_Temperature._--The mean annual temperature of the whole of England and Wales (reduced to sea-level) is about 50° F., varying from something over 52° in the Scilly Isles to something under 48° at the mouth of the Tweed. The mean annual temperature diminishes very regularly from south-west to north-east, the west coast being warmer than the east, so that the mean temperature at the mouth of the Mersey is as high as that at the mouth of the Thames. During the coldest month of the year (January) the mean temperature of all England is about 40°. The influence of the western ocean is very strongly marked, the temperature falling steadily from west to east. Thus while the temperature in the west of Cornwall is 44°, the temperature on the east coast from north of the Humber to the Thames is under 38°, the coldest winters being experienced in the Fenland. In the hottest month (July) the mean temperature of England and Wales is about 61.5°, and the westerly wind then exercises a cooling effect, the greatest heat being found in the Thames basin immediately around London, where the mean temperature of the month exceeds 64°; the mean temperature along the south coast is 62°, and that at the mouth of the Tweed a little under 59°. In the centre of the country along a line drawn from London to Carlisle the mean temperature in July is found to diminish gradually at an average rate of 1° per 60 m. The coasts are cooler than the centre of the country, but the west coast is much cooler than the east, modified continental conditions prevailing over the North Sea. The natural effect of the heating of the air in summer and the cooling of the air in winter by contact with the land is largely masked in England on account of the strength of the prevailing south-westerly wind carrying oceanic influence into the heart of the country. This effect is well seen in the way in which the wind blowing directly up the Severn estuary is directed along the edges of the Oolitic escarpment north-eastward, thus displacing the centre of cold in winter to the east coast, and the centre of heat in summer to the lower Thames, from the position which both centres would occupy, if calms prevailed, in a belt running from Birmingham to Buckingham. As to how far the narrow portion of the North Sea modifies the influence of the European continent, there seems reason to believe that the prevailing winds blowing up the English Channel carry oceanic conditions some distance inland, along those parts of the continent nearest to England. The Mersey estuary, being partly sheltered by Ireland and North Wales, does not serve as an inlet for modifying influences to the same extent as the Bristol Channel; and as the wind entering by it blows squarely against the slope of the Pennine Chain, it does not much affect the climate of the midland plain. [Illustration: Map of ENGLAND & WALES--Section II.]