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Tous les autrea axempl«ires originaux sont fiimis en commonpant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte dlmprassion cu d'lllustration et en terminant par la darniAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte Un doa symboles suivants apparaitra sur la damiAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le uaa: le symbol* «^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbol* V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tabieeux. etc., peuvent dtre filmte A dee taux de rMuction diffirents. Lorsquo le document est trop grand pour itre reproduit en un seul clichA, ii est filmA A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche h droite. et de haut en baa, en prenent le nombre d'Images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants iilustrent la m^thodo. 1 G 5' •A .*<<4^. t^art of the continent— towards the (jastiMii coast. l>ut here nature has pro- vi.led a check in tlie existence of Hudson's Bay and the. Great Lakes, which temper th.^ heat of summer and mitigatt^ the winter's cold. It is not, therefcorded by the Ainericiin Signal Service. In one instance a fall from Sir to \S^ within a few hours is noted ; and on the 7th of September, 1881, on the northern borders of Texas, a sudden lowering of temperature proved fatal to over 300 cattle. The facts given show that in equability of climate the Province of Ontario is one of the mostJfavoured districts in the temperate latitudes of this continent. WhUe the whole of the lake region of the Province of Ontario as far east as the Ottawa River experiences the modifying influence of the great lakes, the measu.-e of that influence differs greatly accord- ing to elevation, and distance and direction from large bodies of lake water. In fact, the lake influence, while rendering the whole region more temperate than any part of the Mississippi Valley to the west- J- ward, incrtiases tlie (liffen'iiccs beyond those due to latitudo, so tlmt tlie part of the provinct* south of the 4r)th paralld prcst'iits a much creater variotv of crlimato than any other non-niountaiuous district of equal area on the continent. Eastward from the (Jeoryian Bay the effect of the f^reat hikes in moderating lieat iind cohl lapidly d(!creases, ami continental conditions rather than semi-insular gradually coin(; to prevail. Lake Ontario not lying in the direction from which the areas of low and high barometer advance on this region, has but a very limited intlueuee. Theiv being no large body of water to the north, such winter anti-cyclones as take a course! to the Atlantic to the northward of the great lakes pour their refrigerat- ing northern ))lasts down over this region. At Ottawa the summers are hotter than at Toronto, (loderich and many othoi- places a hundred miles or more further to the south, and thoufdi the summers over the Ottawa district are shorter than in nnich of the south-western part of the Province, the mean temperature of July is (piite as hot as in most localities in the latter and the maxi- mum temperatui-e very frequently is higher than 95 in the shade ; it occasionally exceeds 100^ and usually is several degrees hotter than at Toronto, the eastern shore of Lake Huron, and even localities as fVir south as Lake Erie. The winters of Ottawa on the other hand averao'e as low as 13"=* Fahr., and are much the same as at Moscow. The averase minimum is about 30' below zero. Snow tails deep and the sleighing season is usually four months in length while in parts of south-western and southern Ontario, it is not as many weeks. Thoufifh the difference in latitude between Ottawa and Niagara is only about two degrees, the winters of the former place are at least as much colder than those of the latter as the winters of Niagara are colder than those of Memphis in Tennessee, eight degrees still farther south. Yet the sensible cold is not so great as this large excess might suggest ; it is usually enjoyable, the atmosphere being dryer and there being more sunshine than in districts more within the influence of the lakes. The district of Muskoka & Parry Sound, bordering on the Georgian Bay, experiences in greater measure the influence of the Georgian Bay and Lakes Huron and Superior in tempering the heat in summer and the cold in winter of winds from the western semi-circle. This influence is necessarily much more marked in winter ; though the elevation of much of the district makes the apparent amelioration 8 Idss itrcceptihlc tlifui it otliorwiso \vo\iU\ bo. The HunuuorH of Mua- koka sue cooler than those of ftiiy other part of Ontario south of the 47th parallel of latitiule. But this tempering of the heat is duo in large ineaHure not so nuicli to the inrtu(Mic(* of the Georgian Bay as to general ehsviition and the nunxbei' of small laken of great depth aiid coolness. Like the Ottawa Valley, though not to the same degree, the district is open to coKl northerly winds in inter blowing outward from such centres of high i»re8Suro as move eastward to the Atlantic in high latit\ides. Elevation adds to the cold of these north winds, which however are infrequent in some winters. At Hunts- ville (about hit. 45 15') in Eastern Muskoka, the temperature in Jaauary 1882 during the passage of almost the only severely cold anti-cyclone of the season, fell under a north wind to a temperature W lov/er thiin wu.s reached at Toronto, and actually 47' lower than at Windsor, less than three degrees further south and little more than 280 miles distant in a direct lino. In S(;vere winters, a largo part of the Georgian Bay, encuuibered with islands, freezes over and the tempering effect of the la«ve water is thus greatly diminished. The winters of the largo island of Manitoulin, which approaches the 46th parallel, are mildor than those of Muskoka. Of the climate of the north shore of Lake Huron beyond the 46th parallel, the meteorological records are meagre. Tlie district is protected against cold west winds in winter by Lake Superior, but is opsn to cold blasts from the north-west, north, and north-east. The winter isotherm of 20^' skii'ts the coast ; inland the winters are colder. The summers are said to be warmer thau those of Muskoka, notwith- stantling the higher latitiule. Small lakes are less numerous, and are shallow iind heat rapidly. Neighbourhood to the great breadth of land between Lake Huron and James' Bay — an area which sometimes becomes intensely heated in summer has probably also some effect on the summers of the district. The heat of the southerly winds is of course greatly tempered b}'^ the gi-eat length of Lake Huron stretching against them. At a distance of from 12 to 20 miles north of the north shore of 'Lake Ontario extends from the Highlands of Grey in peninsular- •Ontario to the head of the Bay of (.^uinte, a ridge or watershed attaining at a few places an elevation of nearly one thousand feet above the sea, and doubtless having some efiect on the climate of the biisiu of Lake Ontario. Eastward from the easterly termination of • thiH iigion, with the exception of the district im- mediately north of Lake Erie. Sweeping over these high lands the north-west and westerly winds of winter which in passing over Luke Huron aV)8orb considerable moisture, precipitate most of that moisture, and on refrainins the low level of the Ontario basin resume ahnost th(!ir normal dryness. Owing to the couijiarative narrowness of tin/ lake, and the fact that the winds which blow across it are not common or prevalent winds, tlu; north shore, espcicially in its westerly |)ortion derives a comparatively small proportion of its rain and snowfall from the lake, and the average annual precipitation is less than in an\- other part of the lake region with the exception of a limited district immediately north of Lake Erie. Towards the east end of the lake the same influences which make the climate of Ottawa extreme begin more and n ore to i)revail ; and the duration of sleighing gradually increases, till at Kingston it is nearly three months in length. The climate of Toronto fairly rei)resents in kind the characteristics of the north shore. At a low level and protected by the lake against the warm southerly winds, and by Lake Huron and the Georgian Bay from the cold northerly and westerly winds of winter its seasonal and daily range is comparatively small. The summer is cooler than in almost any of the larger towns in Ontario ; ami few have wintei-s as mild. The mean temperature of January — abo\it 23° for the eight yeai-s, 1874-'81, is nearly nine degrees higher than in Mon- treal, and is higher than in the uplands to the south-west, or than near Chicago, a degree and three-quarters farther south. The average mini- mum of January is — 3". 1 , the average minimum of the year — 1 1°.0 ; the absolutely lowest in the eight years cited, — 16°.0 ; and in the past twenty-five years — 18°. 4. The latter temperature is not so low as has been recorded within the same period at Louisville, Kentucky, or St. Louis, Missouri. The average duration of sleighing appears 10 to be })etweeii three and four veeks ; in some winters there hns been no sleiirliinu whatever. An examination which I have made of the records ct Toronto observatory for the past thirty Christmas days shows tliat only on four of tliese holidays, or little more than one in eight, has there been sufficient snow to permit the running of sledges, and on thirteen occasions the ground was bare. The interposition of the lake water against hot winds from southerly points of the com- r>ass f^reatlv tends to prevent extremes of heat. The stimmer of 'i'oronto is cooler than that of Montreal, the Ottawa Valley, and })arts of th(! interior to the north, north-east and west of the city, and as cool as the eastern shore of Lak: Huron. The mean temperature of July for the eight year period cited is 6 9 ''.01 — which is little more than thre(! degrees warmer than Paris, France, over five degrees farther north ; :iud is less than two degrees for the same period warmer than Winnipeg, where though the latitude is higher by G| degrees, full continental influences prevail. The fi-eedom from warm extremes both winter and summer is more noticeable. The average maximum of Januarv is only 46°.2r). The abbolute maximum (Dec. 31, 1875) of mid-whiter in eight years was only 61°, while that of Gait, 5G miles westward and 520 feet higher, was 6G° ; that of Hamilton, 42 miles distant, but at the west end of the lake, 71°, and that of the Niagara district, 40 miles distant, nearly 80° in the shade. The average maximum of the year is only 91°.5 ; that of Hamilton is 96.9, while ovei- the Lake Erie district and over most of the inland parts of the Province as far as the Upper Ottawa, the average maximum is in most localities as high as 95°. The absolute maximum in twenty years past is only 95^4. At Ottawa and even in Muskoka it has exceeded 100°, while at Hamilton it has reached 106°.3 in the shade. It is interesting to note in passing, that moderate as is the annual maximum at Toronto as compared with other localities in the Province, it is a little higher than at Charleston, South Carolina. At Toronto, as, more or less, along the shores of the Great Lakes, a lake breeze by day and a land breeze by night, blow during hot, calm weather. These breezes usually do not aifect the climate for more than a few miles fi-om the shore. Inland, notwithstanding the increased elevation, the tem[)erature is higher in the day time during the summer months than it is at Toronto. Hamilton, only forty-two miles distant from Toronto, and only twentv-three minutes further south, has a much warmer climate, and - ^ ,M illustrates in an interesting maimer several of the peculiar differences due to situation. Like Toronto it is exposed to the northerly winds modified by the Georgian Bay a hundred miles to the northward, but it is in a nieasiire protected from the north-easterly winds by the intervention of Lake Ontario. More important in its bearir • on the climate is the fact that the southerly and south-westerly winus which in reaching Toionto, have part of their warmth abstracted by Lake Ontario, reach Hamilton after blowing over a considerable stretch of land. Hence the latter i)lace attains much higher temperatures in all seasons of the year than are reached on the north shore : the mean temperature is also higher. In addition to these causes which tend to increase the daily and seasonal range, the sit\iation of the city on a low plain with a steep escarpment on the south and a range of hills across the bay on the north, tends to the existence of great daily contrasts, for in certain conditions of weather, the heat appears to accumuUite in the sheltered " ravine" while in other conditions the heavy cold night air of the upland pours over the " mountain" and displacing the warm air, settles beneath it. A remarkal)le instance of the eflFects of situation in a ravine, cutting through an extended upland, is afforded by the records of Gait on the Grand River. In 1879 the writer had charge of the meteoro- logical station in the valley of that town. On the edge of the plateau to the west, a little more than a mile distant from the ravine station and about 180 feet higher than the later, was a second station in charge of a careful observer, Mr. Alex. Barrie. The thermometers at both stations were protected by the fence and screens approved by the meteorological service and in use at Toronto Observatory, and great care had been exercised to make the conditions of exposure similar. Here while the average daily maximum temperature was about two degrees higher at the valley station than on the plateau, the relative temperatures were sometimes greatly reversed. On Oct. 10th 1871), the maximum at the plateau station was 90^.3, while at the vallev station it was but 79°.3, eleven degrees lower. On another date in the same year the difference was still greater, the thermome- ter at the 9 p.m. reading on the plateau being 79*, when in the valley it was only ^^5°, or fourteen degrees lower. There being no station at Hamilton, other than in the valley, similar instances there of the inflow of cold air cannot be cited. But the effect of this occasional inflow is seen in the facts that while the mean temperature and 12 monthly maxima at Hamilton are liigher than at Toronto, the monthly minima, from July to Octobei', are very nearly the same at both places. The following tables show the average monthly maxima and minima at Hamilton and Toronto over a period of eight years (1874-81):— AVERAGE MONTHLY MAXIMA. Jan. Fkb. Mar. Apr. Mav. June. July. Aug. 1 Sept. On. St '6 71-3 Nov. 1 Dkc. Hamilton . Toronto .. 49-7 40-2 50-9 44-u 5S-2 72-0 50 '8 60 89-0 83-8 91-0 , 93-9 8l)-2 89 6 94-0 90 '3 87-4 i 84-3 64-3 ; 54-9 57-4 '. 487 AVERAGE MONTHLY MINIMA. Hamilton. Toronto . . — 0-1 -31 —3-3 6'3 4-0 18 '9 10-6 31-1 29-0 422 40-4 49-9 47-4 37-:. 49 2 47-8 ! 37 6 20 9 20-3 11-2 7-5 2-5 -17 The average yearly maximinn at Hamilton is 96°.9, the average yearly minimum -7^.4; the lowest temperature recorded in the eight years (1874-81) from which these avei-ages are obtained was -20°.5 ; the highest 100°5. The absolutely highest temperature on record was 106°. 3 (July, 1868), a degree of heat which has not been reached at New Ox'leans, or at Naples or Calcutta, in a j)eriod of at least 18 years. The average annual maximum is cpiite as high as at New Orleans or cities to the eastward along the Gulf of Mexico. The mean temperature of the different months at Toronto and Hamilton for the eight-year period mentioned is as follows : — \ Toronto . . Hamilton. Jan. i Feb. 227 22-2 28 Mar. Ai'K. 40-2 24-4 240 ! Sri ! 42-5 Mav. JuNi:. Jl'LV. Au(i. Sept. OlT. Nov. 54-2 62-6 69 67 -S 00 3 47-0 35-1 577 66-0 73-3 71 -4 63-9 i 50-3 37-1 26-4 The mean of the year jit Toronto is 44°74, and at Hamilton 47°4T or 2°73 higher. The daily range in Toronto is about 13° in January^ and nearly 20^ in July, while at Hamilton the figures for these months are respectively aV)Oiit 20° and 27°. The average daily maxi- mum of July, at Hamilton, is above 84° in the shade, and not 70° in Toronto. In the warmest month ever recorded in Hamilton (July, ir. 13 f< •t- 1S68), the mean temperature was 80° with an average daily maxi- m\im of 93" in the shade. In Toronto the mean of the same month was 75°.8, with a mean daily maximum of only 85-,4. Tliese con- trasts sufficiently illustrate the effect of the different situation of the two cities in regard to the water of Lake Ontario. Along the south shore of Lake Ontario, eastward to Niagara, the general features of the climate of the belt of land referred to,, resemble those of Hamilton, though the th«rmometer does not fall so low at night as in that city. The summer heats are intense, and temperatures above 70° have even been recorded in mid-winter. The season is, over much of the district, longer than at Hamilton, where the average period between the last fall of the temperature in spring to 32°, and the first descent in autumn to the freezing point, was for three years (1878-80 ), 186 days. The meastire of protection afforded by Lake Ontario from t'.e winds from northerly points of the com- pass increases, and the mean temperature of winter rises. Lake Erie also affords a measure of protection against the cold which in winters, unusually severe in the Western States sometimes accomi)anies south- westerly winds. At Niagara the mean of winter is several degrees higher than at Hamilton, and nearly as high as at New York, and the average minimum of the year is little, if at all, below zero. The heat and duration of summer and the comparative mild- ness of winter make the district peculiarly well adapted to fruit growing. The peach-orchard area of the district is very large, and vineyards averaging four to five tons of gi-apes to the acre are numerous. The sweet potato and the peanut flourish in a degree unsurpassed in any other district in the province. The nnilberry crrows luxuriantly. The ])seudo-papaw, and the tulip tree, Lirio- dendron tidipfem, grow wild in the woods and attain large propor- tions. At Niagara the writer has found fig-trees heavily laden with fruit, growing in the <^iien air with but little winter ))rotection ; and the soft-shelled almond, though of course but little cultivated, with slight winter protection, produces fruit equal to that of the common almond of commerce. The north shore of Lake Erie, like the north shore of Lake Ontario, and for similar reasons, is marked })y a tendency to the avoidance of great extremes of heat, though owing to latitude and the shallowness, and therefore greater warmth, of the water, the hot extremes of the- summer months, and the mean temperature are higher than on the- u 'I nortli shove of Ontario. In exceptionally severe winters, ice forms to a 'greater extent on the bays and indentations of Lake Erie than alonjr the Lake Ontario coast, and though the mean temperuture on the north shore of Erie is higher than on tlie same shore of Ontario, the winter maximum in sucli seasons is no greater than at Toronto. The snow of winter is light, and usually lies but a short time, even in winters when around Buftalo the depth is great and the sleighing of long dui'ation. The eastern shore of Lake Huron has a climate dirtering in several important particulars from the Canadian shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario, and illustrating more than these lakes the peculiar effect of a large body of water interposed against the prevailing westerly winds. The winters are nearly two degrees warmer than at Toronto, and are as mild as those of Hamilton, as free from cold extremes as at Niao-ara, and from warm extremes as at Toronto, yet the moistur of the lake winds makes the sensible cold appear greater than m the in- terior or in the Niagara District. Spring is retarded by the lake in- fluence, and the mean of that season at Goderich is no higher than at Toronto; but on the other hand the autumn is several degrees warmer : summer is as cool as at Toronto, and comparatively free from very high temperatures. Goderich, lat. 43^ 2o' ; altitude, 72S feet, has a mean temperature for the year a little higher than Toronto. Zero temperatures, and temperatures above 90" are rare ; and the contrast in this respect with the Michigan shore opposite, is v( ry marked. The climate is one of the most equable of che whole lake region, and surpasses in this I'espect almost every other district in the middle latitudes of the continent. The peach grows far north, antl even on the Georgian Bay. Towards the southern part of the dis- trict, peach-growing is an important industry. Owing to the moisture of the lake winds, this shore is not so well adapted to the vine as the ordinary or low levels of peninsular Ontario. The rainfall and snow- fall are both heavy, for to the rainfall brought by cyclonic areas, there is added the moisture gathered by westerly winds from the lake. The north-westerly winds, normally intensely dry, gather a large amount of moisture from the lake, and in winter when the land is chilled, this moisture is precipitated in snow flurries to a considerable depth. The interior of peninsular Ontario varies greatly in elevation , rising slowly and gradually from Lake Erie ; more rapidly from Lake Ktiron and still more abruptly from the Georgian Bay, up to the 16 Highlands of Uvey, where an elevation of 1,700 feet above the sea is attained. Conse(j,nently, considerable differences in climate exist in this interior. ()n the Highlands of Grey, and on the Lake Hnron slope the snowfall is often excessively heavy, and the snow lies several feet in depth, when in some districts of the Province the gronnd is bare. Sleighing nsually lasts for three months or more on the highest levels. Of the animal precipitation of this part of the interior, there are but few records, and these cover but a very short period. There is reason, however, to think that the annual precipi- tation in some localities, as in Muskoka, exceeds 50 inches, that is, amounts to nearly twice the precipitation of the dryest localities of the Province. The explanation of this heavy precipitation has already been sufficiently indicated. The winter temperature of the central watershed, owing to great elevation, is cold, averaging in some localities below 20°. The ex- tremes of cold, too, are great, though on these, as on the winter mean, the surrounding lakes exercise a moderating influence, and the tenipera- ture usually does not fall so low as at Ottawa or as in the Western States at even lower levels and much lower latitudes. The difference in mean summer temperature between the lake shore and the highest land of the interior, is not great when the difference in altitude is considered. The mean of July, at the highest points, is about 65° and the maximum heat is about as high as on the Lake Huron shore. The degree of heat attained is due, in a large measure, to the extent of unbroken land to the south and south- west. At Owen Sound on the south shore of the Georgian Bay, so much does this large land area in the direction of the warm winds affect the climate, temperatures as high as 95° have been reported in the month of May. At elevations of 1,000 to 1,200 feet, the mean of summer is nearly as high as at Toronto, and the daily and yearly maxima are higher. The difference from the lake coasts and lower levels is c!.iefly in the existence of a greater daily and seasonal range on the high land and a shorter period of exemption from early and late frosts. On the long slope towards Lakes Erie and St. Clair, the mean temperature of all seasons gradually rises, and at some distance inland the mean temperature of summer exceeds that of the Erie coast by several degrees, and almost equals that of the very warmest locali- ties of the Province. In extremes of warmth, both summer and winter, the temperatures are higher than in most localities near the 16 lakes. At Gait, lat. 43° 20', altitude 870 feet, the mercury usually rises to 95°, and has exceeded 100°. London sometimes records a higher July mean than even Hamilton or Windsor. At Zurich, towards Lake Huron, 103° was reported in 1881. Perhaps as forci- ble an illustration of the tendency of the interior to develope extreme heat as can be given, is in the fact that while in 1881, at Brantford, lat. 43°10', altitude 720 feet, there were in May 7 days, in July 21 days, in August 16 days, and in September 7 days — 51 in all — on which the mercury rose above 90° in the shade, and while the highest temperature was 99°, in Toronto there were but five days, in all, on which a temperature above 90° was reached, and the very highest was only 92°. 7. Towards the south-western portion of this inland district, the absence of lake water to the south-west, between the foot of Lake Huron and the head of Lake Erie, fully admits the south-west wind, which is usually warm, and winter temperatures compai'atively high are often recorded. An indication of the general climate of this Lake Erie slope is that the ])eaeh is grown, on suitalde soils, to an elevation of about 1,000 feet above the sea. In much of the interior of peninsular Ontario, thunder storms are numerous and more severe than on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Tornadoes also occur more frequently, though they are not so violent nor so frequent as in equal areas in Ohio, Indiana and thc! Cen- tral Western States. The snowfall of the Lake Erie slope rapidly diminishes as the distance from Lake Huron increases. North-west winds which near Lake Huron and in the highlands of Grey, bring several inches of snow in a single day are usually snowless over the southern half of the peninsula. At Gait the average duration of sleigh- ina is not more than six weeks ; southward and south-westwai'd the period decreases to a few days. The advent of spring is one or two weeks earlier over much of the southern })art of the district, than at Toronto, and winter-wheat harvest is almost as umch (iarlier. Har- vest usually commences in the beginning of July and has been, known to begin in the end of June, as far northeast as Gait, and about the 15th of June a short distance north of Lake Erie. The climate of Windsor on the Detroit River, lat. 42" 19', altitude 604 feet, is fairly representative of the climate of the extreme south, western part of Ontario. Immediately to the north is Lake St. Clair, and not far beyond that lake. Lake Huron, affording protection from the cold north winds of anti-cyclones passing eastward north 17 of the great lakes. To the south at no great cUstanoo is Lake Erie affording onlj^i slight protection against the warmth of the south wind in winter. But against the cold in winter of westerly and north-westerly winds there is no shelter except such as the distant Lakes Michigan and Superior supply, and against the warmth gener- ally, and in some winters the excessive cold, of the south-west wind there is little or no protection. Lake St. Clair is shallow, and in severe winters freezes over, and loses its protective influence, and both it and the very shallow westerly end of Lake Erie become in summer greatly heated, and not only lose the protective influence against extreme heat which lake- water generally exercises, but even at times, and especially in autumn, increase the heat. The extiemc^ south-west has therefore a climate, on the average of the year warmei- than almost any other part of the Province, but more variable also than most of peninsular Ontario. . • . The winter mean is the same as that of Hamilton, but with monthly extremes of heat and cold greater than in that city. The average yearly minimum is about the same as at Toronto. Owing to the great differences in the temperature of different winters in the Western and South- Western States, and the consequently great differ- ences in the temperature of south-westerly winds in different winters, the temperature of the Windsor winters differs very much. In eight years (1874-81) the coldest January was 14^7 which is lower than any January in the same period at Hamilton or Toronto, oi- eighty miles northward at Goderich. The warmest January on the other hand was 36°. 2, or considerably higher than any at Toronto or Hamilton. December means varied from 18°7 to 38''9 ; March from 26°.6 to 4r.7 ; April from 37\9 to 54'.2. Though the midsummer months show little difference in their mean temperature in different years, October means ranged from 46°.6 to 58°.9 ; May from 57°. 2 to 65°.5, and September from 59°.0 to 72°.2 ; the last higher than any Toronto July in the same period. The mean of the summer months is almost the same at Windsor as at Hamilton. In autumn, with the exception of the mouth of October, the two places are alike in mean temperature. It is the temperature of the spring and early summer that makes the mean of the year at Windsor (48°49) one degree wamier than the annual mean at Hamilton. April at Hamilton has a. mean of 42^5 ; at Windsor 45°. 25 ', in Maj the figures are respectively 57°.7 and OO^.S ; iu 18 June Hamilton averages 66°.0 and Windsor 67°.8r). The invrlier springs of Windsor are due in part to latitud*;, in part to jfreator nearness to the rapidly advancing heat of the south-worst, and in part to tlie fact that easterly winds which [irevail in spring reach Hamilton from the deei», winter-chilled lake, and Windsor from the warmer land of Essex and Kent. The following table shows the mean tem[)erature of (sach month, the average monthly maxima and average monthly minima at Windsor, for the eight year period (1874-81.) Jan. Fkb. Mar. Al'K. May. Junk. Jm.v.l Auu. Skpt. Oct. Nov. Dkc. Mean — 24 •! •24-7 32-4 45-3 00-8 07 '8 73-4 1 71-4 03 '8 51-0 37-1 28-4 Mean max. 50 53-5 01 '8 77-3 SS-9 i)l-7 96'1 i 93-5 90-5 81-2 04-5 .-53 8 Mean niin. -3-0 —0-0 9-4 18-8 30-0 47 3 iJl-4 48-3 30'8 25-0 10-4 O'O The mean of the year 's 48°. 49 ; the mean maxinnnu 90-.2'i, (very nearly the same as at Hamilton) and the mean minimum, — 10°. 75 or 3°. 4 lower than at Hamilton, and almost the same as at Toronto 2^ degrees farther north. Tlie absolutely highest temperature in the eight years referred to was 100°.G (Sep., 1881) : the absolutely lowest — 19°.5. In the four coldest months the maxima were as follows : — Dec. 68°.3 ; 'Jan., 66''.9 ; Feb. 63°.4 ; March, 77°.4. The contrast with Toronto goes to show the effect of Lake Ontario in pi'otecting against unseasonable temperatures. There the absolute maxima for those months were Dec, 61°. i ; Jan., 57°.5 ; Feb., 51°.6; March, 58°4. Absence of lake-water to the west renders the precipitation small compared with the adjoining Huron district. The snowfall is light, and the general tempei'ature of winter, and ])articularly the warm extremes, reduces the avei-age period of sleighing to a few days. The fruits and flora generally are the same as in the Niagara district. The vineyards are very productive, averaging in good soils five tons of grapes, and nearly 700 gallons of wine (first drawing) to the acre — a yield probably unsurpassed either in California or in Europe. The southernmost part of Ontario and of Canada, Pelee Island, a township of 17 square miles (lat. 41° 40' to 41° 50' — further south than Rome), has a climate peculiarly interesting. Tlie islana lies 19 almost laulway lietwocii Sandusky, ( )lii'), 20 miles distant, and I^eam- ington, Ont., and with Kelly's, an Oluoan island, six miles to the southward, and the peninsula of Point Pelee to the northward, marks the dividing lino between the very shallow and island-dotted western extremity of Lake Erie, and the larger, deeper and unbroken area of the lake to the eastward. This peculiar position i).oducos remarkable! diinatic effects. The water to the westward is generally not more th:in forty feet in de))th, and unthsr the hut summer sun becomes so heateeratures above 80*^ are .sometimes registered at lake bottom in the habours along the neighbouring coasts. This high temperatui-e not oidy tends to increase the average heat and Icmgtli of summei-, which here is almost as warm as a Cin- cinnati, but increases the warmth and length of autunm — which also is as warm and free from frosts as on the Ohio River — and reduces the difference between day and night tem|)eratures to almost tropical smallness. Another effect, a i)hysician on the island informs the writer, is that what corresponds with the nightly land breeze of the lake coasts in hot, calm weather, here blows not from the land, but from the deeper and cooler lake water to the eastward, into the heated western end of the lake. The effects in winter of the surrounding shallow water, vary with the severity of the seasons. In the milder winters the usual effects of water surroundings arc experienced in a small daily and seasonal ran«^e. In severe winters the shallow archipelago of the western end of Lake Erie is encumbered with ice and sometimes freezes over, and Pelee partakes in greater measure of the continental character of the winter of the neighbouring mainland. An examination of the records of the meteorological stal' :n on the island for a period of three and a half years bears out the deduc- tions which otherwi.se coidd be made from the peculiar situation of Pelee.* The figures are interesting. The mean temperature, and mean monthly maxima and minima are as follows : * The records, whieli through tlie courtesy of tlie Superintendent of the Meteorological •vice, were furnished the writ r, embrace the period between February 1st, 1879, and August'sist, 18S.'. Tlie records for May, October and November, 1879, and April and November, 1880, are incomplete or wholly wanting. Tlie mean temperature for these missing months has been approximated by tlie writer after careful examinatien of the records of Windsor and Sandusky, what is believed to be due allowance having been made for the peculiarities of the Pdee climate. Tl« hours of observation were 7 a.m. an 1 2 and 9 m. The mean temperature is found by adding together the readings at the first tv o hours, " ^e the 9 p.m. reading, and dividing the sum by 4. The maximum and minimum teiupei -ven are those of the 20 Jan. 26-i Frb. M*ii. Apr. May. ! JuNB. July. Auo. Shpt. Oct. Nov. Dkc. Mfati — 27 4 32-5 41-7 50-2 "i 67-1 73-5 72 '9 m:i 50 4 38'7 21)-1 ■Mean inax. 47-7 J4-3 54 '5 65 85-3 01-0 95 91 T) 90-7 72-0 02 497 Moan inin. 0-7 7-0 18-7 187 40-3 51-3 ; 01-6 59" 4!l-5 37-5 28-0 9 The mean temperature of the yer.r is i[)°-25 : did the record extend over the eight years which have been used for the averages of Toronto, Hamilton and Windsor, it wouhl probably appear a small fraction of a degree low,.r. The coldest January averaged lG°.r), or 0°.7 higher than the same month at Windsor, while the warmest, (34*^.8) was 1''.4 colder. The absolutely lowest temperature ( — 12°) occurred when the west end of the lake was covered with ice and was 5° A lower than at Windsor. The occurrence of lower temperature.s than at Windsor during the same severe season suggests that the effect of a neighboring area of ice in extremely oold weather, is more favourable to the development of cold than is the vicinity of an unbroken laud area, an explanation which may find additional illustration along the eastern side of the Georgian Bay. In mild winters the low extremes are higher at Pelee than at Windsor. In January 1880 the minimum at that town was 19°, while at Pelee it was only 25'. In the other months of the same winter the difference in favour of Pelee wasfrouj 4°. 5 to 10°.5. The absolutely highest temperatures in the winter months were : Dec. 57°, Jan. 55°, Feb. 63°, March 60°. The extraordinary small- ness of the mean daily range in winter is shown l)y a comparison between the averages of the 7 a.m. and the 2 p.m. readings. The average difference in Dec. is only 2°. 2, in Jan. 3°. 3, Feb. 6°. 4, and "^^arch 5°. 4. In December 1881 the average temperature was 34°. 7, ,at the 2 p.m. reading was only 36°. 1, and the 7 a. m. 34°.5, a total range of only 1°.6, between hours which represent, at this season hours of observation only, but a careful consideration of the facts as to cloudiness, direction of wind, &c., at the times of their occurrence, and for some time before and after, leads to the conclusion that in many instances they represent within a fraction of a degree the true max. or min., as the case may be, and that in few instances can the highest or lowest temperatures have differed more than one or two degrees from these quantities as taken from hours of obser- vation alone. Where the mean temperature of the month is not derived from the original records no attempt has been made at supplying maximum and minimum, or averages other than for mean temperature. The mean maximum and mean minimum of November is consequently derived from but one nionth, that of October from only two, those of January, February, April and May from three, and the remaining months of the year from four. 21 oHpocially, vcmt nearly tho ox ' remoH of the day. The aviu-aj^o iluily I'iuii^c ill January t'urnisli(*s an interesting contrast with tin* i-aiigo in till' same iiioiitli at Toronto and Hamilton. April at Pcloe is almost as cold as at Toront*^, and is moro than 3° colder than at Windsor, thirty miles further north. The ellect ot* tlie cold lake water is shown in the tact that tho highest maxinuim in this month was 82.^1), (April 1881) while in P<>lee it was l)ut 6S '. Yet the last frost of the season is several W(!eks later at Windsor than in Pelee, where it occurs almut the iniddlo of April. In May, Peloo almost re,i,'ains th(! normal temperature of the districts on the neighboring mainland : temperatures above 00° are recordctd and frosts are known only in exceptional years. The summers are hot and steady. In only one June in four years was a lower reading than .lO" recorded. In .)uly and August only once in the same period was there a lower reading than GO . The daily range in summer is much greater than in winter but still not half so creat as at most stations on the mainland of Ontario. The range between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. for June is 8®. 4, July 8°. (5, Aug. 7°.;"). The daily range above the mean temperature is hi summer twice as high, as the range below the mean, the nights maintaining an almost oven temperature of about 70" in July and August, while the day temperature rises in July to at least 80". This daily maxi- mum is not so high as that of some parts of the Ottawa Valley, and is much l)elow the daily maximum of Hamilton and Windsor, where however the night temperatures fall considerably lower than at Pelee. , Intensely tropical weather freiiuently prevails for days togotliLT, when, though the mercury does not rise any higher than on the main- land, it does not fall at night below 80'^. In the steaming atmosphere of this shallow lake such days must be very oppressive. The follow- ing are instances from the records : "am. 2i).m. H p.m. .liUy 80" .... 90° .... 83^ Aut' 83" .... 95- . . . 8r>" Sept 82" .... 98" .... 8-i«> September, in regard to heat, is properly a summer month, its mean being higher than that of a Paris July, and little lower than tliat of a Toronto August. In 1881 the mean was 72^.9, with a minimum temperature of only SS**. i -IS 22 Octobor averagoB 56**. 4, nearly ten dtigrooH wariiuT than itt Toronto, and quite as warm as in tho Ohio Valley. Novembor prolongs tho balmy, hazy wojither which |>er8iHt8 here for months, and it is not till aV)Out tlie 1 2th of the month that tli«» first hoar frost of the season usually occurs on the warmer soils of thci island. In winter .sleighing is mre. The rainfall in the warmer months is comparatively light, owing to the high temperature nbove tho shal- low surrounding waters checking condensation. The mean period in which the mercmy does not fall to 30' — thn average point at which hoar fro.st hen^ occurs — is nearly st^ven months in length, or (piiteaslong as at Memphis, TfiHu^ssiei', nnd much longer than throughout most of Ohio and rndiami. It cvtciids from A[)iil 14th to Nov. 12th. The great length of the season, combined with the long .steady heat admits of the full maturing of (!ottou. which at one Peloe farm visited by the writer, has lu'im grown for many years without any special care cither to secure pi-otection oi- early maturity. Climatic conditions nvo more favorai>le to the cultiva- tion of the Catawba grapi* on Pelet* and afljacent islands thiin in any other part of America, including the niaiidand on both sid Hyria, Tii gonoral, it may be said tliiit H lino from the Diiimlm through BucharoHt to Mohcow would funuHJi |iiH'!illelH to tlm cliinateH along a linn fnmi Windsor north- oiistcrly to Pcinlirokv, on the Ottawa — though the! sunimovH ot the hittoi" [tiiUH' iiro Wiirnicr than thoso of Moscow. By ii Hritisli Hl;iiiiliirIh. The moans for Toronto, Hitiiiiltiiii, Wimlsoi' iiikI Winni[i(g mi- (iorivedfroni the iiuuual riiiiorilH of the Canadian Mi't('on)lo;^ii'al Scrvirt' for tfit,'lit yi'iirs (1S7 l-si) ; those Ibr Moiitri'iil from sumo reeordu for nix y(uirs(lS7.')-S0) ; ilmsc lor I'olcr, rrmii (;. M. S. stiilion icimrts for thrcis and u half years. The averat^cs for Kiiro| man Stations are iiuoUmI from (Modgett's " American CllniatoU)gy," and are fur periods, \. itii few excejitions, longer than eight years. MONTHLY MKANS OF (CANADIAN SUMMEKS. May. Jink. July. Auo. Hkvt. o o o o _p Toronto 'A-I M'ti ' .09-0 ti7'8 • Ott'S Hamilton 57-0 Ott-0 73-4 71-3 (i3» Windsor 60S 67-9 73-4 71*4 «3-8 I'elee 69--' 07-1 73'6 729 6«:8 Montreal. Que 50(1 66'0 (Jy8 «8-l SO'O Winniiie^', .Man * 52-9 «l-8 tt7-:! tWl 519 MONTHLY MKAN8 OF EUHOPEJAN SUMMEUS. Edinlmrgh 50'3 W'O 587 6ti'8 63-4 Aberdeen 52-3 M^ 58-8 r,8-n 54'6 York 54-5 b|-2 62-0 (ill 557 London 56-8 .687 «17 58-9 56'tt Dulilin 54-4 W2 «1'5 (il-4 566 Paris 58-1 687 65-6 «5-3 tWl Koeli'lje 59-4 «7*6 690 0()'5 62-4 Vevay 58-2 «4'4 68-4 64 4 69'« Munich 671) 62'1 047 64-1 SSI Berlin 50-5 68-3 65'8 64-4 68-4 KoniRsherg 52 •(» 57 "4 62'0 617 63-6 Vienna 621 6T 5 707 70-0 «r9 micharest 56-3 62-5 68-1 65'2 68-3 r '"t