The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

22
THE BRITISH ISLES.
The influence of this climate upon the animal creation, and even upon the
vegetable kingdom, is as favourable as upon the human constitution. The
warmth of summer is never so great, nor is its accession so sudden, as to occasion
a too rapid development or too high excitement of organized bodies ;
nor the cold
of winter so extreme as to depress their vitality to an injurious degree. The
natural formation, soil, and cultivation, with few exceptions, prevent the generation
of marsh effluvia, whilst the fresh and strong westerly winds which prevail.
Fig. 13.—Rain Map of the Bkitish Isles.
According to Symons. Scale 1 : 10,600,000.
^ //f/S// & 'A "^
.— ^j-^a-^:?
ENGLISH
a
c/z-a"
rTTTTTn IMMIH (I—
Under 25 in. 25 to 30 in. 30 to 40 in 40 to 45 in. 45 to 75 in. Over J
owing to the position of the country, cause a continued renewal of the atmosphere,
even in the closest and most crowded streets of the manufacturing towns.*
These climatic conditions have, moreover, vastly contributed to make the
British Isles a geographical whole, and in amalgamating the various races by
whom they are inhabited. In most other countries migration is attended with
considerable risk, and a period of acclimatization has usually to be passed through.
In Great Britain the natives of either England or Scotland may exchange homes
• MacCuUoch, " Statistical Account of the British Empire," i.