STUDIES IN NATURE 



west of Europe, showing what kind of weather 

 there was at many different places at six o'clock 

 the previous evening. On this map little arrows 

 are drawn to show the direction and strength of 

 the wind, and the first thing we notice is that 

 the wind is not blowing from the same quarter 

 at every place ; in fact, we shall generally see 

 that it is blowing round and round in great 

 circles. In the south-east of England the wind 

 may be from the south-west, over the North Sea 

 it may be south-easterly, near the Orkneys it 

 may come from the east, off the west coast of 

 Ireland it may blow from the north, while it 

 may pass up the Channel from the west In 

 such a circular swirl as this, the wind blows 

 round the circle in the opposite direction to the 

 movement of the hands of a clock. Sometimes, 

 however, the circle of wind blows round the 

 other way, following the clock hands. These 

 two kinds of wind-movement are very important 

 if we want to study our English weather, and 

 we must try to find out more about them. 



We probably all know what is meant by a 

 barometer or weather-glass. It consists of a 

 long tube of glass, closed at one end and open 

 at the other. The tube is filled with the liquid 

 metal mercury or quicksilver, a finger is placed 

 over the top, and the tube is then turned upside 

 down, and placed in a little vessel also filled with 

 mercury. The mercury in the tube falls, but 

 owing to the pressure of the atmosphere on the 



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