22 



THE BRITISH ISLES. 



The influence of this climate upon the animal creation, and even upon the 

 vegetable kingdom, is as favourable as upon the human constitution. The 

 warmth of summer- is never so great, nor is its accession so sudden, as to occasion 

 a too rapid development or too high excitement of organized bodies ; nor the cold 

 of winter so extreme as to depress their vitality to an injurious degree. The 

 natural formation, soil, and cultivation, with few exceptions, prevent the generation 

 of marsh effluvia, whilst the fresh and strong westerly winds which prevail, 



Fig. 13. — Raix Map «f the British Isles. 

 According to Symons. Scale 1 : 10,600,000. 



ENGLISH 



W.OP Gr 



owing to the position of the country, cause a continued renewal of the atmosphere, 

 even in the closest and most crowded streets of the manufacturing towns.* 



These climatic conditions have, moreover, vastly contributed to make the 

 British Isles a geographical whole, and in amalgamating the various races by 

 whom they are inhabited. In most other countries migration is attended with 

 considerable risk, and a period of acclimatization has usually to be passed through. 

 In Great Britain the natives of either England or Scotland may exchange homes 

 * ilacCulloch, " Statistical Account of the British Empire," i. 



