WIND. 



greater quantity of water than colder air : hence the air 

 which comes from colder regions, being heated o»er warmer 

 countries, becomes a better folvent of moifture, and dries 

 up with greater energy the moift bodies it comes in contaft 

 with ; and, on the other hand, warm air coming into a 

 colder region depofits a quantity of the water it kept in fo- 

 lution, and occafions mills, fogs, clouds, rains, &c. " In 

 fhort," fays colonel Roy, " the winds feem to be drier, denfer, 

 and colder, in proportion to the extent of land they pafs 

 over from the poles towards the equator ; but they appear 

 to be more moift, warm, and light, in proportion to the ex- 

 tent of ocean they pafs over from the equator towards the 

 poles. Hence the humidity, warmth, and lightnefs, of the 

 Atlantic winds to the inhabitants of Europe. On the eaft 

 coafts of North America the feverity of the N.W. wind is 

 univerfally remarked ; and there can fcarcely be a doubt, 

 that the inhabitants of California, and other parts on the 

 weft fide of that great continent, will, hke thofe on the 

 weft of Europe, feel the ftrong effefts of a N.E. wind." 



i8. In warm countries, fometimcs the winds, which blow 

 over a great traft of highly-heated land, become fo very 

 drying, fcorching, and fufFocating, as to produce dreadful 

 effefts. Thefe winds, under the names of Blooms, Samiel, and 

 Solanos, are often felt in the deferts of Arabia, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the Perfian gulf, in the interior of Africa, and 

 in fome other places. There are likewife in India, part of 

 China, part of Africa, and elfewhere, other winde, which 

 depoCt fo much warm moifture as to foften, and aftually to 

 ditiblve glue, falts, and almoft every article which is foluble 

 in water. 



19. It is impoflible to give any adequate account of irre- 

 gular winds, efpecially of thofe fudden and violent gufts as 

 come on at very irregular periods, and generally continue 

 for a fhort time. They fometimes fpread over an extenfive 

 traft of country, and at other times are confined within a 

 remarkably narrow fpace. Their caufes are by no means 

 rightly underftood, though they have been vaguely attri- 

 buted to peculiar rarefaftions, to the combined attractions 

 of the fun and moon, to earthquakes, to eleftricity, &c. 

 They are called in general hurricanes, or they are the princi- 

 pal phenomenon of a hurricane, that is, of a violent ftorm. 



Almoft every one of thofe violent winds is attended with 

 particular phenomena, fuch as droughts, or heavy rains, or 

 hail, or fnow, or thunder and lightning, or feveral of thofe 

 phenomena at once. They frequently (hift fuddenly from 

 one quarter of the horizon to another, and then come again 

 to the former point. In this cafe they are called tornadoes. 



In mountainous countries, the wind fometimes rages with 

 extreme violence, and the mountains generally exhibit figns 

 of the approaching ftorm. Thus, at the Cape of Good 

 Hope, there are four remarkable mountains, called Table 

 Land, or Mountain ; Sugar Loaf, or the Lion's Head ; 

 James Mount, or the Lion's Rump ; and Charles Mount, 

 called alfo the Devil's Tower, or Devil's Head, from the 

 violent fqualls of wind which come from it. In the fummer 

 feafon Table Mountain is fometimes fuddenly covered with a 

 white cloud, called the Table-cloth ; when this cloud feems 

 to roll down the fteep face of the mountain, it is a fure in- 

 dication of an approaching gale of wind from the S.E., 

 which generally blows with great violence, and fometimes 

 continues a day or more, but in common is of fhort dura- 

 tion. On the firft appearance of this cloud, the fhips in 

 Table bay begin to prepare for it, by ftriking yards and 

 top-mafts, and making every thing as fnug as poffible. If, 

 in the morning, the cloud extends from the Table to Mount 

 Charles, or the Devil's Tower, which are almoft contiguous, 



it is a general faying among feamen, that the old gentlema.n 

 is going to breakfaft ; if in the middle of the day, that he 

 is going to dinner ; and if in the evening, that the cloth i» 

 fpread for fupper. 



There are various other periodical winds : of thefe, how- 

 ever, that generally known by the name of Limbat, which 

 is common in the ifland of Cyprus, fhall only be mentioned 

 here. The period of this wind is five days : on the firft day, 

 it begins to blow at eight in the morning, and increafes till 

 noon ; from thence it gradually weakens, and ceafes entirely 

 about three P.M. On the fecond day, it arifes at the fame 

 hour; but it does not attain its greateft ftrength till about 

 one in the afternoon, and ceafes at four. On the third day, 

 it begins as before ; but it falls an hour later. On the re- 

 maining days, it follows the fame progrefTion as on the third ; 

 but it is remarked, that a little before it ceafes, it becomes 

 extremely violent. Upon the N.W. fide of the above ifland, 

 this wind is confidered as a fea-breeze ; and upon the S.E. 

 as a land-breeze. See Wiai}, Qualities of, fupra. See alfo 

 Hurricanes, Tornadoes,' and Whirl-W'/W. See Phil. 

 Tranf. N° 183, or Abr. vol. ii. p. 133, &c. Robertfon's 

 Elem. of Nav. b. vi. f. 6. Cavallo's Philof. vol. ii. 



The winds are divided, with refpeft to the points of the 

 horizon from which they blow, into cardinal and collateral. 



Winds, Cardinal, are thofe blowing from the four car- 

 dinal points ; eaft, weft, north, and fouth. 



Thus, a wind that blows from the E. towards the W. i* 

 called eajl luind ; when it blows from the W. towards the 

 E., luejl ivind; when it blows from the N. to the S., it is 

 called north wind; and when it blows from the S. towards 

 the N., it is cA\ed fouth ivind. 



Winds, Collateral, are the intermediate winds between 

 any two cardinal winds. The number of thefe is infinite, as 

 the points from which they blow are ; but only a few of 

 them are confidered in praftice ; /'. e. only a few of them 

 have their diftinguifhing names. 



Thofe winds which deviate a little from the cardinal points 

 are called northerly, eajlerly, foutherly, and nvejlerly winds. 

 But for the fake of greater diftinftion, the fpace or arch 

 which lies between any two contiguous cardinal points, is 

 fuppofed, by the mariners, to be divided into eight equal 

 parts, or points, and each point into four equal parts, called 

 quarter-p$ints. So that the horizon is fuppofed to be divided 

 into thirty-two principal points, which are called rhumbs, or 

 •winds, to each of which a particular name is afligned ; and 

 thofe names are derived from the names of the adjacent car- 

 dinal points. See Compass. 



The ancient Greeks, at firft, only ufed the four cardinal 

 ones ; at length they took in four more. Vitruvius gives 

 us a table of twenty, befides the cardinals, which were in 

 ufe among the Romans. 



The moderns, as their navigation is much more perfeft 



than that of the ancients, have given names to twenty-eight 



collateral winds, which they range into primary zxiA fecondary ; 



and the fecondary they fubdivide into thofe of the Jir/i and 



fecond order. 



The Enghfh names of the primary collateral winds and 

 points are compounded of the names of the cardinal ones, 

 north and fouth being ftill prefixed. 



The names of the fecondary collateral winds of the firft 

 order are compounded of the names of the cardinals, and 

 the adjacent primary one. Thofe of the fecond order are 

 compounded of the names of the cardinal, or the next ad- 

 jacent primary ; and the next cardinal, with the addition of 

 the word by. The Latins have diftinft names for each j all 

 which are expreffed in the following Table. 



