6 N A .T .U R ^ J , H l f t O R Y
obtain in any one place; and in .the year j y j g , which we ifnay
reckon among fome o f pur moifteft Summers throughout pagf-
tand, moreRainfelfat London ,thaq g| I%mqifth, .^gording to in
eftimate made, at both places; and in the Winter-1736, there were
greater complaints, pf- the ejpefiivp Rain§ k Rffex and the parts
about London,'than in Cornwall; however, .in general it is^other-
wife : büt' öur Rains' in Cornwall are rather frequent than he^yy
and excelfive; and we have very feldoma day fó thoroughly wet byf
that there fe jome yitermiffion, nor fo cloudy but tliat thé $ifn wfll
fincT a time to ftjine; the vir ile b if which, I apprehend, the
hilly, narrow, ritfoe-like' fofm o f ; our; , Qriunty, y>ver.' whiiëh the
Winds make a quick, becaufe they have a fhort paflage, apd leave
not the clouds |o hang long in one place, as they do where tfhé.
groimd is more champaign, and full of varjqus hollows ajpcf trees to
intercept and detain them. .
Another reafbn why we have .id Cornwall Rain, .fhan if\
other parts or England, is, becaufe, for three parts in
year, the Wind blqws from the intermediateqiöhïts'o f the Weft arid
the South, which Wind coming over a large track, .of. |he; Atlantic
Ocean, and confequently fraught with much Weff mfeharges ,lt’,s
Moifture as fbon as the current of Air, which fupported the .pljbuds,
is dTminiftied and brol$ by thg Cliff^ apd, ïjilln^^ Itwas., an ^ bfer-
vation, made by our Saviour ', that the Weftern winds brought Rain
in Judea j and it qojuld not be othg^wijf^j ,qf paflpg
ovey fo farge a fra& o f the Mediterranean. Tbg vfoifth Wrinh combing
from dip £paft o f Afeick, had, tfte fapje ,e$g<%in,tho Adri^ftfe
and uppn the Coaft of Italy apd. Qrc$£&\ ,
- s — - A^di^s Notus; evofet alis, i .
Terribilem. picea tedus caligine vultum; ,
Barba gravis nimbis, canis fluit unda capillis,
Fronte fedent nebula*, rqrapt; pgnrisque' finufqutt
The Eaftern Winds, blowing, in from the Euxine Sea upon the.
city of Conftantinople, fill the Air with Mifrs and Fogs, hi all theft,
inftances the frequent Rains are the copfequences of Winds paffirig
oyer a large trad of Water, and this may lead us to the reafbn why
the Winds' blow fo much from the South Weft in Cornwall. Certain
it is, that Winds, do. generally blow from, the Sea of which the
caufe may be, that every current of Air-which is produced on the
Ocean, meeting with no promontories or mountains to reftrain them»
have their full range towards the oppofite fhores. Add to this, that the
1 Luke xii. 54.
* Quo non arbiter Adriæ major. Hor. lib. i.
Odeiii;
1 Metam. lib. i. v. 26a,.
" Dr. Shaw Trav. p. 218. obferves, that at
Algiers the Wim|s blow,-.generally from, the Sea,
frejm the Weft by the North to j the Eaft.
refléc-
G ?F : f ^ O R N f A b L . h7
reflection of the,*Suurbeam.s upqp’ the land being far ftronger, and
iriakiBg .thje Air ^jtfmq^-and lefsl^enfe ovétflïhe land, eæteris paribus,
than ©yer ftream||||£' A ir ,, fàhich ate fèt IppncAion by
various caufes m the fipface of fea, muft nepeflki||t^®d fowatds
the land, dis^fow thejgreateft quantity,-of fea.\to Which England* and
more* particularljbdthe Weftern parts of ftp is<moft expofèdf is'-the
Atlantic Ocean, lying to| ;the South Weftl | | it, between the eoh
tinents of-Africa* .Europe, and,’America ; cqrifequently, from this
quarter the Winds muft tnoft generally .blow. ;
^SEGJP,: If;
Storms ' _
mifchievous.
Being'fo near the Sea hs. we.are in mbft parts o f ! CqrfiWall, ‘dur
Stormy blafts are more violent thari in the inland parts of England,
becaufe, though thofe- lands whic'h are fnore Yçmôte from . the Sea
are for the generality much hifihqr than thdfö upon the Sea fhore,1
.jet thé cbrtefits of Air, whicH’We call Winds* are' fo; broker! by the
the hills hinâ fome places . and abfcfrb’d fry Valleys’ and wopds in
.others, that they lofe their ftrength, and gradually proceed into a
more temperate motiori* dr evten a flat calm* bfeforë they .friaoh’.the
more inland fituatibns ; whereas, near the ‘Sea, • they Come on with
their full force, without being impeded oh diflipated, ,-Hentde it iis
that tfie1 South Weft Winds, which blow cfo ]png: with üS|inöt
only bring rain, frut alfb hard gales ” ; ; every 'wind that rifo advancing
tq the land withbutiany obftacle ,bver fa latge a plane of
water as the Atlantic ocean. •
It may not be amifs here to fey fometihing of the Atmofphere in
SECT.- III.
Û'he Caufeof
Winds ftigr
gefted.
general, and to „tónt which’ thófe êwrènts of’Air,
which)1 we call. Winds, may poffibly arife. THe Afmofphere is a
congeries of Air, fiery,, terrene,; and moift vapours j the Air is the
fluid medium through which the light pafles, iri which Eire is
detained’, into which the vapours rife^ arid there float !tilf they fall.
The Airis feldomuat reft, being varioufly agitated* condenMy 6t
rarcfred , by thé vapours and* fire intermixed. The fire may .be
either equally difpek’d and ftagnant in the Atafrfphkie,; fo as to
remain invifible, or cofteéted m one place, and from various caufes
fiifceptible of inflammatitHi, aftwity, and explofioni. The vapours
rift from Land and Seap and^ are cfenfeqUéntfy of a mixed' nature j
the dry parts; of as differentia) eompofition as the Earths and Minerals*,
and: the moifture as differently impregnated afr tKe Waters of ihfe
Sea,. Lakes, Rivers, and Fountains. Vapours float alfo in pattieularr
fortments, and in quantities ^:•difeRalt^ma^^k!^IiB, .râKioidmé^:
heat operates, and' promotes their feparatiori and afcent in k- the
Creberque pfocellis-Africu»., y<| V irs'.
Air.