so call it) of ice have separated, and floated down 
to southern seas. This led the English govern- 
ment to adopt the project of penetrating to the 
north pole. | 
From the general division of America into 
lofty mountainous plateaus and very low plains, 
there results a contrast between two climates, 
which, although of an extremely different nature, 
are in almost immediate proximity. Peru, the 
valley of Quito, and the city of Mexico, though 
situated between the tropics, owe to their eleva- 
tion the general temperature of spring. They 
behold the paramos, or mountain ridges, covered 
with snow, which continues upon some of the 
summits almost the whole year, while, at the 
distance of a few leagues, an intense and often 
sickly degree of heat suffocates the inhabitants 
of the ports of Vera Cruz and of Guayaquil. 
These two climates produce each a different sys- 
tem of vegetation. The flora of the torrid zone 
forms a border to the fields and groves of Eu- 
rope. Such a remarkable proximity as this can- 
not fail of frequently occasioning sudden changes, 
by the displacement of these two masses of air, 
so differently constituted—a general inconveni- 
ence, experienced over the whole of America. 
Everywhere, however, this continent is subject 
to a lower degree of heat than the same latitudes 
in the eastern portion of the earth. Its eleva- 
tion alone explains this fact, as far as regards the 
mountainous region; but why, it may be asked, 
is the same thing true of the low tracts of the 
country? ‘To this the great observer, Alexan- 
der Humboldt, in his ‘Tableaux de la Nature,’ 
makes the following reply :—“ The comparative 
narrowness of this continent; its elongation to- 
wards the icy poles; the ocean, whose unbroken 
surface is swept by the trade winds; the currents 
of extremely cold water which flow from the 
straits of Magellan to Peru; the numerous chains 
of mountains, abounding in the sources of rivers, 
and whose summits, covered with snow, rise far 
above the region of the clouds; the great number 
of immense rivers, that, after innumerable curves, 
always tend to the most distant shores; deserts, 
but not of sand, and consequently less suscep- 
tible of being impregnated with heat; impene- 
trable forests, that spread over the plains of the 
equator, abounding in rivers, and which, in those 
parts of the country that are the farthest distant 
from mountains and from the ocean, give rise to 
enormous masses of water, which are either at- 
tracted by them, or are formed during the act of 
vegetation,—all these causes produce, in the 
lower parts of America, a climate which, from its 
coolness and humidity, is singularly contrasted 
with that of Africa. To these causes alone must 
we ascribe that abundant vegetation, so vigorous 
and so rich in juices, and that thick and umbra- 
geous foliage, which constitute the characteristic 
features of the new continent.” To these remarks 
Malte-Brun adds :—“ Assuming this explanation 
as sufficient for South America and Mexico, we 
CLIMATE. 
shall add, with regard to North America, that it 
scarcely extends any distance into the torrid 
zone, but, on the contrary, stretches, in all pro- 
bability, very far into the frigid zone; and, un- 
less the revived hope of a north-west passage be 
confirmed, may, perhaps, reach and surround the 
pole itself. Accordingly, the column of frozen 
air attached to this continent 1s nowhere coun- 
terbalanced by a column of equatorial air. From 
this results an extension of the polar climate to 
the very confines of the tropics; and hence win- 
ter and summer struggle for the ascendency, and 
the seasons change with astonishing rapidity. 
From all this, however, New Albion and New 
California are happily exempt; for, being placed 
beyond the reach of freezing winds, they enjoy a 
temperature analogous to their latitude.” 
Climate acts in a powerful manner upon the 
physical constitution of animals, and demands at 
least an equal share of attention. By the terms 
difference of climate, we commonly include, in a 
general manner, all those conditions of the atmo- 
sphere which occasion a greater degree of heat 
and moisture to prevail in one place rather than 
in another; and it may be easily imagined, that 
if the nature of the media, in which animals 
habitually reside, exercises an important influ- 
ence over them, they will also be influenced by 
the temperature and moisture of the climate. 
They are more susceptible than man to the im- 
mediate influence of changes of temperature, 
from being continually exposed to the inclemency 
of the air, and seem acutely sensible of great and | 
sudden changes of the atmosphere. We even 
observe them foretelling and announcing an ap- 
proaching change of the weather by various pre- 
monitory signs. As the climate may be either 
hot or cold, dry or moist, each of these conditions 
induces very different results in respect to their 
reproduction, constitution, amelioration, and, in 
general, all the vital functions of the domestic 
animals. 
Heat being one of the most powerful stimuli 
of the vital reproductive powers, seems conducive 
both to fertility and growth, especially when ac- 
companied by moisture; cold, on the contrary, is 
generally injurious. We remark that. Nature de- 
velops all her treasures of fertility in the ardent 
climates of the south, while the icy regions of 
the north are generally less peopled, more uni- 
form and inanimate in their general aspect. 
Melancholy solitudes replace, in these desolate 
regions, the most active and well-marked scenes 
of animation, which however are less permanent, 
and pass more rapidly away. It thus appears, 
that the active force of heat, which bears an in- 
timate relation to that of light, exalts the in- 
tensity of all the faculties and properties, and 
gives them the fullest energy which they are 
capable of acquiring. By the same law which 
assigns to the plants of the south more exquisite 
flavours, aromata, essential oils, perfumes, and 
colours, than to those of the north, we find the 
3 F 
