HH62/1/DUNBAR/9

Transcription

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entirely that of the County Inspector, Mr. Dunbar, who has
been most active and unsparing in his work.

Among the thirty-three counties of Scotland Dunbarton stands
twenty-eighth as to area, there being only five smaller. Its total
area (including a part of East Kilpatrick recently added by the
Boundary Commissioners) is 157,289 acres. In population, how-
ever, it stood fourteenth at the census of 1881, and its increase
during the last decennium has been much more rapid than that of
any other county, so that it now occupies the tenth position. It
has grown at the rate of 25 per cent. as against a growth of 21 per
cent. by Linlithgow, 15 per cent. by Lanark, 14 by Midlothian, 11
by Stirling, and 10 by Clackmannan and Renfrew, all the other
counties showing a slower rate. The Dunbartonshire increase has
been greater in the burghs than in the landward part, but in both
it has been very considerable.
The county is of an irregular shape. On the east its
principal boundaries are Loch Lomond, the River Endrick and
its tributary burns, and the Allander Water. In some parts
the boundaries are artificial. On the west its main boundaries are
Loch Long, and to the north of Loch Long a part of Argyllshire.
Its southern boundaries are chiefly the Clyde and the Kelvin.
A detached portion, consisting of the parishes of Kirkintilloch and
Cumbernauld, lies between Stirlingshire and Lanarkshire, and has
for its principal natural boundaries the Kelvin on the north and
the Luggie Water on the south.
Climate. - In a county with a surface so varied as that of
Dunbarton it is obvious that, owing to local conditions of
elevation, exposure, relation to the sea, &c., there must be great
variety of climate. In the range of mountains along Loch Lomond
side, culminating in Ben Vorlich, it is necessarily severe, but in
the more populous parts along the shores of the Clyde and the
Gareloch, and in the Vale of Leven, it is much milder, and con-
tains such health resorts as Helensburgh and Shandon. There is
one station of the Scottish Meteorological Society within the
county. It is in Messrs. Denny's Leven Shipbuilding Yard at
Dunbarton. The station is only 27 feet above the sea level,
and is well sheltered. The following are the observations for
1891:-

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TABLE 1.
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS at DUNBARTON, for the Year ending 31st December, 1891.

[Table inserted]