m 



British Islands, and of Ireland especially, had induced him to examine 

 into the influence exercised by climate on vital phenomena. In I860* 

 he had already called attention to the relations between the peculiar dis- 

 tribution of the Flora in the western districts of Ireland and the po- 

 sition of the isothermal lines in the Map which he had previously 

 published.f These relations have been pointed out more recently, and 

 with more precision, in the Map appended to a paper by Dr. David 

 Moore, and Mr. A. Gr. More, " On the Climate, Flora, and Crops of Ire- 

 land," in the Report of the International Horticultural Exhibition and 

 Botanical Congress, held in London, during May, 1866. The author 

 briefly presented geological and geographical grounds for rejecting the 

 hypothesis of the late eminent naturalist, Professor E. Forbes, and he 

 also adduced similar criticisms from other inquirers. J 



The author next presented a summary of all the South European 

 Plants found in the West and South- West of Ireland, specifying mi- 

 nutely their localities both in Ireland and on the Continent. The 

 former are limited to two districts of comparatively moderate extent — 

 namely, first among the western baronies of the counties of Galway and 

 Mayo ; and, secondly, the greater part of Kerry, together with the 

 South-Western extremity of Cork. The nearest part of the Continent 

 where the plants in question are found is, as already remarked by 

 Forbes, the northern part of Spain, and especially the province of Astu- 

 rias. The author calls these Plants, for brevity, the Asturian Flora ; 

 and the two districts where they are found in Ireland, the West Astu- 

 rian and South- West Asturian districts, respectively. It has been ad- 

 mitted by Forbes, that there does not seem to be evidence of any local 

 assemblage of animals in these districts corresponding to the Asturian 

 Flora, and the inquiry is therefore entirely limited to discover the origin 

 of the Plants. The physical conditions accompanying the growth of the 

 Asturian Flora, both in Spain and in Ireland, are fully discussed. The 

 climate of the province of Asturias is characterized by great moisture 

 and a mild winter temperature ; thus, at Oviedo, which is about the 

 centre of the province, the mean annual fall of rain is nearly 75 inches, 

 and the wettest months are April and May. The mean annual tempe- 

 raturejis 55°. 4 F. ; the mean winter temperature, from 45°. 4 ; the mean 

 summer temperature is 65°.2 ; the mean yearly maximum is 88°, the 

 mean yearly minimum from 31° to 34°. 



The prevalent geological formations are stated to be Devonian and 

 Silurian, and the soil is said to be generally retentive of moisture. Al- 

 though the geology of the other provinces in the North of Spain is in 

 some respects essentially different, there are good grounds for believing 



* "Transactions of the National Association for Promoting Social Science," 1860, 

 p. 733. 



f "Atlantis," vol. i., p. 396. 



j See " D'Archiac Hist, des Progres de la Geologie, publiee par la Societe Geolo- 

 gique de France sous les Auspices du Ministre de l'lnstruction publique," vol. ii., pp. 128= 

 137 ; also Darwin's " Origin of Species," p. 354. 



