Climate of the Canadian West. Gi 
New England. |N’w Brunswick} Nova Scotia. |Newfoundland. 
Series D., }f we ; at ge “s : 
s e western | not known. not known. not known. 
(Potsdam) haedor 
Series C., } Hee at 
- the western | not knewn. present, present. 
(Georgian. Raaioe 
Series B., jhe ath on 
- the Atlantic | present. present. present. 
(Acadian) aaisiat: 
Series A., 
(Eteminian) not known. present. not known. present. 
THE CLIMATE OF THE CANADIAN WEsT.’ 
: By Ernest INGERSOLL. 
It may seem presumptuous in me, the citizen of an out- 
side power, however friendly, to come before an audience of 
Canadians as a lecturer upon their own country. But, in 
extenuation, I may plead that it has been my fortune to 
travel a great deal in all parts of Western America from 
Mexico to British Columbia; and, consequently, that I am 
not speaking from hearsay alone, but in the light of personal 
experience. 
The climate, or rather climates, for there are several 
distinct climatic areas, of the vast western half of Canada, 
is, however, a matter of fact and science rather than of exper- 
ience, and an intelligent man, though he had never been west 
of Lake Superior, nor heard asingle word about its actual 
weather, could predict with much accuracy what kind of 
climate would be met by explorers in each of its various 
divisions, simply from knowing the physical situation of 
each. 
For climate is very largely—almost wholly—a function, 
as mathematicians say, of, first, the latitude, and, second, 
the physical geography of the region under consideration. 
' Abstract of a lecture in the Somerville Course, delivered in 
Montreal, March 15th, 1848, 
6 
