98 TWENTIETH ANNUAL KEPORT ON THE STATE CABINET. 



Or, referring to their distribution for the months, and denoting 

 the polar current P. C, and all others by the letters indicative of 

 their direction, as NE., SE. and SW., we have : 





Jan. 



Feb. 



Mar. 



A 1)1. 



May. 



June. 



July. 



Aug. 



Sep. 



Oct. 



Nov. 



Dee. 



p. c. 



381 



34i 



Ui 



361 



321 



29 



301 



311 



27 



31 



29 



^H 



NE. 



6 



5 



4 



7 



10 



H 



8 



H 



71 



7 



H 



8 



SE. 



4i 



*2 



3i 



5 



6 



12 



lU 



14 



141 



11 



10 



8 



6 



SW. 



39 



30 



23 



231 



23 



21 



211 



231 



251 



271 



31 



27 



Thus Ave have a preponderance of the polar current in the w^in- 

 ter, and of the return current in the summer. In July and August 

 this warm current becomes so much deflected to the east — by the 

 influence of the proximity to the Atlantic ocean, I doubt not — 

 that we have a preponderance of southeast winds ; winds that 

 must, of course, for us, come from off" the lake. 



The large amount of southerly winds in October and November 

 are also worthy of notice in connection with the sixth topic below. 



4. The number of days betAveen the time when the temperature 

 reaches the average in spring, April 23d, and the time when it 

 reaches it in the autumn, October 23d, is also greater by ten or 

 eleven than the number between October 23d and April 23d ; the 

 number being in one case 177, and 188 in the other; that is, our 

 summer half of the year is eleven days longer than our winter 

 half. This is doubtless owing to the influence of the lakes. 



We are, however, indebted to this influence for more than the 

 eleven da^^s thus indicated ; for, although if the temperature were 

 determined by length of day and altitude of the sun alone, the 

 the number of days in the year which are above the average line 

 would be just the same as those that are below it ; yet when we 

 take into the account the correction for " absorption," it will be 

 found that the number of days below the line will be somew^hat 

 in excess of those above it, and the causes will be greater the 

 higher the latitude, until we reach the polar circle, and it then 

 gradually reaches to zero — the value which it has at the equator 

 also. 



5. In the fifth place, I would notice the wavmess of the line, 

 if I may be allowed to make a word for the occasion. 



It will be borne in mind that the average on which this Diagram 

 is constructed is for only about twelve or fifteen years. If I had 

 statistics whereby to extend it over a longer space, a hundred 

 years, for example, no doubt much of this waviness would be 

 corrected. Our weather comes in alternations of heat and cold ; 

 more especially in the winter half of the year, the crest of the 



