• ^ Dr. Holyoke's Estimate of the Excess of Ileal and Cold. 85 



as til e common course of things, is a strong confirmation of 



\ 



the doctrine just proposed/'' f 



But it is more than time to close this paper, aU^eofly much 

 too lengthy ; which I shall do, after observing that, al- 

 though I know not whether either, or both the causes 



herein suggested, may be 'judged adequate to the effects, 

 which I have ascribed to them ; yet I think we must 

 admit the operation of some partial or local cause 

 (such as greater- dephlogistication) to account for the great- 

 er degree of cold in Europe formerly, than at present — as 

 well as of some general cause (such as the general course of 

 winds from the westward in the temperate zone) to account 



for 



* It is a common observation among tliosc of our navigators, wlio frequently trav- 

 erse tlie Atlantick, in or near our latitude, that westerly winds are of all, others, the most 

 usual; which has occasioned the sailors to call the passage from the eastward uphilL 

 And it is observed in Mr. Walter's Account of Anson's Voyage, that, in the Pacifick 

 ocean, in the latitude of 30"^ or 32^ North, the winds almost constantly blow from the 

 westward, though in but moderate gales ; but that in more northerly latitudes, as 40^ or 45'', 

 there are steady westerly winds ; the writer therefore supposes, that the Accapulco ship 

 mi^^ht perform her voyage In much less time, if she stood further to the northward, where 

 icesterhj winds constanthj prevail, than she does, while she pursues her old tract. Tlicse 

 observations are additional proofs of the hyjjgthesis advanced In this paragraph. Whe- 

 ther westerly winds prevail In the southern temperate zone, I know not ; but, If tlit^y 

 do the western coast of South America is probably warmer than' the eastern, in latitudes 

 similar to ours. If the course of the winds in our latitudes be geuerally from the west, 

 wuU not this circumstance alone occasion the atmosphere of Europe to be more humid 

 than the American, as the air from the sea mu^^t be more charged wlih the watery va- 

 pours, than the land air ? • 



t Vasenuhis in his Geography, page 609, 4th Edition, Lond. informs us, that in 

 » the north part of China, though In a latitude not more northern than Italy, the cold f Ms 

 very sharp, and the great rivers and lakes are frozen"— and page 611, that "In Japan, 

 ■which extends from 31° to 39° N. they have a cold snowy wet winter." 



