iv PROCEEDINGS—PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
of our cities, and to the corporations who administer them, he said 
that “The corporations of the United Kingdom are beginning to 
attend to the sanitation of the mind as well as of the body.” 
Before proceeding to give an account of the Excursions held 
during the past summer, it may not be inappropriate if I give a few 
notes on the 
SEASONAL CONDITIONS 
which have prevailed, and their effect on both plant and animal 
life. 
In some respects it has been the most remarkable season ex¬ 
perienced for many years. The winter had been open and mild, so 
that vegetation began to develop very early, and this premature 
growth was not, as is so often the case, checked by severe frosts in 
early spring. The same genial conditions, indeed, continued right 
on to the beginning of the summer season, with just sufficient rain 
in March and April to supply the needful moisture for plant life. 
The result of these conditions in the early part of the season was 
that vegetation, both arboreal and herbaceous, not only matured 
quickly, but was exceedingly luxuriant. The most casual observer 
must have noticed how abnormally heavy has been the foliage on 
our deciduous trees, and the farmer can bear testimony to the rich¬ 
ness of the hay crop. The same holds true of all varieties of grass 
and of our ordinary wild flowers. So far as herbaceous plants are 
concerned, however, the season of extreme luxuriance was short-lived. 
From the beginning of May until the beginning of October hardly 
any rain fell, so that those plants which require pretty constant 
moisture soon began to fall off in richness. This was felt, of course, 
most in places where the soil was light and non-retentive, such as the 
the Atholl district of our Highlands, where the corn crop was much 
below the average. During the summer the heat was never very 
great, until about the middle of September, when a remarkable 
change took place, the temperature suddenly going up to an extent 
almost unprecedented at that season of the year, and accompanied, 
not by clear sunshine, but by conditions of excessive moisture. So 
completely, indeed, was the atmosphere saturated that in the country 
the stones and rocks, and in the town the pavements and buildings, 
remained wet all day, although there was no actual rain. Mr. Charles 
MTntosh informs me that during the maximum of this “heat-wave,” 
namely, on Sunday, 18th September, his thermometer at Inver 
registered 80 deg. F. in the shade and 132 deg. F. in the sun. These 
abnormal autumnal conditions, like those of the earlier part of the 
season, had a marked effect on vegetation. The potato crop, for 
instance, which had been singularly free from disease all summer, 
began to show signs of fungoid growth in several districts. The 
coniferous trees, too, at once showed signs of renewed vitality, the 
young larches forming quite an inch of new wood in the course of 
a few weeks. 
The effect of the season on the foliage of our trees has been 
further made evident in regard to the autumn tints. These were 
very late of making their appearance, most of the trees retaining 
