Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 8).djvu/168

 climate, beyond that which is produced by latitude, may be found {65} in the difference between land and sea air; and yet this cause may, in some cases, be so controuled by an adverse cause, as to be rendered inoperative. Upon the first idea, however, it may be warmer at the North Pole than on the Arctic Circle; indeed, in the former place, the weather may be quite moderate, even in winter. Another circumstance in support of this supposition may be adduced: it is well known that the earth itself is productive of heat. In the United States, its temperature is, perhaps, from thirty to fifty degrees. At the North Pole, the surface of the globe must be, during a part of the year, heated to a much greater degree; even allowing, as will be proper, for the difference between the capacities of land and water, to imbibe heat. At the Poles, the heat of their surface, during those months in which the sun, as to them, does not set, must be intense; and for this heat to evaporate, would require a considerable time, even during the total absence of the sun. In Russia, vegetation is so rapid, that the work of sowing and reaping is frequently accomplished in six weeks; and in the latitude of eighty, the heat in summer is so great as to melt the pitch in the seams of vessels, to such a degree as to endanger their safety.

In advancing the foregoing theories, respecting local and peculiar climate, for the purpose of throwing some light upon the unfrozen state of Lake Ontario during the winter season, I have, perhaps, taken too extensive a range; but the subject is, in its nature, inexhaustible. My concluding reflections upon this topic, will have a more particular application to it.

Some of the causes of Lake Ontario never freezing are, probably, the depth of its water, and its exposure to winds. Frost is, in its nature, heavy; and therefore shallow water gets chilled sooner, and {66} sooner freezes. As soon as the