this region, and between 

 it and the line marking an annual rainfall of 40 inches, is 

 an extensive tract stretching as far as Cape Wrath, which 

 has a rainfall from 40 to 60 inches annually, and the 

 same rainfall is found in Western Sutherland, a large 

 portion of Western Ross, the whole of the Hebrides, and 

 all islands to the south, the surfaces of which rise to no 

 great height above the sea. 



Reference has been made to the shelter afforded by 

 Ireland in imparting a drier climate to places situated to 

 the east-north-east of it The same principle is seen in 

 the influence of Skye and the Hebrides in bringing about 

 the comparatively dry climate of Western Ross and 

 Sutherland, the rainfall of which is from 15 to 20 inches 

 less annually than in similar situations south of Skye, but 

 unprotected from the rain-bringing winds of the Atlantic. 

 Indeed of all places in the west situated to the north of 

 the Crinan Canal, Western Ross and Sutherland enjoy 

 the driest, most bracing, and most desirable climates. 



This district has besides an additional advantage, 

 which it possesses along with Skye and Western Inver- 

 ness-shire during the prevalence of rain-bringing winds 



from the east. In the east of Scotland the heaviest 

 rains are brought by winds from the east, which are not 

 unfrequently accompanied with a downfall of 2 or 3 inches, 

 or even on rare occasions of 4 inches of rain in a day. 

 The worst and most persistent of these winds, which 

 cause, perhaps, the most disagreeable weather of these 

 climates, owing to the mixture of cold drizzle and rain 

 they bring with them, seldom deposit any rain over the 

 west coast to the north of the Crinan Canal, and over the 

 west of Perthshire. Indeed, on such occasions the 

 weather in the west is almost always marvellously fine, 

 and once enjoyed can never be forgotten, skies of the 

 utmost purity, beauty, and softness, a brilliancy and 

 warmth in the sunshine, a deliciousness in the air, and 

 lights, colouring, and shades towards evening, of such 

 infinite variety and beauty as perhaps no other climate 

 can match. 



As regards temperature, the great atttaction of the 

 climate of the Scottish Highlands is its comparative 

 coolness, and this coolness becomes, of course, all the 

 greater, the higher we ascend above the sea. As com- 

 pared with London, the summer temperature of Braemar, 

 for example, during the months of July, August, Sep- 

 tember, and October, is respectively 8 C '9, 9°o, 9"' 1, and 

 7°'4 lower. The evenings and the nights are proportion- 

 ally colder than the days. This is the climate which is 

 best adapted for active exercise on the hills and moors. 

 The admirably bracing and other hygienic qualities of 

 the air of places which have comparatively dry climates, 

 and which are 700 feet and upwards above the sea, are 

 everywhere recognised; and it is these qualities which 

 give the upper districts of Dees'de, Donside, and Spey- 

 side the finest summer climates anywhere to be found in 

 the British islands, particularly for those whose systems 

 require to be braced up for the work of the coming 

 winter. No other district, at these heights and tempera- 

 tures, which contribute so important an ingredient to the 

 climatic conditions required, can be named, having at the 

 same time accommodation necessary for the comfort of 

 summer visitors, which has not a summer climate essen- 

 tially wet. The climates of places 700 feet high and up- 

 wards in Wales, the Lake District, on the slopes of the 

 Lead and Lowther Hills, and eminently the West High- 

 lands, can only be described as wet in comparison with 

 those of the upper districts of the Dee, Don, and Spey. 



Many excellent summer climates, but of quite a differ- 

 ent type, are to be found at somewhat lower levels. 

 Among the best of these, omitting sea-side climates, may 

 be named Pitlochrie, Blair Athol, Lairg, Banchory, Dun- 

 keld, Crieff, and Inverleithen, together with Callander 

 and Moffat, the last two, however, being decidedly wetter. 

 The important point to be attended to in selecting summer 

 quarters in the Scottish Highlands is the rainfall, which is 

 really the element of weather on which differences of 

 climate depend ; and attention to this point is all the 

 more necessary, since in not a few cases a dry climate 

 and a wet climate are to be found at comparatively short 

 distances from each other. 



ON "GETTING" COAL BY MEANS OF 

 CAUSTIC LIME 



THE operation of "getting" or breaking down coal 

 from its original position in a seam cannot, in some 

 cases, be effected with a sufficient degree cf economy 

 without the aid of blasting. But a certain amount of risk 

 alwavs attends the use of explosive substances, when they 

 are employed for this purpose in fiery mines which are at 

 the sane time dry and dusty, unless certain precautions 

 are taken which do not yet appear to be either generally- 

 observed or enforced by law. The existence of this 

 danger has long been known, although its causes are only 

 now beginning to be understood ; and inventors have 



