636 Proceedings of the Royal Society 
the country was no longer characterised by an excessive or con- 
tinental climate, hut hy an insular and more moist one. In regard 
to the third head — the present aspect of the peat mosses — a glance 
at these will convince any geologist that the peat moss formation 
has not only ceased to spread, hut is in most cases rapidly disap- 
pearing. The moisture, which in former times afforded it nourish- 
ment and support, has now become its chief enemy. Every shower 
of rain, every frost, gives fresh impetus to the decay ; and leaving 
altogether out of account the operations of agriculture, there can 
be no doubt that natural causes alone will in time suffice to strip 
the last vestige of black peat from hill and valley. The peat mosses 
of Scotland are only a wreck of what they have once been. The 
growth of the peat has ceased to be general : here and there mosses 
continue to increase in sufficient abundance to form that substance, 
but this increase is far exceeded by the general rate of decay. The 
peaty covering invariably shows an upper or surface stratum of 
heath and grasses, and is almost everywhere full of holes and 
winding channels. These, and other appearances, convince the 
writer that the climate has now become less humid — agricultural 
operations alone not being entirely sufficient to account for the 
change. The change of climate indicated by the wasted aspect of 
peat moss appears to have shown itself first along the southern 
limits of that formation in Europe. It then slowly extended its 
influence in a northward direction, meeting in its course with many 
modifications, such as must arise from local circumstances. Chief 
among these was the configuration of the land — the peat of low- 
lying districts dying out more quickly than the mosses of higher 
levels, where any diminution of moisture is last to be appreciated. 
In the same manner, the track of the rainy winds on the west and 
south-west coasts have also marked out a region where we now 
meet with less waste among the mosses than in other districts. 
But as the effect of such a cosmical change must be so blended 
with the results brought about by the progress of cultivation, the 
geologist can do little more than suggest the extreme probability 
of its existence. As it can be shown that the destruction of our 
ancient forests is not primarily due to man, although in the later 
stages of the process he certainly played an important part, so we 
may expect that the change from a humid to a drier climate has 
