200 CLIMATE AND CAUSES 



is that of a desert or arid nature. Another maxim is thus laid 

 down by the well-known writer on American Climatology (Blod- 

 gett) : "That high arid plains are indicative of great summer heat, 

 of an arid atmosphere, and of little rainfall or snowfall." Now, 

 the condition required to test the accuracy of both these proposi- 

 tions are presented in the position occupied by the North West 

 Territory. South of our boundary, within the United States, lies 

 a vast tract of land, generally arid or desert, of which at least 

 500,000 square miles are embraced in a plateau which has a general 

 level of 6,000 feet. At Laramie City in latitude 24° it is about 

 7,000 feet above sea level, thence northward it rapidly falls off 

 so that when it reaches our boundary in latitude 49°, at Pembina, 

 it is considerably under 1,000 feet. At the base of the Rocky 

 Mountains, it is under 4,000 feet. From the boundary, the plain 

 extends far to the north and only terminates at the Arctic Sea. 

 In such a wide range of latitude it might well be expected that a 

 considerable difference of temperature would be found. The fol- 

 lowing Table, however, shows the temperature as being wonder- 

 fully uniform. (Meteorological Report, 1878.) 



Place Lat. June July Aug. Mean 



of 

 Sum. 

 Mos. 



Winnipeg 49.53 59.2 65.8 63.3 62.8 



FortMcLeod 49.39 60.6 63.3 57.0 60.3 



NorwayHouse 54.00 54.9 63.5 61.2 59.9 



FortSimpson 61.52 58.8 63.4 63.2 61.8 



In the same parallel of latitude in Europe the temperature is 

 recorded as follows : (See Boldgett) : 



Place Lat. June July Aug. Mean 



of 

 Sum. 

 Mos. 

 Penzance, S.W.England.. 50.08 59.5 62.1 61.1 60.9 



Cracow, Poland 50.04 60.0 65.8 64.9 64.9 



Koeningsberg, Russia 54.42 57.4 62.6 61.7 60.6 



St. Petersburg, Russia.... 59.56 58.2 62.7 60.8 60.6 



