680 DR HUGH ROBERT MILL ON THE 



Salinity 'Trip of September 1886. This trip lasted from September 22nd to 27th, 

 its central date being forty-eight days after the central date of the August trip. The 

 kindness of Mr Matheson of Liverpool in giving Dr Murray the use of his yacht 

 " Oimara" for the 22nd, enabled observations to be made farther out to sea than was 

 usually practicable in the " Medusa." The latter part of August had been warm and dry ; 

 during September the rainfall was much above the average for most of the Clyde drainage 

 area, but during the cruise the weather was only slightly showery, and the winds, being 

 under the influence of a large cyclone, varied from a light south-easterly to a stiff 

 westerly breeze. At several stations the bottom density was higher than in the previous 

 month, but the surface density was usually lower. Loch Goil, Loch Long, Loch Strivan, 

 and the Gareloch were examined in dead-calm weather, and in all cases the density was 

 nearly the same from end to end, being slightly higher at the head than farther down in 

 Loch Goil and the Gareloch. The lowest salinity observed was not in any of the lochs 

 but in midchannel of the Dunoon Basin off Gantock Beacon during flood-tide. The great 

 salinity of the lower laj^ers in Dunoon Basin and the Kyles, and the freshness of the 

 surface in these localities, was one of the most striking features of the trip. Only two 

 observations were made in Loch Fyne on this occasion, so that the condition of that part 

 of the area was not fully ascertained. This trip caught the Area beginning to freshen, 

 after a prolonged spell of warm dry weather and northerly winds had produced unusually 

 high salinity throughout. The freshening was more marked in the seaward than in the 

 landward portion of the Area, and least change was observable in the deep water of the 

 loch basins. 



Salinity Trip of November 1886. — This trip lasted from November 11th to 18th, no 

 observations being made, however, on the 14th, and its central day was fifty -two days 

 later than that of September. October had been an exceptionably warm month, and its 

 rainfall, particularly over the Clyde drainage area, was far under the average for the 

 season. The rainfall of November was on the whole a little above the average, but 

 varied greatly in different parts of the area. Easterly winds prevailed during October, 

 and there were frequent storms. The first week of November was characterised by stiff 

 south-westerly and westerly breezes. During the trip the weather was very disturbed. 

 From the 11th to the 13th, when all the landward part of the Area — except the Kyles 

 and Loch Fyne — were examined, there was a calm with occasional showers, and snow 

 lying on the hills. On the 14th there was a south-west gale, which continued with rain 

 on the 15th, when the Kyles were visited. Severe squalls with much rain were met with 

 on the 16th and 17th in Loch Fyne, but the 18th was calm and hazy. The heavy local 

 rain and melting snow were found to have greatly freshened the whole Area, especially the 

 landward portion, on the surface. The head of Loch Fyne was the freshest of any of the 

 lochs, probably on account of the south-west wind banking up the fresh water, while at 

 Arrochar on Loch Long the saltest surface water was found, the density being greater 

 than in any other part of the loch or in the whole Dunoon Basin. There was no record 

 of a north-easterly wind to account for this state of matters. At Otter the salinity was 



