^ ' tV. CLIMATE. 157 



especially so for tlie peninsular elongation situate between 

 the English and Bristol Channels. Starting here from 

 the extreme south-west, the assumed means on the coast 

 line may be 52 for Cornwall, 51^ for South Devon, 51 for 

 Dorset and Hants, and 50j for Sussex ; becoming 50 for 

 the south-east coast of Kent, and also for the coasts of 

 the Bristol Channel, as before intimated. 



Supposing the scale above given to be that for the east 

 coast of Britain, from Kent to Caithness, with Orkney 

 and Shetland, two questions arise on it. First, can the 

 same scale be applied along the western coast ? Se- 

 condly, can the same scale be likewise applied to inland 

 places ? Thermometrical registers for places on or near 

 the western coasts have been sparingly put on record ; so 

 that facts are inadequate to afford a satisfactory answer to 

 the first question. For the present, the same scale may 

 be deemed applicable also to the western coasts ; though 

 one quarter or even half a degree of additional mean tem- 

 perature might perhaps be correctly given to islands and 

 elongated points or peninsulas, on the western side of 

 Britain. The scale may possibly be found somewhat too 

 high for inland places. But it is to be understood as the 

 sea-level temperature. And as inland places have usually 

 some appreciable elevation above the sea-level, there will 

 always practically be a deduction to some extent, when 

 the scale is applied to inland places. For those of slight 

 and unknown elevation, as 25 yards or less, the deduction 

 of one quarter of a degree may be taken. For those more 

 raised above the sea, the scale of decrease for altitude may 

 be resorted to, as will presently be explained. 



Fahrenheit's thermometer is still adhered to here, as 

 in the preceding three volumes, on account of its greater 

 familiarity for English botanists. A change to the cen- 

 tigrade thcrmORieter is however highly desirable, in 



