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eaft wind oa the fouth fide of the equator. — Thefe, as they ap- 

 proach the equator, fhould become ftronger and more eafterly, and 

 appear due eaft in the equator itfelf, by reafon of the concourfe of 

 both currents from^the north and from the fouth. — There the ve- 

 locity of each fhould be at the rate of 2083 miles in the fpace of 

 one natural day, or above 1.33 miles per minute, if it had not. 

 been that before the air at the tropics could arrive at the equator, 

 it muft have gained fome motion eaftwards from the furface of the 

 earth or fea, whereby the relative motion is diminifhed to the de- 

 gree that a£tually- exifts in it. 



This theory appears to me rather ingenious than folid, for the 

 following reafons : 



1°. The trade winds are commonly gentle, moving only at the 

 rate of eight miles an hour; therefore they have fufRcient time to 

 gain or participate of the motion of the earth ; therefore their con- 

 trary courfe muft arife from an abfolute caufe, and cannot be 

 deemed merely relative. 



2°. Because the north-eaft wind fcarce ever approaches nearer 

 than eight or ten degrees to the equator, and there dies away ; 

 whereas it ought there, according to this theory, to be ftrongeft. 

 And, on the contrary, the fouth-eaft pafTes the equator feveral de- 

 grees, 



