CLIMATE 



1432 



CLINTON 



of summer and winter, and in the frigid zones 

 it causes the alternation of six months of sun- 

 shine with six months of darkness. 



Rainfall. A region without rainfall is prac- 

 tically uninhabitable. The history of agricul- 

 tural industries shows that a yearly rainfall 

 not much less than twenty inches nor much 

 more than forty inches is required for the 

 world's wheat crop; that is, about 5,000 pounds 

 of water are required for every pound of 

 wheat. If the annual rainfall is less than 

 twenty inches, food crops, with the possible 

 exception of grass, must be helped by irriga- 

 tion. If the annual rainfall is materially 

 greater than fifty inches it hinders rather than 

 helps most food crops. The map of the distri- 

 bution of rainfall compared with that of the 

 density of population shows that most of the 

 people of the world live in regions having an 

 annual rainfall varying from twenty to forty 

 inches, and also that such regions in the tem- 

 perate zones will yield enough foodstuffs for 

 nearly 100 persons per square mile. 



Soil and Vegetation are also climatic factors. 

 Sandy regions are always warmer than those 

 with a clay soil; and where there are forests 

 and abundant vegetation, the climate is more 

 equable and the rainfall nearer normal for the 

 location. 



An isothermal map forms one of the most 

 interesting studies in temperature. In follow- 

 ing the lines which show the average tempera- 

 tures of all parts of the earth's surface it is 

 interesting to note how little degrees of lati- 

 tude sometimes have to do with climate. J.R. 



Related Subjects. The following articles in 

 these volumes relate to the subject of climate, 

 and will make more clear and more interesting 

 certain phases of the general topic : 



Acclimatization Humidity 



Air Hurricane 



Antarctic Circle Isobars 



Arctic Circle Isothermal Lines 



Blizzard Japan Current 



Calms, Regions of Labrador Current 



Chinook Land and Sea Breezes 



Cloud Latitude 



Cloud-burst Lightning 



Cyclone Meteorology 



Desert Monsoon 



Dew Norther 



Doldrums Ocean Currents 



Dust, Atmospheric Prevailing Westerlies 



Equator Rain 



Equinox Seasons 



Fog Simoom 



Frost Sirocco 



Glacier Snow 



Gulf Stream Snow Line 



Hail Storms 



Horse Latitudes Tornado 



Trade Winds Weather Bureau 



Tropics Wind 



Typhoon Zone 



CLI'MAX, in rhetoric, is the arrangement 

 of words or clauses in the rising order of their 

 importance, a most effective device when used 

 by a skilful writer or speaker. Probably the 

 best-known example of climax is Julius Caesar's 

 terse announcement to the Roman Senate. "I 

 came, I saw, I conquered." The beautiful 

 passage from the ninth chapter of Isaiah, which 

 is used with such stirring effect in Handel's 

 oratorio The Messiah, is one of the numerous 

 examples of climax found in the Bible: "And 

 his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, 

 the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the 

 Prince of Peace." 



Climax is used with striking effect in oratory, 

 an illustrious example being the following 

 passage from Patrick Henry's eloquent speech 

 against England before the Virginia delegates 

 to the provincial convention which met at 

 Richmond in 1775: "We have petitioned; we 

 have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we 

 have prostrated ourselves before the throne." 

 Few stronger climaxes have been uttered in any 

 age of the world's history. 



Anti-climax is the reverse of climax, the 

 arrangement of ideas in the descending order 

 of their importance. Ordinarily the use of 

 anti-climax serves to make a sentence weak, 

 and should be avoided. The argument used 

 by the country clergyman against swearing is 

 a good example of anti-climax: "Oh, my breth- 

 ren, avoid this practice, for it is a great sin, 

 and, what is more, it is ungenteel." Very often 

 writers deliberately resort to anti-climax in 

 order to produce a humorous or sarcastic effect, 

 as in the following lines from Pope: 



Go, soar with Plato in the empyreal sphere, 



To the first good, first perfect, first fair ; 



Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule, 



Then drop into thyself, and be a fool. 



CLINTON, a town in Huron County, On- 

 tario, 130 miles west of Toronto and fifty miles 

 north of London, on the Buffalo-Goderich 

 branch of the Grand Trunk Railway, twelve 

 miles southeast of Goderich, thirty-three miles 

 northwest of Stratford, and seventy-three miles 

 northwest of Hamilton. The town is known for 

 its manufacture of pianos and organs, auto- 

 mobiles, boys' clothing, knit goods and flour. 

 It also ships grain, live stock and salt obtained 

 from the neighborhood. Population in 1911, 

 2,254; in 1916, about 2,600. 



CLINTON, DsWiTT (1769-1828), an Amer- 

 ican statesman whose name is inseparably con- 



