302 OUTLINES OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 



the mean temperature is much lower, and the se- 

 verity of the winter much greater than in the same 

 latitudes in Europe. 



At Prince of Wales' Fort, Hudson's Bay, lat. 59, 

 long. 92 west, the mean temperature is 20 under 

 the standard ; at Nain in Labrador 16 ; at Cam- 

 bridge in New England (lat. 42 25',) 10 degrees. 

 Mercury has been supposed to be frozen by the na- 

 tural cold as far south as Quebec, lat. 47. 



A very low mean temperature, and extreme cold in 

 winter, are characteristic of the climate of North 

 America. 



412. In the higher latitudes of the Southern 

 Hemisphere, the temperature is lower than in the 

 same latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. 



FORSTER describes a small island on the coast of 

 South Georgia, latitude 54 south, which, in the 

 middle of summer, was covered almost entirely 

 with frozen snow, to the depth of several fa- 

 thoms. 



The South Pole is surrounded to the distance of 18 

 or 19 degrees with a barrier of solid ice, through 

 which even the skill and intrepidity of Captain COOK 

 could not force a passage. 



It is known also, that detached masses of ice float 

 down in that hemisphere as low as the latitude of 



46, 



