TEMPERATURE OF CHINA. 2 



V; 



on the plains, where the air was perfumed with the 

 fragrance of its blossoms." * But north of Honan, 

 or north of lat. 34°, the character of the rains and 

 climate seems to partake more of that of extreme 

 northern latitudes. Wheat, barley, buckwheat, 

 maize, and millet, become the great staples of food 

 in lieu of rice ; and tropical products, as sugar and 

 cotton, are cultivated with diminished success. 



Regarding the temperature of China, it is re- 

 marked by Baron Humboldt, in his paper on Iso- 

 thermal lines, that a the northern part of China, 

 like the Atlantic region of the United States, ex- 

 hibits excessive climates, and seasons strongly con- 

 trasted. At Peking, for example, where the mean 

 temperature of the year is that of the coast of 

 Brittany, the scorching heats of the summer are 

 greater than at Cairo, and the winter as rigorous 

 as at Upsal." (Brewster's Edinburgh Journal.) 



Situated nearly a degree south of Naples, this 

 capital has her rivers frozen over from the middle 

 of November to the end of March f; and the 

 average degree of the thermometer is under 20° 

 in the night during the winter months ; and even 

 in the day-time is below freezing point. J In sum- 

 mer it is generally above 80°, sometimes 90°. 

 Humboldt gives the following as the result of five 



* " Wanderings in China," p. 346. 



f Du Halde states from the end of November to the middle 

 of March, vol. i. p. 65., translation. 

 % Staunton's Embassy, vol. ii. p. 338. 



c 4 



