INTRODUCTION. XXXIU 



50" 47' N. latitude, and 1° 4' and 1° 36' W. longitude, * its 

 mean distance from the opposite coast of Hampshire, by which 

 it is partly embayed, and from which it is separated by the So- 

 lent channel, is about three miles, in some places considerably 

 less. In form the island has been compared to that of a 

 lozenge or rhomboid, the two extreme diameters of which have 

 their axes corresponding, as nearly as possible, to the four car- 

 dinal points of the compass. Its greatest length from East to 

 West, or from the Foreland Point to the Needles inclusive, is 

 83 miles ; that from North to South, or from W. Cowes Castle 

 or Egypt House to St. Catherine's Point, [13 milesl]- The total 

 area is estimated at [upwards of 100,000 acres. +] The length of 

 the longest day at Newport (N. lat. 50° 42' 1") is 16h. 16m. 13s.; 

 of the shortest, 7h. 43m. 44s., or — uncorrected for atmospheric 

 refraction, which in this parallel increases the apparent length 

 of the day by about 9 minutes — 16h. 25m. 14s., and 7h. 

 52m. 87s. respectively. Constant twilight prevails for 51 days, 

 commencing on the 27th of May and ending on the 17th of July, 

 but is so feeble, even at the solstice, in this latitude, towards 

 midnight, as probably to exert little or no influence over the 

 nocturnal repose of vegetation, which in higher latitudes must 



* The following are the latitudes and longiludes of several points iu the Isle 

 of Wight, as determined by the trigonometrical survey of England, and given 

 in Sir H. C. Englefield's Description of the Island (London, 1816,410, Payne 

 and Foss, 88, Pall Mall, p. 4), and from other authentic sources: — 



N. LAT. W. LONG. 



Ashy Down sea-mark . . . . 50° 41' 6". 1° 10' 57" 



Dunnose Head station . . . 50° 37' 7" 1°11'36". 



East Cowes sea-mark 50° 46' 37". 1° 16' 15". 



*West Cowes Castle 50° 46' 1". 1° 17' 42" 



St Catherine's Lighthouse (Old) . . 60° 35' 33" 1°17'50". 



tSt. Catherine's Lighthouse (New) . . 60° 34' 50". 1° 17' 61". 



Carishrook Castle 60° 41' 17". 1°18'25" 



Needles Lighthouse .... 50° 39' 53" 1° 33' 55". 



+ Newport (St. Thomas's Church) . . 60° 42' 1". 1° 17' 18". 



* By corrected ohservations of Sir H. C. Englefield. 



t Communicated by the Trinity Board to the author of this work. 



i Mr. D. Snooke. 



