May, 1891. how slowly cold descends into the earth. 109 
of Spanish blood, which exists here to a considerable extent. 
The woollen shawl is of universal utility, serving also for 
bonnet and umbrella and for the carriage of the baby, a load 
of peat, &c. 
The women and children are generally barefooted ; and 
it is astonishing how they run over sharply-pointed rocks 
which are painful to our well-shod feet. The men nearly all 
wear a kind of moccasin made of cowhide, with the hair worn 
outside; they are so fashioned that a single string on each 
side draws them tight and fastens them over the top of the 
foot. These are called pampoutties, and when removed in 
the evening are put into a bucket of water to keep them 
pliable, and enable them to cling closely to the foot. 
The race is a prolific one, and the population is only kept 
within bounds by emigration to America, certain districts of 
which are chiefly peopled by them. The women mostly stay 
there, but the men frequently return ; they find the streets 
too wide, and cannot endure the boots; they want their 
pampoutties again. 
We found the people to be, as a rule, both hospitable and 
obliging, and the begging propensities mostly confined to the 
children. We were much indebted to Mr. Kilbride, the 
Protestant rector, and to Mr. Keen, the only doctor on the 
three islands, for help and information. 
The people are to some extent superstitious, but my 
ignorance of Erse, which is the only language spoken by many 
of them, prevented my gaining much knowledge of the folk-lore. 
I was, however, shown pools, said to be inhabited by strange 
monsters ; and told that they very frequently see enchanted 
lands out in the ocean to the west. Probably this is a remnant 
of a tradition of the fabled continent of Atlantis. 
HOW SLOWLY COLD DESCENDS INTO THE GROUND. 
A most interesting subject has been brought into prominent 
notice by an article from the pen of Mr. E. J. Lowe, F.R.S., 
in “ The Concliologist,” from which we make the following 
extract:— 
“ The temperature at different depths in the ground, and 
the time occupied in reaching those depths, is an interesting 
enquiry, for we find that the cold on the 2nd February. 1888, 
did not reach the depth of twenty-four feet until June 6th, 
and that the annual range of temperature, though 4.k ,e l 0 on 
the ground, is only 8-7° at twenty-four feet. Two distinct 
examples will suffice to make this clear. 
“ Example 1.—The temperature in 1888, on February 2nd, 
at the Royal Observatory, at various depths : — 
