SCOTLAND. Division XVI.-EAST MIDLAND COUNTIES (continued). Division XVI.-EAST MIDLAND COUNTIES (continued). FORFAR (continued). Div.XVII.-NORTH- KINCARDINE. Note. In the preceding Tables the height of the gauges is occasionally differently stated in 1860 and 1861; this must not be supposed to indicate change of position; the apparent discrepancy arises from the observers having reconsidered their estimates when filling up the returns for the second year. (See also p. 294.) On Thermometric Observations in the Alps. Ar the Meeting of the British Association at Oxford in 1860, the writer laid before the Section of Mathematics and Physics a plan for the systematic observation of temperature in the chain of the Alps, and other mountain countries, in which several members of the Alpine Club had been induced to join. Thermometers of uniform construction had been prepared for the purpose by one of our best makers, Mr. Casella, and forms were printed with the object of securing as far as possible a uniform and complete record of such observations as should be procured. The conditions under which these observations were to be made, and the fact that most of the observers were not professed men of science, made it indispensable to limit the plan so as to include only such objects as might be accomplished without much expenditure of time and labour, and by means of very light and portable instruments. Four objects were suggested for inquiry : 1st. The determination of the minimum temperature on or near to the higher peaks of the Alps, and other mountains, by means of self-registering instruments fixed in suitable positions. 2nd. To obtain comparative observations of the effects of the radiant heat of the sun upon black-bulb thermometers. 3rd. To trace the propagation of disturbances of temperature throughout a mountain district by the multiplication of observations at a number of different points. 4th. Observations on the temperature of the surface, and the upper layers of the soil, at great elevations. Unexpected circumstances have prevented the writer from visiting the Alps during the last two years, and have very much restricted his opportunities for carrying out his own share of the work; and however moderate the expectations were which he had formed, the difficulties in the way of obtaining definite results have proved to be even greater than he anticipated; so that the plan has proved to be in some respects a complete failure, while in others a limited degree of success has attended it. 1. In regard to the observations obtained by placing minimum thermometers at great heights, the principal share of merit in whatever has been accomplished is due to Mr. F. F. Tuckett, of Bristol, who is well known as a very active and successful mountaineer, and a careful observer. He has placed a considerable number of instruments at heights ranging from 7000 to 14,000 feet, and has collected and arranged the observations made by various travellers upon the instruments so deposited by himself or by others. The following is a summary of the work done, and the results obtained, with which the writer has been favoured by Mr. Tuckett : Having been requested by the Committee of the Alpine Club to undertake the registration of such data as might result from the exposure of registering-thermometers on the loftiest summits of the Alps, I am able to supply the following brief account of what has been effected. "The conditions of success were (1) the cooperation of as large a number as possible of our mountaineers; (2) correctness and uniformity in the instruments employed; (3) a judicious exposure which should secure them alike from the influence of radiation and the protective effect of heavy falls of snow, especially in winter; and (4) some mode of firm attachment which |