390 



BELGIUM. 



whicli these animals arc able to attacli themselves. Out of a total of 9,000 exist- 

 ing species, only 158 have been discovered there. Sand-banks, separated by- 

 navigable channels, extend parallel to the coast, and, as the tide only rises 13 feet, 

 its navigation is dangerous to vessels of large draught. At low water the 

 poUaerts, or summits of these banks, only lie 10 feet beneath the surface of 

 the sea. 



Fi 



. 220.— -Direction of the 

 Winds in Belgium. 

 According to Quetelet. 



Climate. 



Belgium, in accordance with its geographical position and configuration, may be 

 divided into three climatic regions. In the Avest the temperature and the meteoro- 

 logical phenomena are similar to those met with on the coasts of the English 

 Channel. In Eastern Belgium the character of the climate is more continental, 



with severe winters ; whilst on the plateau of the 

 Ardennes, in the south-east, the temperature upon the 

 whole is lower than elsewhere, although there are many 

 localities favoured by a southern aspect. The summer 

 climate of the Belgian lowlands is the same between 

 Furnes and Moresnet : the same plants are cultivated, 

 and they ripen at the same time. But in winter the 

 eastern plains are frequently covered with snow, whilst 

 in those adjoining the seaboard the snow-flakes melt 

 on reaching the ground. The difference between the 

 mean annual temperature of the plains of Brabant and 

 Flanders and the plateau of Hautes Fygnes, in the 

 Ardennes, amounts to 5°, being about the same as that 

 which would be observed on travelling from the coast of 

 Belgium to Norway. 



Brussels, in the centre of the country, has a mean 

 temperature about equal to that of the whole of the 

 Belgian lowlands, and but slightly lower than that of 

 Paris.* The climate, at the same time, is more extreme and variable, the tempera- 

 ture of January and February of different years varying to the extent of 58° and 

 63°. The mean temperature of July is 29° higher than that of January, which is 

 7° more than in England, but 11° less than in Central Germany. Westerly and 

 south-westerly winds are warm, as throughout "Western Europe, whilst northerly 

 and north-easterly winds are cold. Warm winds predominate in all seasons, and 

 on an average the winds which blow from that part of the compass lying between 

 15° to the north and 75° to the south of west balance the winds blowing from the 

 other three quarters. The atmospheric currents are stronger in winter and during 

 the day than in summer and during the night. The normal wind, in its passage 

 over the country from west to east, gradually swerves round, until it blows due 

 west. When southerly wind prevails at Ostend and Ghent, it blows from the south- 



* Temperature of Brussels, 1833— 1872 :- Spring, 48-4°; summer, 03-2" 

 37'2^ ; year, 49-9' F. (Quetelet, " Météorologie de la Belgique"). 



uulumu, ô0'5°; winter, 



