134 BRITISH . other times a temporary gale comes on, with the wind at south-west, and a heavy rain in two or three hours shifts it round to north-west, blowing cold and dry. Westerly winds incline in summer to the south, and towards the north in winter, and are throughout the whole year more frequent than any other wind. As the temperature of the climate of depends chiefly on the winds, the formation of that continent is evidently the cause of the frosts being more intense than in countries in parallel latitudes in ; a consequence arising principally from the much greater breadth of towards the pole. Winds change their character in . North-easterly winds, which are cold and dry in , are wet and truly disagreeable in . North-westerly winds are, on the contrary, cold and dry, and frequent, during winter, in , much about the same periods that north-easterly winds prevail in England . One great, if not the principal, cause of cold in , is the directions of the mountainous ranges and basins of country, which conduct or influence the course of the winds. While the sun is to the south of the equator, the winds, less under solar influence, prevail from the north-west, following, however, the great features of the continent. These winds, blowing over the vast regions of the north, are always piercing and intensely cold. The return of the sun again, by the diffusion of heat, agitates the atmosphere, and alters the winds, which blow from a contrary direction, until an equili¬ brium is produced. This does not, however, appear