Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-05-23
FACTS AsouT WINDS.


! i NO 8G0OOR4Y0E0 W0ICu 0uIIVuAOA
this earth, the presence of which ID
essential to the existence of every liv-
Ing being. extends to very consider.
able height, and. as the philosophers
have demonstrated. exerts . pressure
Of fifteen pounds on every square inch
Of the earth's surface. This being re-
membered, we can readily conceive
that every motion or agitation of this
atmosphere will be sensibly felt.
whether it occur in slight and gentle
breezes. such as may on q summers
evening refresh all animate nature. or
whether it assume q more fearful
character. such as when, under the
form of the simeon. it threatens death
to every traveller in the desert
By agency of the winds the atmos-
phere is purified from the noxious eff
fiuvia which arise from the marshy
soils and stagnant waters. and which
would be destructive alike to animal
and vegetable life; by their currents
the clouds are transported into distant
regions, where falling in rain, they re-
fresh and fertilize lands that would
otherwise be barren, by their aid, tool
little seeds, provided With pinions or
fringed, as it were, for thu purpose
such is the beneficent foresis ht of Nat
ure-are borne along to spread far
and wide the empire of vegetation.
The ingenuity of man. too, has made a
lever of the winds, which he Las ap-
piled in the operation of machinery.
as may be observed in wind-milla; also,
in taking advantage of their power,
and adapting them to his service by
the ingenious manner in which the
sails of a ship are set to catch every
side-wind that may still urgs her on
her voyage.
The cause of winds is simpln and
easily understood. When the ar, by
which we are surrounded bee ONES
specifically lighter, in consequence of
which it mounts upwardss and the
colder and denser air which surro lnds
the mass thus rarifed, rushes In to
supply its place.
When the door of a heated ap ert-
ment is thrown open. q current of air
is thereby Immediately producsd; The
warm air from the apartment passing
out near the top of the door, aud t,e
cold air from the passage rushing in
below.
On applying these principles to ac-
count for the origin of the wind, WE
find that, when the rays from the sun.
by their reflection from the esrth's
surface. have rarified portion OF the
surrounding air, the air so rarifiea as
cends into the higher regions OF the
atmosphere. and the colder air by
which it was surrounded moves ior-
ward in sensible current to fill the
vacuity. When. also. a condensation
of vapor in the atmosphere suddenly
takes place, giving rise to clouds
which speedily dissolve in rain.
the temperature of the surround
ing air is sensibly altered, and
the colder, rushing in upon the warmer,
gives rise to sudden gust of wind.
For this reason a cold. heavy shower
passing over head with hasty fall OF
snow or hail, is often attended with a
violent and sudden gust of wind, such
as sailors call ''a squall, +" which ceases
when the cloud disappears, but is re-
newed when another cloud, sweeping
along in the same direction, brings
with it fresh blast. Accordingly, Q |
whistling, or bowling, or noise of the |
wind, is universally considered to be a |
of rain, because it indicates |
that change is taking place in the
of the atmosphere, owing |
TO the vapor in its higher regions be-
ing condensed into rain-clouds.
The general nature of the winds in |
this and in other countries depends |
very much on the character of the
region whence they may have swept,
and, accordingly, It is necessary to re-
that the globe is divided into
i've zones or belts-the torrid. which
Is exposed to the direct rays of the sun;
The two temperate zones, which. meet
ing the rays of the sun obliquely, en-
JOY a moderate degree of heat; and
The two frigid zones, which, deprived
Of the heat of the sun for a great part
Of the year. and during the other part
his rays still more obliquely,
are regions of ice and snow.
Currents of wind are described not
according to the point to which they
proceed, as is the case with the cur
rents of the sea. but according to that
from which they are derived.
BY q westerly current Of water we
imply current flowing towards the
west; BY westerly current of air, one
coming from the west We may nowd
therefore observe, that wind is moist
because it comes from the Atlantic,
where q great quantity of vapors arise.
When mingled with that of the south.
which comes from the torrid zone, it is