666 JAMAICA. 



But it has been found, that a cubic inch of good brandy is i o grains hea- 

 vier in winter than in fummer, as appears by the table; and that 32 

 gallons of fpirits in winter will make 33 in fummer. Suppofing, there- 

 fore, a puncheon of proof rum, containing 1 10 gallons by meafurement, 

 to be bought in Jamaica, and carried to England, and there fold in the 

 winter, it will have fhrunk, by contraction occafioned by difference of 

 climate, 3 gallons, and about | of a pint. If the prime cofl was at 2 s. bd. 

 per gallon currency, the lofs to the buyer is 7 j. "] I d.', and on 10 punch- 

 cons, 3/. lbs. 51^.; and on 100 puncheons, 38/. 45. 7^. Hence it 

 has been rightly judged more profitable, to buy fpirits in winter, or cold 

 weather, and fell them in hot. 



The cubic inch of proof fpirit, accord-"! Troy weight. Avoirdup. 



ing to the Englifh hydroftatical table, > p. wt. gr. oz. dr. 



weighs J 9 19-73 ° ^.6z 



SECT. XII. 

 S E A - W A T E R, &c. 



The fea-water, being more faturated with fait' in this climate than in 

 the Northern Zones, exhales lefs, and loles lefs of its weight. Hence, 

 not only the atmofphere refting on it is lefs foggy, and therefore lefs in- 

 commodious to the inhabitants bordering upon the coafls, but it is there- 

 by more effeftually preferved from putrefying, and loading the air with 

 noxious effluvia, which, combined with the heat, would become highly 

 peftilential. * 



The water of the rivers here, and frequently that of the fea, is In the 

 early part of the morning warm to the feel, and cool in the evening. 

 The truth is, the fenfes are deceived in this experiment, and it happens 

 from the different ffate of the atmofphere at thofe times. Early in the 

 morning the air is cooler than the water, the warmth which the latter has 

 acquired in the courfe of the day, being partly retained by means of the 

 land or mud at the bottom; but in the evening, the atmofphere having 

 been heated to a greater degree than the water, and not yet much di- 

 vefled of its warmth, either by the fun's abfence, or the land wind, Is 

 aftually warmer than the water. In the morning, tlierefore, the rivers 

 are frequently fecn to exhale a flight mill or fteam, efpccially when the 

 air is more than ufually cool. 



The 



