The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JULY 24, 1863.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

THE FERN HILL STAKES.-All the committee present
to-day, but two having bets on the above race, it was agreed
to refer it to certain members of the Jockey Club, who have
no interest in it.

The Subscription Rooms will be opened on Saturday nex
for settling and comparing.

SCRATCHINGS.—Gemma and Berths were struck out of
all handicaps at Goodwood, Brighton, and Wolverhamp-
ton on July 2q, at 7,27 p.m.
The match between Cambuscan and Niobe at Goodwood
is off by consent.

LITERATURE.

Climate : an Inquiry into the Causes of its Diffe-
rences, and into its Influence on Vegetable Life
By C. Daubeny, M.D. Parker, Oxford and
London.

Professor Dinbeny's little book comprises the
substance of four lectures which he delivered before
the Natural History Society, at Torquay, in the Feb-
ruary of the present year, On the whole, it may
safely be said, that it is interesting and instructive.
The highly important influence of climate upon
vegetable life demands a great deal more attention
and study than it has hitherto received. Tne
chemistry of plants and soils has engrossed so much
of the time and talents of ins estigmors that the
Equally necessary study of climate, as it affects vege-
tation, has been too much neglected. While
therefore, we do not deem this little work to be all
that it should be, we heartily welcome it. We hail
it as a step in the right direction. W hat faults we
have to fiad with it shall be stated at once. When
such lectures are committed to print for publica-
tion, we object to the reproduction of the apologies
and reasons for their delivery—generally, of
course, of a purely local interest, if any—and
also to the explanation of the personal bias which
led to the selection of the subject ; and, yet further,
we object to all other matter extraneous to the
subject, as being of no value to the general public,
while it is a great annoyance to the student and
to the scientific reader. Neither do we perceive
the object of introducing into a work on climate, a
discussion on the material nature of the sun, toge-
ther with an exposition of spectrum analysis, oc•
cupying four closely-printed gages. Whether or
not a great deal too much is said, considering
the limited size of the book, about the geogra-
phical distribution of plants, we decline to decide;
but we have no hesitation in saying that it
less had been said about Sir C. Lyell's notions of
antiquity and Dr. Darwin's theory of selection, the
oetter would it have been for the book as a
work on Climate. Quotations from the Latin
poets, moreover, may be interesting to some,
but few would deem them of any value in con-
nection with the science of climate. In a lecture,
eloquent periods and quotations may very decently
be introduced to gain the pplause of the audience:
but these in print are mere platitudes,andonly serve
to spin out tile book. Weeded of much of this
superfluous matter, Dr. Daubeny's work would be
reduced about one-fourth iu size, to the great ad-
vantage of the subject and of the reader. It is like-
wise to be regretted that no less than three pages of
corrections and additions have been found necessary
to be appended to the volume, while some blunders
have pasted altogether unnoticed. The Sir John
Meade, alluded to in connection with the
Theory of storms, is we suppose the late
Sir W. Reid. Throughout the book tem-
perature figures are printed as degrees
and minutes, both by words and symbols, as if the
measurement were similar to that for latitude. Of
course the minutes of temperature should be decimal
parts of degrees. In a future edition, by judiciously
expunging and correcting,the meritof the work would
remain, and it would become truer to its title. It is
now, however, our agreeable duty to testify to the
value of these lectures. The first lecture considers the
causes which regulate the distribution of tempera-
ture, and the chief elements which constitute the
climate of any place. It then explains the sources
of heat, the dependence of temperature on latitude
together with the modifying agents, and the
instruments and methods by which extremes
and means of temperature are determined.
Finally, it illustrates equable and excessive
climates, and discusses the general causes which
account for peculiarities of climate. These
matters are treated of concisely, clearly, and
methodically. In the second lecture the local
causes which affect climate come under discussion,
as oceanic currents, proximity to large extents of
land or water, elevation above the sea, nature of
soil, exposure to light, humidity (as productive of
fog, rain, dew, &a.), winds, electricity, and ozone.
The third and fourth lectures are devoted to the
influence of climate on vegetation, and are of espe•
cial value and interest to the agriculturist. The
author very clearly expounds the physical condi-
tions which determine the adaptability of plants
to hot, temperate, extreme, or equable climate ; he
adduces instances of plants suited to bright, and of
others adapted to cloudy, skies; and he also exempli-
fies the suitability of some plants to humid, and of
others to dry climates. Then we are instructed in the
modifications probably effected in climate by the
peopling of new and uncleared countries; in the
treatment most likely to be successful in naturalis-
ing plants in a colder climate; in the influence of
teimate on crops with its practical bearing on farm-
ing; and, finally, the husbandman is enlightened
tin the importance to himself in his vocation, and
for his locality, in ascertaining its climate, in the
practice of k- eping a s,naple meteorological register.
We feel that to extract at any length any of the
author's information on these interesting and im-
portant matters, or to attempt to give an adequate
account of any portion, would be to give the reader
in part that which he should seek as a whole
in the work itself. We will cite one or
two passages, however, for the purpose of
showing the mode of treatment of the subject, as
well as the style of the work. Tee barometer is
the oracle of the meteorologist, which admits of
various interpretations, not always very intelligible
ea the uninitiated ; but the following remarks upo❑
the causes which may bring about a fall or rise in
the barometer•, appear to us calculated to disperse a
little of the existing obscurity of the subject :
" As heat produces rarefaction, a sudden rise of tempera-
ture in a distant quarter may affect the weight of the atmo-
sphere over our heads, by producing an aerial current out-
wards, to supply the place of the lighter air which has
moved from its former position; in which case the barome-
ter will fall.
"Now such a movement in the atmosphere is likely to
bring about an intermixture of currents of air of different
temperatures, and from this intermixture rain, as we have
seen, is likely to result.
" On the other hand, as cold produces condensation, any
sudden fall of temperature causes the column to contract,
and sink to a lower level, whilst other air rushes in from
above to supply the void; and, accordingly, the barometer
rises.
" Should this air, as often happens, proceed from the
north, it will contain in general but little moisture; and
hence, on reaching a warmer latitude, will take up the
vapour of the air, so that dry weather will result.
"It is generally observed that winds cause a tall in the
instrument; and, indeed, in those greater movements of
the atmosphere which we denominate storms or hurricanes,
the depression, as we have seen, is se considerable as to
forwarn the navigator of his impending danger."
The next extract, relative to the method of pro-
ducing hardier varieties of plants, will show the
practical va!tie of the book in an agricultural point

of view.
" I believe the cultivator may, in some cases, succeed in
acclimatizing a plant in a colder region by selecting for his
purpose the robuster varieties of the species he wishes to
introduce. Thus the late variety of the walnut flourishes in
localities where the early ones are killed by the frost. Thus
'he early sorts of vine bear fruit in climates where, owing
to the insufficient heat of summer, or the early frosts of
winter, the plant in general fails.
" In like manner, by selecting the tubers of those pota-
toes which blossom first, and by repeating that selection
ieveral times in succession, we may at length obtain a
variety which arrives at maturity in less than three months,
and which, therefore, as it would seem, might be intro-
duced into climates where the summer is too short to ripen
the ordinary simples.
"The importation of olive trees obtained in the Crimea.
which appear less sensible to cold than those of the south
tf France, might perhaps enable ua to extend the cultiva-
tion of that fruit beyond its present geographical limits.
« * •

"It follows, of course, that the larger portion will die,
but a few of the hardier individuals may nevertheless sur-
vive. Repeating this process by sowing seeds obtained
from these latter varieties, in a climate somewhat colder
than the first, it is conceived that a robuster race might be
produced, inasmuch as the survivors would be the hardiest
varieties of the hardiest parents, and therefore might be
capable of existing in a climate very much colder than the
one natural to the species in general."
The practic importance of the subject will ob-
viate any apology for our last citation on the in-
fluence of climate upon crops—
" Even to the farmer it maybe useful to possess the data for
estimating the influence which a summer, warmer or colder,
wetter or drier, than ordinary, has exerted upon the pro-
ductions of his farm, so as not to be misled in his calcula-
tions as to the advantages or disadvantages of any novel
plan of cultivation,

"These data have in part been aurplied by Mr, Lewes

an elaborate paper pntilished in the eighth volume of the
Etoyal Agricultural S,ciety's Journal for 1848, in wh.ch he
shows that in 1844, 1845, and 1846, the difference in the
amount of produce was in accordance with the general cha-
racter of their respective seasons.
"Thus in 1844, when there were only 81 rainy days (in
301 weeks), and when the mean summer temperature was
57.5 deg. the farm produced 16 bushels of corn to the acre,
and the weight of the bushel was 6011b5., whilst the grain
bore to the straw as high a ratio as about 82 to 100.
" In 1846, when there were 93 rainy days, and when the
mean temperature was as high as 59deg., the yield was about
17 bushels per acre, and the weight of a bushel 681bs. ; but
the proportion of grain to straw was lower, namely 76 to
100, showing that the yield of corn had been influenced by
temperature, but that the quantity of straw had been in-
creased by the amount of rain.

" Ludy, in 1345, when the number of rainy days was
greater, though the temperature had been lower than in
either of the two other yews—the former being 110, the
latter 55 degrees—the yield was much greater, amounting
to 23 bushels per acre, but the weight of the corn per
bushel less, namely, 561b5., and the increase in the produce
of strAw such that the grain only bore to it the proportion
of 49 to 100.

" These figures appear to show that although the greater
quantity of rain was favourable to the amount of grain, yet
that it tended to increase in a still greater ratio that of the
straw, and that the higher the temperature of the year was
the heavier the grain would prove, so as to make up in
quality for its deficiency in actual quantity.
" Thus it would appear that, under the same treatment,
the produce may vary in the proportion of seven bushels
per acre, according to the difference of season, which is
equivalent to one quarter of the normal produce; or, cal-
culating this at 30 million quarters in a good year, may be
as much as n million deficient."
I❑ conclusion we would remark that climate
depends upon heat, cloud, rain, wind, the frequency
of electrical disturbance, and probably the diffusion
of ozone. As regards heat, the actual mean annual
temperature of any place has not such an impor-
tant influence upon life, either animal or vegetable,
as the abr iptness and magnitude of its changes.
Climate should be estimated more by the range
of the thermometer than by the average
of its indications. The Registrar-General's returns
prove that with a wide range of the thelanometer
the mortality greatly increases; and it is now ap-
parent to meteorologists that the daily range of the
thermometer marks the effects of temperature on
the health of men, and the success of crops, better
than any other meteorologic] l fact. of which we tnke
cognis-Ance. Now that we possess stlf• registering
thermometers constructed with mercury, the most
,Approprk to of all thermoinsiric substances, not onl3
for maximum hut likewise for minimum tempera-
ture., thanks to the ingenious invention of' Mr.
esseila, the determinatio❑ of the diurnal range of
temperature has become more certain, and observa-
tions are rendered more strictly comparable. The
prevalence of a serene or a cloudy sky tells strikingly
upo❑ animal spirits and vegetable vigour. Vapour
and clouds are concerned in the important operations
of solar and terrestrial radiation. Cloudy days
diminish the effect upon the soil of solar radiation ;
cloudy nights retard the radiation from the earth.
Hence, it appears to us, that observations from
radiation-thermometers are of much greater im-
portance in judging of climate than is usually sup-
posed. These observations are very scanty, and
what few are yet upon record are not very reliable,
principally from bad exposure of the instruments,
while the want of uniformity in construc-
tion may be another evil. Thus, in the
recently invented vaccuum jacket for the
solar radiation thermometer, the makers are not
consistent in the shape which they give to the
outer bulb. So far as we can yet judge of it,
it should be made as by Casella—hemisphe-
rical. Herschel's actinometer, and Pouillet's
pyrheliometer, instruments for ascertaining the
heating effect of the sun's rays, should, more-
over, be more generally employed by meteorolo-
gists. Professor Tyndal calculates that 10 per cent.
of the heat radiated from the earth in this country is
stopped by 10ft. of the air which lies nearest to the
ground; and he very acutely remarks, that in com-
paring observations on the radiation it should be
kept in mind that the difference between a thermo-
meter which, properly confined, or shaded, gives the
true temperature of the night air, and one which is
permitted to radiate freely towards space, must be
greater at high elevations than at low ones. And this
because the higher the place, the less the thickness of
the vapour screen tointercept or retard the radiation.
Rain is the result of the cooling of warm air laden
with moisture, and, as the feeder of springs and
'nooks, and the fertilizer of soils, is of course an
essential element of climate. When a warm and
moist current of air encounters another body of
colder air which msy not be extremely dry, the
mixture is unable to retain the whole of the vapour
in en invisible state; so that the excess becomes
visible as mist or fog, and, when sufficiently
cooled, rain. The British Isles are more or
tess enveloped in fog, or mist, at the commence-
ment of easterly winds, which with a sudden
change of wind is exhibited even in summer; while
the south-westerly winds, warm and arriving from
he ocean, deposit large quantities of rain by the
cooling effect of the land, colder by reason of its
latitude. When rain occurs with a north-easterly
wind it is probably due to the deposition from an
upper south-westerly current, often apparently
proved by the movements of the upper clouds.
Much consideration is due to winds in estimating
climate. Here we can only afford one or two re-
marks. In our islands the predominant westerly
winds are genial, and change little in temperatures
coming from the ocean, which maintains its tem-
perature with more uniformity than the land,
throughout the year. In summer the east winds
are often very hot, in winter they are intensely
cold ; because they arrive from countries charac-
terised by hot summers end cold winters. The
western shores of Europe, the borders of the
ocean and the continent, are the seat of conflict
of these easterly and westerly winds, of polar
and equatorial origin respectively ; and at
the spring and autumn, their temperature
being, as it were, more equally balanced, there
is a struggle for predominance, which results in the
equinoctial gales of the periods. Equatorial winds
are found to be negatively electric, polar winds
positively; hence the difference of electric tension
accounts for the occurrence of lightning and
thunder at smite places, with violent gales of
wind. It is not, however, our intention to go
further into the subject now, while in reference to
ozone we content ourselves with reiterating Dr.
Daubeny's statement, that " ozone may play an im-
portant part in regulating the functions of the vege-
table kingdom ; and although it would be premature
at present to speculate upon its specific office, yet,
for this reason alone, it may be well to note the fact
of its frequency, in conjunction with the different
phases which vegetation assumes, persuaded that
no principle can be generally diffused throughout
Nature, as appears to be the case with this, without
having some important and appropriate use assigned
for it to fulfil."

MARKETS—This Day.

MARK LANE.

A very small supply of English wheat was received fresh
up to this morning's market. Good and fine parcels were
in fair demand at full quotations, but inferior parcels sold
heavily on former terms.
The show of foreign wheat on the stands was large. All
descriptions changed hands slowly, yet no change took place
in prices compared with Monday.
Floating cargoes of grain were in but moderate request
at late rates.

The market was scantily supplied with barley, yet the
trade ruled inactive at about stationary prices.
The value of malt was unchanged, but the demand ruled
inactive.

The supply of oats on offer was only moderate. For all
qualities, however, the demand ruled inactive at late rates.
Beans and peas were dull, and prices had a downward
tendency.
The demand for dour ruled far from active at about pre-
vious quotations. 'l' here was a good supply of barrels on
offer.

ARRIVALS TEN WEEK.
Wheat. Barley. Malt. Oats. nom.
English.- 670 I --
990 i 11850 0 290
Irish.. —
Foreign 10,990 1,040 I 7,110 110 sirs
13,010 brls

NEWUATE AND LEADENHALL. -
The supply of meat on sale is moderate, and the trade,
generally speaking, rulPs inactive at our quotations.
Per Slb. by the carcase.

sasd sdsd
Inferior beef .. 3 0 3 4 Middlingmutton 3 10 4 2
Middling do. .. 3 6 3 8 Prime do ....... 4 4 4 6
Prime large do. 3 10 4 0 Veal .......... 3 8 4 4
Do. small do. .. 4 0 4 2 Small pork 4 0 4 4
Large pork .... 343 10 Lamb . 60 6 0
Inferior mutton, 3 2 3 8 .

SECOND EDITION.