Page:Notes on the State of Virginia (1802).djvu/116

106 The rains of every month, (as of January, for inſtance) through the whole period of years, were added ſeparately, and an average drawn from them. The cooleſt and warmeſt points of the ſame day in each year of the period, were added ſeparately, and an average of the greateſt cold and greateſt heat of that day, was formed. From the averages of every day in the month, a general average for the whole month was formed. The point from which the wind blew, was obſerved two or three times in every day. Theſe obſervations, in the month of January, for inſtance, through the whole period, amounted to 337. At 73 of theſe, the wind was from the north; at 47 from the north-eaſt, &c. So that it will be eaſy to ſee in what proportion each wind uſually prevails in each month; or, taking the whole year, the total of obſervations through the whole period having been 3698, it will be obſerved that 611 of them were from the north, 558 from the north-eaſt, &c.

Though by this table it appears we have on an average 47 inches of rain annually, which is conſiderably more than uſually falls in Europe, yet from the information I have collected, I ſuppoſe we have a much greater proportion of ſunſhine here than there. Perhaps it will be found, there are twice as many cloudy days in the middle parts of Europe, as in the United States of America. I mention the middle parts of Europe, becauſe my information does not extend to its northern or ſouthern parts.

In an extenſive country, it will of courſe be expected, that the climate is not the ſame in all its parts. It is remarkable, that proceeding on the