PHYSICAL FEATURES. 



81 



part of Great Britain the writer is acquainted with is there 

 so remarkable a combination of high winter temperature with 

 excessive dryness of soil as this part (i.e. Forres) of the county 

 of Moray.' These and the following remarks by Mr. Norman, 

 though especially applied to the district around the Forres 

 Hydropathic Establishment where he resided in 18G7, are, at 

 the same time, almost equally applicable to a much larger 

 part of the coast and Laigh of Moray, and even, with differences 

 of altitude, to the higher valley of the Spey — indeed, over 

 almost the whole gravel-covered areas of our district south 

 of Inverness. Mr. George Norman continues : * During the 

 last winter and spring the meteorological returns show that 

 this district had generally a considerably higher temperature 

 than Paris or the north of France ; and, as an instance of the 

 exceeding mildness, I may mention that peaches, nectarines, and 

 figs ripen admirably in the open air, whilst the Himalayan bamboo 

 stands quite uninjured by the winter frost. The tree-mallow 

 (Zavatcra arhorea) thriving well, will, to the botanist at any rate, 

 indicate the climate of Forres better than any attempt on my part. 

 I may, however, mention that specimens of Magnolia acuminata in 

 the gardens at Dalvey fully 30 feet high, alone indicates the 

 blandness of the climate, while the existence of rare insects, which 

 hitherto have only occurred in the south of England, may be 

 quoted as another indication of its notable mildness. 



'The rainfall is, I believe,' continues Mr. Norman, 'under 

 23 inches. This, taken in connection with the physical lay 

 of the adjoining country, where high mountain ranges towards the 

 west and north-west intercept the rain-charged Atlantic clouds, 

 will explain, I suppose, the cause of the dry and equable climate. 

 The same cause undoubtedly operates in arresting thunderstorms, 

 for this district is exceedingly free from electrical disturbances. 

 In proof of this, no trace of a thunderstorm has been seen or heard 

 by the writer during the past unprecedentedly hot summer, nor 

 in the summer of 1867.^ 



^ But in August 1H93, after a protracted course of exceptionally dry weather, 

 which began in February, thundery weather, fiery clouds, and flooded water, 

 with oppressive heat continued for many days, as experienced by ourselves when 

 at Fochabers : and we had a similar experience in August 1894. 



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