Xlii PROCEEDINGS-PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
Now, no district could be more suitable for such a series of observa¬ 
tions than our own county, embracing, as it does, nearly the whole 
drainage area of one great river system. Such observations should 
include the amount of sediment, in suspension, being carried down 
by the river at stated points and at stated intervals; also the rate 
at which deposition is taking place on the lower haughlands, the 
accumulation of material in the lochs of the county, and the growth 
of sand and mud banks in the estuary. I am well aware of the 
practical difficulties which stand in the way of such a series of 
systematic investigations, but if they could be carried out there can 
be no doubt as to their value for the advancement of scientific 
truth, and I throw out the suggestion in the hope that at some time 
in the future it may be taken up. 
SEASONAL NOTES. 
The meteorological conditions of the past season have been, in 
many respects, as remarkable as those which were experienced 
during the summer of 1898, and the results have been equally 
striking. In early spring the conditions were exceptionally unfavour¬ 
able to vegetation, owing to the long-continued cold and dry winds. 
As a result, plant growth was at least a month behind the average by 
the middle of May. In early June, however, a complete change 
took place, and, except during a week or two in July, the weather 
during the whole summer and autumn has been the most favourable 
that has been experienced for many years. At times the heat has 
been excessive, as on June 12th, when the thermometer registered 
a maximum of 80 degrees in the shade and 116 degrees in the sun 
at Pitcullen. On the following night the minimum fell as low as 
38 degrees, showing how clear was the atmosphere and how great 
the radiation. In August, also, continuous high temperatures were 
registered, with almost no rainfall, the total for the three weeks 
ending August 26th being only *26 inch, while the maximum tem¬ 
peratures ranged from 74 to 79 degrees. 
The result of these exceptional seasonal conditions has been a 
most abnormal growth of vegetation. This has been seen more 
especially in regard to the deciduous trees and herbaceous plants. 
During August the growth of young shoots on these could almost be 
marked from day to day. Leafage has been exceptionally heavy 
and enduring, and autumn fruits have been more abundant and of 
stronger growth than for many years past. In no case has this been 
so marked as with the oaks, the crop of acorns being quite pheno¬ 
menal. This luxuriant growth of leaf and fruit is probably due to 
the long-continued check which vegetation received in the early part 
of the season, followed by the equally long-continued genial con¬ 
ditions of summer, which enabled the plants to reserve their resources 
until the time came for their full development. Exactly an opposite 
effect has been produced on those forms of vegetation, such as fungi, 
which require an abundance of moisture for their full development. 
In illustration of this, I append a note which has been kindly fur¬ 
nished to me by Mr. Charles MTntosh of Inver. 
