STUDY IV. 197 



only on our way, for time permits me not here to 

 unfold all the plans of this wonderful Architec- 

 ture ; fuch, I fay, are thofe long belts of fand which 

 encompafs South America, in Magellan's L-md ; 

 and thofe of Tartary, which commence in Africa, 

 at Zara, or the Defert, and proceed forward till 

 they terminate in the north of Afia. The winds, 

 in Summer, convey the igneous particles, with 

 which thofe Zones are filled, toward the Poles, 

 where they accelerate the action of the Sun upon 

 the ices. 



It is eafy to conceive, independent of experience, 

 that the fands multiply the heat of the Sun, by the 

 refledions of their fpecular and brilliant parts, and 

 preferve it a long time in their interftices. It is 

 certain, at leaft, that the greateft openings in the 

 polar ices are always to be found in the direftion 

 of the warm winds, and under the influence of 

 thefe fandy tracks of land, as I could eafily de- 

 monftrate, were this the proper place. But we may 

 fee examples of it, without quitting our own Con- 

 tinent, nay, in our very gardens. In Ruffia, the 

 rivers and lakes always begin to thaw at the banks, 

 and the fufion of their ices is accelerated, in pro- 

 portion as the ftrand is more or lefs gravelly, and 

 as they meet, relatively to the ftrand, in the direc- 

 tion of the South wind. 



o 4 We 



