Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1853-01-25


he ghau.s, an. violent rains fall .aily
IN the coast Of Malabar, while on the
Coromahdc coast the sky isscrcnc. Ex.
actly the contrary takes, place during
the northeast monsoon from October
to April;l il rains on the coas, Of Coro'
while there is fair weather on
The Malabar coast, and tho table Land
OF the Deccan par,al:cs OF both" .i,f
As we pass from tho tropics TO the
north or south, we leave the region Of
constant and periodical winds, for that
in which they are continually varying,
so much so, that the temperate zones
have been called "the battle ground Of
the Winds" a perpetual conflict is going
on between the warm breczcs from the
torrid zone, on the one side, and the
cold blasts from the frigid zone, on the
other. Asyct we are but very imper.
foctly acquainted with the law Of the
variations, but, according to Professor
Dove, of Berlin, the changes always
take place in one particular direction,
passing from east TO south, then to the
west and north, and so round to the east
again. That such is the fact, is proved
by tho observations made at the Green.
wich Observatory; the wind makes five
circuits or gyrations in tho direction
stated in the coursc Of year. Some.
times it will 60 entirely round in less
than a day, at others it blows steadily
from one quarter for many weeks, with.
out our being able to tell the reason why
in either case. We know, however, that
in our hemisphere the winds blow moro
frequently from the east and southeast,
the west and southwest, than from any
other quarter. Here again The shape OF
the North American coast is said to IA.
vor the flow Of the southwest wind up
what has been termed the valley Of the
Atlantic, even as far as the coast Of Nor.
way, where its influence, combined with
that Of the gulf stream, so.tens what
would otherwise be an arctic climate. II
by any accident the direction Of the aeri.
al or the ocean current were changed ,
the climate Of Britain would become
similar to that Of the polar regions. The
influence Of the winds may be strikingly
shown by laying down wha, are called
iso,hermal-or equal heat-lnes on a
map; the lines in places exhibit great
deviat.ons from regular centre, and the
cause is to be found in mountain chain,
or some inequality Of surface, which, by
DETECTING the stream Of air, sends it eth.
or heated or chilled in new direction,
and thus produces what appears to be
an anomalous temperature over con.
siderable district. The cold air would
cause the isothermal line to approach
the north, while the warm air would de.
fleet it toward the south.
The prevalence of southwest winds
in our zone, between the thirteth and
s;x,ieth parallels of latitude, is due to
the descent Of curren: from the upper
regions of the atmosphere to supply the
place Of the surface current, which has
passed toward the equator. 1t is to the
battle between this wind and that from
he northeast, that we owe nearly al! our
, changes Of weather. In the southern
hemisphere the northwest are the preva.
ent winds; and it is given as a rule that
whenever the air has greater velocity
If rotation than the surface Of the earth,
| wind more or less westerly is produc.
ID; and when it has less velocity of rota,
ion than the earth, a wind having an
asterly tendency results"
Most Of our readers will have a lively |
recollection OF the state of the wind dur
ng the first three months or more Of the !
present year; the northeast blast, which
blew with the stendincss Of the monsoon,
overpowercd the westerly
winds. To many, the rationale of the
process will be interesting; in the words
Of a popular writer:
"The conflict between these two great
currents of the atmosphere, the war be.
tween these two giant forces, is continu.
ally waged, with varying success on eth.
er side, on the battle. ground Of our tenn.
perate climates, giving to it an ever
changing character. The southwest gale,
laden with grateful moisture, loses more
and more Of the south impulse as it ad.
toward the north and changes to
a west wind; ;soon the northeas, polar cur.
rent charges down upon it, forcing it to
drop the watery burden gathered from
the ocean region, and probably over
c oming it. converts it to northwest
wind, which is wet and stormy. By. and.
by the polar current gains another point,
a nd its frozen breath brings cold lin the