CLIMATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 

 IN GENERAL. 



In a country so extensive as the United States, 

 tlie various causes which are known to affect the 

 climate, independently of latitude, may necessarily 

 be supposed to operate to a considerable degree 

 and hence we find as great a diversity in that res- 

 pect, as is experienced by any country of similar ex- 

 tent, in the world. 



Several authors in this country, have given very 

 accurate accounts of the climates of different states, 

 but Mr. Volney is the first person who has attempt- 

 ed to treat the subject of our climate upon a general 

 scale, and as he has exhibited much ingenuity and 

 judgment in his discussion, his division shall be adopt- 

 ed upon the present occasion. 



Mr. Volney observes, that a very perceptible gra- 

 dation is observable in the climate of the United 

 States, with respect to their latitudes, and still more 

 with respect to the level of the surface, in which 

 certain peculiar characteristics lead him to distin- 

 guish four principal divisions: 



The first, that of the coldest climate, includes the 

 north-eastern states, or New England, the natural 

 boundary of which is traced by the southern side of 

 Rhode Island and Connecticut, on the ocean 5 and in- 



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