OF SOMERSETSHIRE- 13

Commiſſion of Sewers, the members of which ſhould exa- mine and inſpe the ſea banks, ditches, gutters, and ſewers, conneéted with the ſea, and order the requiſite cleanſings and reparations. The firſt commiſſion of this kind upon

record, was in 1304; and the like offices are extended to this day.

SECT. 2.—Divijfion,

Somerſetſhire, in reſpedt to its juriſdition, is divided into two parts, eaſtern and weſtern.‘The firſt containing 19 hundreds, the latter 21 hundreds. It has beſides 7 liberties, 2 cities, 7 boroughs, 29 market-towns, 1 biſhoprick, 3 arch- deaconries, 13 deaneries, and 482 pariſhes.

SECT. 3.— Climate.

In ſuch an extent of ground, it may naturally be ſup- poſed, that the climate is various. Near the ſea-coafſt winter is ſcarcely felt; and from Minehead and Dulverton on the weſt, to Milborne-Port and Wincanton on the eaſt, the cli- mate(Quantock, Branden, and Dunkry hills excepted) is mild and temperate. ÁAs you approach the northern diſ- tri, and aſcend Poulden hill, it changes and becomes more cold and boiſterous; and when you proceed farther north- ward, and gain the ſummit of Mendip bills, you feel your- ſelf, comparatively, in Lapland.‘The perpendicular altitude of Mendip hills, compared with the town of Taunton, is ſuppoſed to be at leaſt 1100 feet,

Seed time and harveſt greatly vary in different parts of the county: the mountainous parts being nearly a month later than the vales; for which reaſon, it is found right, on expoſed and elevated fitüations, ſuch as Mendip, Quantock,

+ Collinſon and Rack’s Hiſtory of Somerſetſhire.

and