The temperature of Ireland is milder, and throughout the year averages a higher degree than the temperature pt.. England ; but this must be understood as applying not so much to the higher heat of the summer, as to the less cold of the winter and spring. In the south and south-west o Ireland, it does not often happen that winter covers the low ground with snow, or locks it up in frost, for any length of time ; and even in the middle of the country, snow of a month's duration on the plains is very uncom mon. Rain, however, in winter, through all Ireland, is abundant ; and the moisture this occasions gives a feeling of coldness, which, if not compared with the thermometer, would lead to the supposition, that the temperature of the air was really very low. The winter continues commonly in the north and central pacts seven or eight months, fires in chambers being requisite from about the middle of Sep tember to the middle of May. The seasons are later than in England : " the spring and autumn more tardy in their approach, as also the winter ; the fall of the leaf being later than in England " The differences of temperature between the north and the south of Ireland seem to arise more from the different elevation of the land, than from difference of latitude. The latter cause, indeed, cannot produce much effect, the ex tent of Ireland, in a meridian line, not being above four degrees of latitude. The situation of the country with respect to the ocean also affects its temperature. The western and southern parts are more moist and temperate than the eastern and north-eastern, and the coasts than the interior. It has been also remarked, that, where the sui)straturn is limestone, the snow dissolves sooner than elsewhere.
Such is a general description of the climate of Ire land ; but it may be proper to select some particular facts, to confirm and illustrate the truth and accuracy of this description.
And, first, with respect to temperature. Generally speaking, the mean temperature of the north of Ireland anout 48° ; of the middle 50° ; and of the south 01 Fahrenheit. The following arc the results of a series of experiments made by Mr. Hamilton, to ascertain the tem perature of the soil of Ireland, from its southern to its northern coast, by examining the temperature of covered wells of pure water.
At Kilkenny, the thermometer during winter seldom sinks below the freezing point ; and during the summer it seldom rises above in the shade. It has been ob served as high as 84". The average heat of summer is between 70° and 75°. At Limerick, the greatest height of thermometer in the shade is 72° ; the greatest depression 58°. In winter, it is under 55°, but never below 28.
From a register kept at the Botanic Garden, from t 802 to NI I, it appears that the follmsing is the order of the months, according to their dryness. June, February, Ain il, March, October, January, September, August, No vember, July, December. In all the months of June, during the above period, there fell only 12.070 inches, and in February only 12.321 ; whereas in December there fell 27.310, and in July, 24,146.
From the following Table it will appear, that the order of the months, taken according to their dryness, vanes con siderably limn this at Belfast.
The materials for the natural history of Ireland are by no means rich or abundant. Consequently, as they cannot be systematized, and as our limits, as well as the nature and object of this article, compel us to be brief and gene ral, we shall merely give some notices on the three great branches of botany, zoology, and mineralogy.
" The study of botany, (observes Mr. Aikin) has been less cultivated here than in any other part of the united empire ; and the neighbourhood of Dublin, which has been the best explored, affords no rare and few characteristic plants. From the general mildness of the climate, the ex tensive tracts of bog, and the vast mountainous ranges that intersect the country, and affords capacious basins for its numerous lakes, it is obvious that the flora of Ireland, when complete, will probably contain several species that are strangers to the rest of the British islands. On the mountains of Sligo is found the Saxifraga untbrosa, known in our gardens by the name of London pride; and the ro mantic scenery of Killarney, in the county of Kerry, is the most northern habitat of the Arbutus Unedo. The heaths abound with the stately Erica Dabdeci ; and the mountain aver, bear-berry, with other alpine plants, expand their ne glected blossoms, and trail their glowing festoons of clus tered berries, unnoticed, amidst the wild solitude of their rocky fastnesses." The zoology of Ireland is very similar to that of Eng gland. It is said that magpies and frogs were unknown here, till introduced by the English, toward the beginning of the 13th century. Moles, toads, and all kinds of ser pents, are still unknown. The Irish grey-hound, or wolf dog, formerly of great use in clearing the country of wolves, is now seldom met with, the breed being nearly extinct. Its appearance is at once beautiful and majestic ; its height about three feet ; its colour generally a white or cinnamon ; its aspect mild ; its disposition gentle and peaceable ; but its courage and strength so great, that, in combat, the mastiff or bull-dog is far from being equal to it. The breed of the wolf was not extinguished in Ireland till the beginning of the 18th century. Herds of deer were for merly very numerous; but the progress of cultivation has rendered them rare. A species, at present entirely ex tinct, existed in ancient times, as enormous horns are dug up in various parts of the kingdom. " Some of these horns have been found of the extent of fourteen feet from tip to tip, furnished with brow antlers, and weighing three hun dred pounds. The whole skeleton is frequently found with them. It is supposed, that the animal must have been about twelve feet high." The cattle, horse, sheep, &c. of Ireland, will be noticed under the head of agriculture; and the salmon and other fish, which are made an object of important traffic, under the head of fisheries. But, to this short notice of the zoology of Ireland, we shall here add a few words regarding some rather rare species of fish, which are found in its lakes.