4 Supposed Connection of Meteoric Phenomena, 



Westerly Gales. — It has been observed that westerly winds 

 prevail, for two thirds of the year, both north and south of 

 the equator, beyond the latitude of 80° (Redfield); that an 

 almost constant westerly wind blows from the Pacific into the 

 Atlantic ; and that, on the Peak of TenerifFe, the wind is 

 generally from the west (Redfield) ; and that westerly winds 

 blow in America a great part of the year.* Mr. Redfield, 

 whom I have quoted above (VII. 617.)? considers these latter 

 winds part of the circuit of the trades, deflected by the high 

 lands at the back of Canada. There is little doubt that, as 

 they are a resolution of two motions, of which the earth's is 

 one, anything which would tend to increase that motion which 

 corresponds with the earth's (namely, the westerly) would 

 cause the wind to assume a more than usually westerly cha- 

 racter. Now, if the continent of Europe should be heated 

 unusually, so as to produce an induction of wind from the 

 Atlantic by the rarefaction of the atmosphere, the effect 

 would be what has occurred in 1809 and in 1833, and on 

 former occasions, a constant set of the wind from the west ; 

 the intensity of which, in these longitudes, would be propor- 

 tionate to the temperature of our atmosphere, f This, cer- 

 tainly, will account for the strength as well as rare occurrence 

 of gales in a westerly or south-westerly direction for any con- 

 tinued period, without interfering with the forests of Ame- 

 rica, the distance between the earth and the sun, or the power 

 of ice to reflect cold winds in a given direction. On this 

 supposition, however, it is not surprising that westerly winds, 

 passing over melting ice, should produce sudden, but tem- 

 porary, changes of the atmosphere from warm to cold, or 

 from dry to moist. Now, it certainly proves this to be no hap- 

 hazard calculation, that the years 1833 and 1834 answer the 

 conditions required : since, independently of actual volcanic 

 outbreaks, the whole of the old world has been visited by a 

 drought of long continuance, which has dried up rivers, set 

 fire to the earth, heated the atmosphere, and sealed up springs 

 which had never before been known to fail ; while the set of 

 the wind has been almost constantly from the snow-bound 

 shores of Newfoundland, and the iced waters of the ocean ; 



* In Hudson's Bay, westerly winds blow for three quarters of the year. 

 In Kamtschatka, the prevailing winds are from the westward. (Pennant.} 

 Westerly winds are most frequent over the whole eastern coast of North 

 America; in the southern provinces, south-west winds predominate. 

 (Thomson.) 



f Mr. Scoresby says, in the Arctic regions, generally, winds from the 

 ice towards the open sea are the most frequent. (Arctic Regions, i. 411.) 



