A lecture on the geography of plants / By John Barton.

  • John Barton
Date:
1827
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A lecture on the geography of plants / By John Barton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    situated only fifty miles from the sea-coast, (in the latitude of the South of France, where orange-trees grow without protection in the open air,) the severity of the winter’s cold far exceeds that experienced in any part of Great Britain, and falls short only two or three de- grees of that at North Cape, the furthest ex- tremity of Europe *. When vre speak of the mildness of a maritime climate, we must there- fore keep in mind that the expression applies only to the western, not to the eastern shores of the continent. It is easy to comprehend why the neighbour- hood of the sea, in countries situated far north, should tend to render the climate milder, while in the tropical regions it moderates the intensity of the heat, since it is known that the temper- ature of the ocean varies much less than that of the land; the waters from the equator being continually mixed with those of the Polar re- gions by the current of the gulf-stream. Why the inhabitants of the eastern shore do not enjoy this advantage, as well as those of the western shore of the continent, is in part ex- plained by the prevalence of westerly winds in these latitudes; a westerly wind bringing with it the warm and humid atmosphere of the At- * Humboldt: Des Lignes Isotherm.es,
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