ON THE INFLUENCE OF WEATHER UPON MORTALITY. 303 



B. Local Causes, affecting Districts and Individdals, as, — 



1. Meteorological Phenomena — Abnormal heat or cold, abnormal drought or liumidity, 



abnormal fluctuations of the barometer (i.e. of atmospheric pressure), pernicious 

 winds, ozone, electricity, diurnal phenomena, seasonal changes. 



2. Habitation — Situation (town or country, on the coast or inland), elevation, construc- 



tion, drainage, ventilation, heating, lighting, overcrowding. 



3. Dietetics — Price of food, quality of food, quality and quantity of potable water, and 



of water for all domestic purposes. 



4. Personal — Dress, occupation, habits and pursuits. 



Although it may not be advisable to consider these several modifying causes 

 in detail, nevertheless it is necessary that a passing glance should be accorded to 

 them, in so far as they relate to this country. 



Scotland, in its mainland, extends between 54° 38', and 58° 40' 30" of north 

 latitude, and 1° 46', and 6° 8' 30" of west longitude. Including the circumjacent 

 islands its limits are wider. The length of the mainland between its extreme 

 points is 276 miles. Its breadth varies so greatly that no general idea can be 

 given of it in one sum; it ranges from about 30 to 175 miles. In its general 

 outline and configuration, Scotland is very remarkable. On glancing at a map 

 of the country, the attention is at once arrested by the peculiar indentations of 

 the coast line. In several situations the land is almost bisected by the prolon- 

 gation of the sea into its interior, forming what are called Firths and Lochs, 

 which serve to increase very considerably the shore of the country. The coast 

 line, followed in all its sinuosities, occupies probably more than 3000 miles ; but 

 taking only the larger inlets of the sea into consideration, the circumference is 

 probably about 2500 miles, which gives one mile of seaboard to every eleven 

 square miles of surface ; the estimated area of Scotland, inclusive of the Islands, 

 being 31,324 square miles, or 20,047,360 acres. The ratio of seaboard to area 

 over the whole of Europe is about one to twenty-five ; Greece and Denmark 

 being the only countries which approach Scotland in respect of proportional 

 extent of coast. The islands of Scotland constitute about one-ninth of the entire 

 area. It is obvious from these facts, that the sea, as an external cause operating 

 upon the constitutions of the inhabitants, must be in the highest degree potent. 

 And it is fortunate for Scotland that the influence of the sea is benign— unlike its 

 action on the ice-bound shores of Labrador. It owes its mitigating influence, so far 

 as Scotland is concerned, to the prevalence of westerly winds across its waters, 

 tempered by the Gulf-stream ; whereas, on the opposite shores of the Atlantic, the 

 cold counter (Arctic and Hudson Bay) currents have a directly opposite tendency. 



Besides the firths and marine lochs adverted to, Scotland possesses also many 

 inland lakes, which, although not of magnitude comparable with those of the 

 New World, tend materially to increase the aqueous element of its physical 

 geography. The larger river-basins add also to the bulk of water in and around 

 the country ; in short, there is perhaps no point in Scotland more than a few miles 



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