On the Temperature of the Sea, and its Influence 
south-east, and tlius present their sides across the strike of the 
rain-wind, and the result is that a deluge of 122 inches of rain 
ialls, on an average of four years, at Portree. Passing from the 
mountainous district of the west to the sheltered and less elevated 
lands on the east, the great decrease in the rainfall is everywhere 
remarkable. At a small island in the Pentland Frith, 10 miles 
from the land (the Skerries), the annual fall is only 28 inches, 
and at Orkney it is not excessive. 
An examination of the stations on the eastern coast of Scot- 
land shows that there is a decrease in the annual quantity of rain 
in going southward, bearing a relative proportion to the decrease 
of sea temperature before described : thus at Aberdeen the yearly 
amount is SO inches, and at Haddington 24 inches. 
This decrease of rain on the eastern coast-line holds good far 
into the country, and even on land of considerable elevation. 
It will be seen from the excellent set of observations at Castle 
Newe, in Aberdeenshire, 930 feet above the sea and 35 miles 
from it, that the mean rainfall of 30 years is but 33 inches. 
From the rich and wide Vale of York, down the eastern low 
lands, and over the central plain of England to Greenwich, there 
is a remarkably equal distribution of annual rain, which may 
be considered as averaging 24 inches ; but raised here and there 
by being contiguous to land of greater elevation, and falling 
somewhat below that amount in parts of the inland plain. In 
this portion of England also, the highest summer temperature 
exists, and from these causes the climate is more adapted to the 
cultivation of hops than that of any other region in the British 
Isles. 
There is, also, over this favoured district — the open corn- 
field of England — a great equality in all places in the distribu- 
tion of rain throughout the year : the smallest quantity falling 
in spring and having its minimum in March, and the greatest 
amount in summer, reaching its maximum in July and August, 
and then seldom exceeding 2J inches in a month, — an amount 
which does not injure the ripening of the corn crops, and is 
almost indispensable for turnip culture. 
The westerly winds have in Ireland a clear sweep over the 
low bog region of the central plain and fall full on the Cum- 
berland mountains, depositing from 44 to 30 inches in their 
passage across the island. 
The observations at Valentia show that on the western coast- 
line of Ireland much more rain falls than on that of England, 
and the hill districts of Kerry and Galway must have a propor- 
tionately larger supply. From Dublin northward is the driest 
part of Ireland. 
The distribution of the amount of rainfall throughout the 
