which SïeiSffltEè .ÉempSrâtuoe^éf a climate ; as il moderates
the heat from the land, and brings the atmofphere
down to a ftandard bed .fitted to the human coniiiiiu-
tiou. In our hemifphci'e,countries which lie to the
foilth'bf any fea, are wanner than ' thole that' 1 '
fe a . lie .to he louth o f them, ' becatfe the winds tin t
.Ihoiild cool,them in winter are (hitigated b y palling over
the fea ; whereas-thôfe whiéh are northward o f the fea,
are cooler in fiimmer by the breezès from it. northern
or Loiithern bearing o f the fea, renders ’, a country
.warmer than an-eaftern or wefter'n bearing. ' ,
- 332. Iflands participate me re o f temperature arifing
jfrojn the fea, and are therefore warmer than continents..
333. T h e foils o f large traflis o f land have their {hare
in influencing the temperature o f thé country : Thus,
{tones and fand, heat and cool more readily, and to a
greater-degree, than mould | hence, "the violent heats in
the fandy defarts o f Arabia and Africa ; -and the iutenfe
cold o f Ti:rra del Fuego, and other ffiemy countries in
.{cold latitudes. ' J
- 334. Vegetables conliderably caffe£t the temperature
o f a climate.- Wooded countries are much colder than
thofe.iwhich are open and cultivated.
-335. Every habitable latitude enjoys a heat o f 60° at
leaf!, for two months, an'd this - is ; neceflary for the .
-growth and maturity o f iGorn. The-quicknpfs or vegetation
in the higher latitudes proceeds from the time the"
fun is above' the horizon. Rain is but little wanted, as
the earth is fufliciently moiflened b y the liquifattion of
the fnow that covers it during the. winter. In this we
cannot fufliciently admire the wife difpofition o f Providence.
336. I t is owing to. the fame provident hand that the
globe o f the éaçtfi is jnterfedted with feas .and. mountains,
in a manner, that.feéms, on its firft.appearaiice,-altogether
irregular apd fortuitous ; -prefenting to_the bye o f
ignorance, the y iew o f an immenfc.ruiiL: but w^en- the
effefts o f thefe feeming irregularities on the earth are
- carefully inipectcd, they are found mofl beneficial, and
. even neceflary to the welfare-of its inhabitants' ; for to
fay: nothing o f the advantages o f trade --and ( commerce,
which could not exilt without feas, yve have feen that it
is b y theii vicinity, tliat.the cold o f h-ighet latitudes
is moderated, and the heat o f the lower. I t is b y the
want o f feas, that the interior parts o f AJiar s i Siberia
and Great T a ‘rtmy,ps wellhs thofe o f Africa, are .ten-
i&e-redalmoffi uninhabitable; a circumftance w hich fur-
viilhes a llrong prejudice' againft the opinion o f thofe,
who-think -thofe countries were the original habitati1 is
t o f man. In the fame manner, mountains are neceflary';'
not only as the refervoirs ,of;rivers, "but as a defence
againft die violence o f heat in the warm latitudes • without
the Alp s, Pyrenees, Apennine, the mountains o f
Daupbine, Auvergne, ;Stc. m Italy, Spain and France
would'Be deprived ;©f toe mild1 ie mpera t ure' "which they
now efuoyy WiSSonf 'jfbejBalgate Hills, or Hasan'
Apennine, vlndia MitilS ha-re.-biui " I lt i i e,
Jamaica, St. Domingo, Sumatra, and mo ft other iflands
^ b e tjw e^ flg trapi^arelliiruillu d with* mountains,||i|B
■ jvhrch.themeerl ripioAl-1’ u lmn 1 efriflimikin. £&
r : 33j.'Th«aiinuai,htaU<,f,f,onaf n an 1 Pan/ ic netrly
■ thefame!; but from, the|begmhing cffrlYpnlf-o tw . end
ofOftqBer,Hh6 filat js greater, at "Paris th a r fS London,
•Hence, grapes arrive, at greater perfection in the neigh-
'bourhobij o f ’Paris' than ^ioutT{{|nd'Qn.{ ■ ’
3^8^Ther following t ib l^ contains a 'corilparifon o f
the temperature o f Icndorish^t. feveral other places.
T h e firit column pontams the jxacc 5 the fecund,"the
annual temperature; the third, the temperature o f January,
tjj^t b f f lg B g c o ld fo g iy n th ; and the fourth, the
\emperat|re 'o f 'J u ly ; th it l^ L ih id q n , as the ftandard,
being eAmaied Mrlld eg ree is elli-
'mated m'theitfijira^himn, andthe dtgrhef o f beat in
-the fourth,- and feeond.—
Ifglitâèaf. An. Temp. Temp. Jaij.. Temp. July.
Lhddon ^ l ’f ' f r » li.riw -fftyfaftlr'tti * IOCO If Ip-jeco.ii-Il
Paris - -i '- - -f ; 1040 Edinburgh ' - ' - . -, - •t 110,3-7” b%;, 92,3,-'- -,1^ 0404'. 914 >,
Berlin I _ ; '. I ;94z Stockholm n - f.i .e Sifiryc i M Peterfburgh t. 3I 9P h-'iWSL U Viehua ' I ". . - . . - , ; -,987 7< 1 W Ê m Pekin - - - w Mtlni H H 1283' Bourdeaux " , j’ - “ Ai -, 1439 y Montpelier | - - ( i -, 'X LJ, 1170 . 850 ■ ; .-1 1 9 6
Madeira' ■ " - / - ■ - I f 1. JS 'S - ! - ’ 5S 9r— ; ,n a 8 -,
Sp'aiiilh Town, in' Jamaica - -
Madrafs . ' - ' ’ ’ - • . : 1 5 6 s S . 4 9 ' . 4349 :
t ’ g A t £ t lot ,-by a mean o f the.obfepirions made
a*- t i t R o v jl, 3'iv i t orn ippo^s
that the mean, annual temperature is 5 1° ,9 , or in wjt fli.
numbers, 520; and the monthly temperature is as follows:
MHt IH W M i f
v- " Jajtuary' - -
February - -
. M l'èlil - -
- -
May - «
Jm è r 'tf? > -
- -
W m I
it "AOiguft- - -
^rsScpdKhapI - » 59.63
- -
' j * K rm T i iir ' . - r ’l m S i i
^æ@|fe|r£qcr?: - ? B W
The greateffi ufual cold is> 2-P°, and happens in -Janu A j
a t, ; the gt eateft uû m heat: is 810 and happens general-J
ly in July.
T h e limits ©f the annual variation'- ard 2-,51 th a t's ,
1 i above, and 1 ° ,e T elo^fhe'-mean.. •'
The greatest variations o f the mean temperature o f
the fame moiifhiin different■ years,, aare f X
w k S - 2 °
February i-.'.iP r A’ njjiULt; | W M |
* • ' 4% September
April - - 3 0< tober 1 1 1 1|| 4 ■
November- T; s
Junij^i 2- Decembf r B H h
Hence it appears, that the temperatures o f the fummers
differ mucin Ms than thofe o f the winters. lj
'pfi muffi ufiial riatic i f temperature within tl e
fpat^y2^1îoitù?m! 'eTCry^o^r^-arë^*^
1 rç'WKi, . - - .r.s,! 1 - 1 0 “
,-r 8 Auguft M - iV '*
March - - 20 tSeptèmbpfl#' h 18
A p tiiJ * '- . . - M M ■ pd^ib^,1 v '1+1
I 14 N ovembcT,. V i w sË Êm
June 12-‘ ^Cgmb,ef. ^'„>r
3lp. A t ‘PHtJburgl, Ir->tude *59". -RiVigîtùfle
30°- t f E the mean annual temper ture i 38 , 1, From
the mean o f 6 years. ; - Tfrb greateffi cold obferved was
V h ich mercury' -frceAs^ that'isp^fj-llbelow o° y
but the greateffi mean degree o f cold foi feveral years
was 250 bèlow 0°. T he greateffi fummer heat, on a
mean, is 79?, yet once. 1 amounted to 94°. 1 I t fcârc'é:
ever hails at this places
341. In-latitude 790. 50',-: Lo rd M ulg r a v e ohferv-
td tht greateffi heat for two d ys to b< 5-8°^ arid the
leaft 46°: Mr. M a r tin obferves, that the weather in
the polar regions is ' vbrjftwnffifafl|rg ‘:phb it blows a
violent ftonn,.ani-1.in the next there is a^Sead calm ; neither
does it blow-long ■ 1« point- h^ytufo m e t i me s
from every point within 24 h r Ifte i a culrr, the
' north wind fprings up firft ; the ik y is-feld'om perfeàly
clear, and ftorms are much more-frequent than in lower
{■ ijyflfMes^ (i 1
$4 2, In -Euro.pBy uniafual cold in fummer may arife,
deither from 1 ^nt-inuance o ï eafterJy or northerlywinds,
or'frqm-frequent''and heayy rains, which are fol-
I lowed Gvapoi^tiGnsîih^ from along continuant
^ i ® J u l y > ,which prevents- the-
earth from receiving its proper degree o f heat.
343. The caufes o f unufual cold in winter may he
■ thefe. Unufual cold m $ the preceding fummer. For
the heat in thé wjhteri being in a . grCatri^âj|àre derived
1 fa fth, i f this be deprived o“f itsi ufuaLhèat, the
• want of^it^'mkftjjb’èi perceived in winter. T he cold vb f
f I fevereifty Iong knowh in Europe ;
and Mi\ D erham remarked, that ,^u'ne
AvasTq|èold,^that his thermometer was near the freezing
. poii^^p’ t'He 12th o f that month, and 'the cm^^ity o f
rain was'mu ©If'{greater than u fu a l .M r . W olf made
I the fame obfervation mX'iGermany. 2dly, Heavy rains
followed by eajlerly or northerly winds. This circum- ■-
fence produce's -great c@îd at any tim.e? on 1 account ê i \
the great evaporation which then takes place by thefe ;
J. dry winds, I t to ok’ place in O'&ober 1708, as M r .v
,x W olf obferved ; andc an intenfe colxl-immediately fol*,
f lowed.’ 3 d! y. Wejlerly or fouiherly currents, in the upper
. regions of the atmofphere, whïlfl eajlerly or northerly winds
prevail in the lower. ! For. the warm currents - are depri- >
i ved o f their moiftiire* by thé ^cold o f the fuperior re-
* gipfels-'-;^andfthis descending in'the form o f ( fnow, coolsv
.the inferior Strata.below thei^ufual temperature : this
' cifèumfhance alfo took pla'qe in when 'the cold was
, greatèft. 4thly. The arrival of Siberian, or American
.winds.', eaft o f T m d ô n hut a.ccordriiî^
ltèiM r . S meaton’ s -, computation, a common
high wind .moves at th|Wat%’ miles in an hour, and.
therefore . may pafs tè/’.’hsÈ'^n; .3' days - from- Siberia3
and', preferve much o f its * pr-iginal 'degree ’l o f cold»'
T he winds, from America may alfo arrive in a few
days ; but .their rigour w'ill be abated by palling* over
the fea ; but i f the fea have been previously (fp'pifed h f
northerly winds,' the wefterly winds may prove very Cpldi
Mr. D erham, - ' on compaiing hist journals with 'thole
o f Mr. R obie in New England, ïoxmà, that'after a few
' days,- the American winds ^paffed into England. T he i
1 wind irîv x 7 Bip was equaMy#®C©fe- in America, as in --Eu*
i||§ . 5-thly. The fa l l o f a fuperior Jlratum o f the atmofphere.
This will happen when a-cold wind in the uppèr, j
regions- o f the atmofphere paffes over a country, the
lower ftrata.of whole atmofphere' are lighter ; and hence
a low Hate o f the barometer generally precedes fuch extraordinary
. cold! I t is 'probably fo’r this reafon, that
Holland pftei\er experiences a greater degree o f cold,
than other countries under higher latitudes ;,
a mo ill country, its atmofphere abounds more in' vapours,
which renders it fpecifically ‘ lighter 5 thusy dur-1
ing the great, cold “o f Jadéarÿf 1783,’ the'barometer was
lower than it bad been known to be for 50 years beforey
during thât riîonth 1 and- M uschenbrock remarked,