VOL. LV.— No. 3,079 



SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1912 



NOTE OF THE WEEK. 



4- 



of the other. To vegetation it is parti- 

 cularly harmful, since, while under dry 

 conditions the deleterious matter present 

 in the air does not adhere to the foliage, 



white linen toilet cloths in the vicinity of 

 open windows "vvere so nuich blackened by 



the indraught of fog, that in a few hours 



upon tiienij when 



all articles 



standing 



A fog, in principle, is nothing more or the fog, by condensing upon the leaves, de- lifted, showed where they had been by white 

 less than a cloud which, instead of float- posits thereon not only the solid inipuri- silhouettes on a dark grey ground, owing 



filth. The question has 



ing in the air above our heads, is resting 

 upon the soil, and, very frequently, is so 

 shallow in depth that on an otherwise 

 clear night the moon and stars may be 

 visible through it. It also 

 frequently d!S])lays its cloud 

 nature hy its 1 o <:*a land 



■ ' 



patchy occurrence, so that in 

 towns one street may be 

 densely obscure<l , wh ile an- 

 other closely adiacent niav 



be quite clear. The presence 

 of fog is usually determined 



by a perfect absence of wind 

 and a iK finitc rlum^it* of tem- 

 perature, 

 either wav 



ties it contains, which block up the stomata, 

 but it carries some of these impurities, 

 such as sulphurous acid, into their pores 

 in a state of solution to act as one of the 



wlii<li iiiav a{'t 



such as a drop 



in aerial tem|)erat nic, wIk'U 



the soil has hecTi wai ined, 

 or a rise, when tlu^ soil has 



become cold, th^ ilifference in 



either cas(^ resnltiug in n chill 



of the surfac<» Invcr ot aei ial 



moistnr(\ wbi^h is thus <(»!i- 



densed into watery ))arli<'les, 



and so becomes visible. It 



IS for this DM sou that fogs 



so ottrri vet in after siins*^t 



and <lisa])|n*;ir wboii ibe sun 



has risen b>n,i:; oiion<ih to 



exoi'cise i^v w;ii*iniuu puw er 



•^11 the at nio-plirr'^ A log. 



Ill short. iN ail i in I i<a t iiui of a 



local su]U'r-su I »pn ration, and 



<l voiy tow <l(^grees' <litfor(MH e 



111 tho thermometer <i''ioi - 

 iiiuu's its (existence or nt)u- 

 t'xisteiico in tho <-oM >oasons 

 t'f the year. In the rount ry, 

 whcro tlio air is pure, a fog 

 <lens(. mist is a pnrolv 



]>bei!onieiion . as 



(1( MM I ( i! 



1>< 



* habi- 

 tf ihe 



may .iu<l-o by tho healthy 

 ^ipjiearance of alpine plants, 

 filths aro in or near the n-L^ion i 

 f'louds. In ihr \i( initv of cities and towfi-- 

 however, \vhor<' tln^ air is laden with im- 

 purities, not only <|o these exorcise a 

 '^iarke<l (effect upcui tin- fo«r iisoH. hy form- 



MR. JOHN McKINNON. 



deadliest |)oisons to plant life. It is a 

 <'unons tact that this year, in the earlier 

 part ef ib'tober. although the fogs which 

 ])revaihMl round London were a])i)arently of 

 thi^ clean desciiption, being quite white in 

 colour, tliey i)roved. neverthchsvs, to be ex- 



deposited 



been mooted whether such a deposit, and 



its obvious poisonous effects, may not be 

 partly due to suspended dust from tar- 



covei'ed roads being precipi- 

 tated bv the action of the 

 fog. A point in favour of 

 sucii an idea is that it was 

 practically the earliest of the 

 fogs which was the worst . 

 Both th e deposit a iid i t s 

 effects on vegetation wc have 



wit- 

 in these 



great 



im- 



ourselves personally 

 ne.-sed. Happily, 

 later davs such 

 provements have been made in 

 lighting and diminution of 

 smoke by the adoption of 

 better methods of combus- 

 tion, that the old-fashioned 

 pea-soup fog is much more 

 rarelv seen, or when seen the 



• ■ 



*1 



soitp is greatly diluted. 

 The more common type noAv- 

 adays is what is termed a sky 

 fog, represented by a thick 

 ]:>all of mingled mist and 

 smoke, which lies, seemingly, 

 but little above the housetops^ 

 and shrouds us all in, sunless 



Bad as this is how- 

 ever, it is devoid of either the 

 toxic (effects we have si>oken 

 of or the obstructive charac^ 

 ter of the ground fog. sup- 

 ]>osed to bo ty])i<'al of Novem- 

 ber, but. as we have seen, by 

 no uieans exclusively so. 



gloom. 



Mr. John McKinnon, 



whose portrait we have the 

 pleasure of giving in this 

 issue, has occupied his pre- 

 sent position of liead gardener to the 

 Earl of Aber<leen, at Haddo House, 

 seven years, and during this period 

 he has so highly distinguished him- 

 self as to have taken a foremost ])lace 

 among the many good gardeners who are 



tules <.<H,<l..ns. 1 „ ' , I; ! \ i doUlv .fa few <legroes of frost wl.ich ac- winch th. c.ty of Aberdeen ,s the ventre. 



j,.,^ . . • " piistn<( oi iiost • . . , Y i\.i: ..f r.. ..i.r»/-*f tln>; it issiufbciont to recall the 



'"purities rendtM's the fog thick(^r. and 

 ^ iii'k in colour, instead of the j)ure normal 

 j^nit(» of clean arpieous vapour. It is thus 

 ''It the " T^ondon [(articular" is formed. 



in this vitiated state the f(.g is ex- 

 '^Hi(dy ib'trin:cntal both t'> man and 

 P'lMt World l»y its |)oi>ontais <'tfoct upon 

 ""inian lungs ot ih*.o]u\ and the foliage 



the 



<.on.panie(l them, the evergreen foUage of In proof of this ,t is sufficient to rectal! the 

 all herl»a<vous plants and ferns was found faet that on tlie nM r.nstitution otthe.North 



' I'll! ± A' i-^ ilv..,! LJ . ^ + . r . t h I f- I 1 1- .1 I A £j^r\r^t o + 1 M 



to be browned, ami even killed, to a tar 

 greater extent than usual after tlu- fog ha<l 

 disapiH^anMl. The parti<nlar fog which 

 ;i,.j,arently was the cause <d' so inuch 

 <iamage, was. we are iiiformeil, d«^s]Ute its 



a[>parent ]>nrity, of so foul a nature that 



of Si-otland Horticultural Association, 

 alMiut two years siiu'c. Mr. McKinnon was 

 (Mected as |)ri'>ident. That he justified the 

 houiiur that was don<^ him was made abnn- 

 <lantlv evulent by the fact that the nu'm- 

 luM'ship closely a}>proached three bundled 



