I50 CYCLONES. 
higher regions of the atmosphere. Well, obviously, this sort of 
thing could not go on for ever without the air coming down again 
in some way. Now Anti-Cyclones, the exact antitheses of 
Cyclones, are the places in which the air carried up by Cyclones 
again returns to the surface of the earth. In the map (Fig. 4, 
Plate I.) you will notice circles of equal air-pressure somewhat 
similar on first appearance to Cyclones, but on looking at the 
height of the barometer marked on these lines, you will see this 
great difference, viz., that the Azghest pressure is in the middle, 
and it gradually decreases towards the outside. Then look at 
the wind arrows, these point to a rotation of the wind exactly 
opposite to that in a Cyclone ; they turn, as you see, in the same 
direction as the hands of a watch. You will also notice that the 
wind arrows point slightly to the outside, not to the inside as in 
Cyclones. Everything is then reversed in the Anti-Cyclone as 
compared with the Cyclone, even the weather, which usually is 
fine and dry and the wind light (owing to the lines of barometric 
pressure being usually far apart). The motion of the whole 
system is again different; it is slower and much more irregular 
than Cyclones, in fact, sometimes for days together it occupies the 
same place. In a general_way, Anti-Cyclones are as desirable for 
our general comfort as Cyclones are undesirable. There is one 
serious objection to Anti-Cyclones in winter, however, and that is, 
that the dense fogs we often get at this time of year are generally 
due to them. These are caused by the very cold air coming 
down from the higher regions of our atmosphere, condensing the 
moisture in the damper and warmer air near the surface of the 
earth. 
Referring to Cyclones and Anti-Cyclones together, we may 
look upon the one as feeder to the other—the Cyclone takes the 
air up to the higher regions of our atmosphere and the Anti- 
Cyclone brings it down again. It is found by the study of 
weather charts that a Cyclone and Anti-Cyclone are generally in 
pretty close proximity to each other. _ 
By far the greater proportion of “ weather’’ we experience in 
these Islands is what is known to meteorologists as Cyclonic, that is — 
