FIFTEENTH ORDINARY MEETING. 195 
4. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 7, No. 4, 
December, 1883. 
Correspondenz-Blatt der deutschen Gesellschaft fiir Anthropologie, 
Ethnologie und Urgeschichte, 13 Nos., January, 1883, toJanuary, 1884. 
The Monthly Weather Review for January, 1884. 
Journal of the Royal Geological Society of Ireland, Vol. 2, Part 1; Vol. 
SwEarhel 2, o3..Vol, 4, Parti2, 3; Vol..6,, Part 2. 
8. The Canadian Entomologist, Vol. 15, No. 12. 
Journal of the Anthropological Institute of G. B. and Ireland, Vol. 13, 
No. 3. 
10. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, Vol. 6, No. 2, February, 
ee et 
Mr. J. Gordon Mouat then read a paper entitled, 
A FEW CANADIAN CLIMATES. 
Of the water influences which affect the climate of Canada, that of 
the Pacific Ocean is by far the most extended and far-reaching. The 
atmospheric drift of the middle latitudes bears it across the ranges of 
the Rocky Mountain system and diffuses its ameliorating warmth 
over the vast plains of the Saskatchewan and Athabasca. The influ- 
ence of the Atlantic is limited to the few hundred miles over which 
the eastern surface winds from the sea are drawn inland towards the 
cyclonic areas advancing from the west. The St. Lawrence valley 
shows this influence in the winter temperature, which is higher than 
in the central parts of the continent on similar latitudes, and in a 
heavier precipitation. The unequal influence of the two oceans tends 
to throw the meridian of greatest summer heat and winter cold— 
which, were these influences equal, would lie in the central part of 
the continent—towards the eastern coast. But here nature has pro- 
vided a check in the existence of Hudson’s Bay and the Great Lakes, 
which temper the heat of summer and mitigate the winter’s cold. 
It is not, therefore, in the meridian of the Great Lakes that the 
greatest extremes are found, but westward in the valleys of the Mis- 
sissippi and Red Rivers. 
The influence of the Great Lakes is very marked. In the lake 
region of the Province of Ontario the mean of the three coldest 
months varies from nearly 30° Fahr. to a little less than 15°. At 
similar latitudes in the Mississippi valley, and at almost similar ele- 
vation above the sea, the mean temperature of these months varies 
from 24° to 4°. The winter isothermal of 20° skirts the north shore 
