THE TEXAN MONSOONS. 
295 
case of the best known monsoons—those of southeastern Asia. 
The monsoon can also be defined in terms of the atmos¬ 
pheric pressure. The wind flows from the region of higher to 
that of lower pressure. In the case of large adjacent areas of 
land and water (especially if the land is bare of forests, and 
still more if it is a desert tract) the higher pressure is over the 
land in winter and over the ocean in summer. The wind 
is in this case alternately deflected toward the land and the 
ocean, giving rise to a monsoon. As the relatively high 
temperature of one and the low temperature of the other is 
the cause of the differences of pressure, this conception is 
really only another form of the preceding. 
The occurrence of monsoonal winds on the North Ameri¬ 
can continent has been but little discussed. As early as 
1853 Mr. Lorin Blodget called attention to the summer south¬ 
east wind of central Texas and called it a true monsoon,* * * § 
and in 1875 Professor Coffin discussed f the monsoonal fea¬ 
tures of the United States in general terms. General Greely, 
dissenting from these views, says that he “ cannot agree with 
those who credit the United States with monsoonal winds.” { 
This may be considered by him a question of definition 
rather than a question of fact, as he says the attempt to 
apply the name monsoon to wind systems of other regions 
than those of southern Asia has not gained general consent. 
With this Professor Ferrel does not agree, for on his discus¬ 
sion of monsoons are founded the definitions above given. 
Besides, to extend the name of a typical phenomenon to all 
the phenomena of the same type is a common custom and 
a very convenient one. Professor Ferrel points out § that 
to have well marked monsoons the continental area must 
* Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci. Proceedings, 7th Meeting, held in Cleveland, 
Ohio, July, 1853, 8°, Cambridge, 1856 [vol. 7], p. 177. 
f Coffin (J. H.). Winds of the globe, being Smithsonian contributions 
to knowledge; vol. 20, fol., Washington, 1875. 
t Greely (General A. W.). American weather. 8°, New York [1888], 
p. 164. 
§ Ferrel (William). Popular treatise on the winds. 8°, New York, 1890, 
chapter v, pp. 193-226. 
