CLIMATE. 



77 



tity of moisture than in the middle Atlantic states. 

 The wooden works which contained his astronomi- 

 cal instruments, were always uncommonly swelled, 

 and frequently very much injured, in that country, 

 though constantly defended from the rain, and occa- 

 sionally exposed to the sun ; and the ivory and wood 

 of his sectors with brass joints, always expanded gra- 

 dually above the metal. Whether this excess of 

 moisture arises from the extensive forests which 

 constantly preserve the earth in a state of humidity, 

 or from more permanent causes, future observations 

 must determine. ^ 



Iron is here more susceptible of rust, and brass 

 sooner tarnished, than in the Atlantic states ; but 

 this susceptibility of rust he observed to be greater 

 in the forests, than in those parts of the country 

 that had been cleared for cultivation, and from 

 these circumstances the probable cause is ascer- 

 tained.* 



At the autumnal equinox rains come on v/ith winds 

 from the north-east, south-east, and even north- 

 west. The coolness these occasion prepares the 

 way for frosts : the v/hole of the Autumn is serene, 

 temperate, and the most pleasant of the three sea- 

 sons of the year. 



Such is the climate of Kentucky and all the basin 



of the Ohio. You must go very far north to perceive 



any considerable difference in it, and particularly 



to find it in harmony with the same pai\alleison the 



Atlantic coast. Even as high up as Niagara it is 



still so temperate, that the cold does not continue 



with any severity more than two months, though 



* TraiiB, Anier. Phil, Soc, vol. iv. 

 H 2 



