The
mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer has been known to descend from 92 to
47, in thirteen hours."
And I copied the following from a New York paper: -
"Wednesday, the 14th of May, the mercury in Fahrenheit rose to 91 degrees,
The Saturday night following, there was a severe frost. The next Tuesday
and Wednesday, the mercury rose to 85 degrees; from the 20th to the 26th,
it has been nearly stationary, varying only from 60 to 64.: Easterly wind,
and rain."
These violent transitions from heat to cold, are produced by means of the
N.W. wind, which in this country is the most keen and severe of any that
is to be met with on the face of the globe. It is much the most prevalent
wind we have, and seldom fails to blow four or five days with great
uniformity. This wind is perfectly _dry_, and so uncommonly penetrating,
that I am convinced it would destroy all the plagues of Egypt in a very
short time. You may recollect, I informed you of the astonishing effect of
this powerful agent in stopping the yellow fever in a few hours, last
year, at Baltimore.
Neither the prevalence, nor uncommon severity of this wind has been
properly accounted for; but we may now expect something more satisfactory
on this subject, from the celebrated Volney; who is here endeavouring to
investigate the causes of this, and other phenomena, relative to the winds
of this continent.
