Sun 71. Where to be expected on this side the Tropique 78. The Variation thereof in severall Longitudes 79. Why the Westerly Winds blow most commonly without the Tropiques 86. The Provinciall Winds 90. A discourse concerning the Terrheinos and Viracoins or the Land and Sea-Brises 92. Their History and Cause 93. c. When they come in or cease in the Straights on the Coasts of Guiny the East and West-Indies and what Accidents hasten or retard their approach from p. 99. to 110. Of the Etesian or Anniversary Winds their severall species 111. 112. c. Of the Anniversary Winds in the way to the East-Indies which they call the Monsoons 119. How many months they continue the same Course on the Coasts of Africk and India 121. The Changing or Breaking up of the Monsoons 122. A Discourse concerning the Qualities of Wind p. 131. deriv'd from their Constituent Parts or the Medium through which they passe 131. Some Tryalls for the Explication of this Phaenomenon 133. 134. c. The Great incertainty of these observations and the diversities of their Qualities in severall Climates 138. The Properties of Easterly Winds Vnwholesome in most parts of Europe and yet in America very agreeable and pleasant 141. Of the South Winds 142. Why they magnify Visible objects and cause a stammering in the speech 147. Of the Westerly Winds their exceeding violence in the Isle of Jersy and Coast of Cornwall 150. Of the North Winds their wonderfull impetuosity in Norwey and Island 161. The great Caution to be us'd and what Circumstances are to be consider'd in judging the Qualities of Winds 172. 173. The causes of Hot Winds 174. 175. The Extremity of their Heat toward the Persian Gulf and severall instances of other Scorching Winds in Afric and Arabia where they blow off from the Sands 178. 179. The causes of Cold Winds 181. 182. The Sea-Winds in the Temperate Zones hotter then those which blow over the Land 187. Instances of this Nature in Great Britain the Isle of Jersy Virginia Florida and several other places 188. 189. c. Yet in the Torrid Zone the Sea-Brises cooling and pleasant examples thereof in America 191. Some Unusuall Qualities of Wind. 194. Of the Harmetans in Guiny 195. 196. The Virulent and Destructive Qualities of certain Winds in the West-Indies 201. Some Proposals for a more Accurate Discovery of the Nature and Qualities of Winds in relation to Architecture Navigation and severall Trades and Mechanicall Arts from 209. to 222. Diverse Prognostiques of Wind. 223. Of Whirlwinds in Generall 229. Their severall species 231. Concerning the Tornados a Description of their Nature 236. 237. How many degrees they are to be expected on this side the Aequinoctiall and at what time of the year 246. Most towards the Coasts of Guiny 247. The Tempests near the Cape Bon Esperance 245. The Cause of the Tornados 249. The Presters or Fiery Whirlwinds Examples thereof 251. 254. Hurricanes Some conjectures concerning their cause 257. The Places where they happen 265. 266. Their Prognostiques and Description in diverse Historicall Relations from 269. to 292. c. THe Origines of Winds are no lesse Various then their Motions we ought not to determine positively concerning those Appearances in nature which may be rationally explicated severall ways Though we consult the Placits of the learned Ancients consider also what we owe to the improvements of latter times yet I question whether any Theory was ever yet started on this Argument which will adequately resolve the whole Phaenomenon of VVinds and we must never expect to confine their Originall to any one determinate Cause Most of the Graecian Philosophers agreed in the same Definition of Wind till the Prince of the Peripatetiques was not only ambitious to establish a New Hypothesis of his own but likewise undertook the confutation of his Master Plato the rest of his Predecessors The Philosophicall Monarch thought he could never raign securely in the minds of men unlesse like the Family of the Ottomans he destroy'd all his Bretheren first I have no intention to disparage the Authority of the Ancients but I cannot be so injurious to the many noble productions of our present Age to think that all Science is only to be sought for in the Urns of the Dead we have a more intimate converse with Nature then heretofore which displays her beautifull Bosome and every day affords new Discoveries of usefull knowledge and further conducing to the Benefit of Human life If we consider the successe that Philosophy has met with in the VVorld we shall find that those Opinions which obtain'd most in one Age had their Fatall Periods were as much exploded decry'd in the next it 's as impossible that any one Hypothesis should be calculated to the Gusto of all persons when the sentiments of men are different as their complexions I have therefore taken a larger compasse then the Generallity of writers and deriv'd the Origines of Winds from severall Causes which I rather endeavour to prove from Accounts of our Sea-Voyages and relations of Matters of Fact then to refine on them by any nice speculations of my own For this Philosophy is not to be had in Colleges or Books but must be fetch 't frō both Indies we must traverse the wide Seas be tost to as many points of the Compasse as Columbus or Drake we must climb into the Regions of the Air descend into the Caverns of the Earth to detect the innumerable Causes Qualities of VVinds They are diffus'd like the Universall mind and it requires a kind of ubiquity to understand them How small a portion is it of the vast system of the World that we inhabit and how much lesse of it that we comprehend How Extravagant are the Phaenomena of the large American tracts their Tydes VVinds and other Aeriall impressions how different and irreconcileable to Ours How many noble discoverys have been made in these Countries which the Athenian Sages could never think of in their narrow Porches Gardens They might spin fine webs out of their own bowels but for want of a closer inspection into Nature their Texture Materials are slight And we must acknowledge that even the Stagirite himself has left us no very perfect Theory of VVinds though this Province of late years has been more succesfully undertaken by the Lord Verulam Galileo De Cartes and other illustrious Moderns Aristotle constitutes two species of Exhalations the one vapid or moist the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fumid or Terrene and as the first is employ'd in Rain Hail or Snow c. So the other furnishes materials for Winds c. The Ancients understand no more by wind then a Motion of the Air Anaximander in Plutarch styles it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and some others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to which that of Seneca may allude Ventus est Aer Fluens But neither the Prince of the Peripatetics ever supposed
Terraqueous Globe were of one uniforme superficies as wee may perceive that in wide Seas their motions are farr less irregular then by Land since the great diversity of Climates Mountains and Lakes varies them exceedingly I have thus farr discours'd of the 4 Principall the Collaterall or Intermediate VVinds if any right judgment could be made of their natures from the Quarters whence they blow might be suppos'd Hot Dry Moist c. as they are farther remov'd or hang nearer towards the Cardinal Point But we are like to expect little satisfaction from the generality of writers concerning the temperature of VVinds For who can with patience hear the impertinence of those Notionall men that enquire no further but declare That the South Wind is allways Hot and Moist the North Cold and Dry the West c. which obliges us in the following discourses to offer at some more accurate account of their Qualitys and the most Universall causes from whence they proceed First VVinds are Moist either because their Constituent parts are made up of Vapid and Aqueous corpuscles such as rain dews watry Clouds or by reason they make long Voyages by Sea or over great Lakes Morish Countrys Fenns and so are tainted with the Qualitys of the Medium through which they passe Those which proceed from Melted Snows have some small allay of the Terrene but approach neerer the Moist The Siccity of VVinds is from their Saline and Terrestriall parts or that arriving from those Parc'ht and Torrid regions neer the Line they are exsiccated as they travell by the Ways of the Sun I shall not dispute whether this has been cautiously enough minded by most writers How many nice circumstances are to be consider'd in judging the Qualitys of VVinds and how difficult it is to make a just Estimate of their severall degrees of Heat and Cold. For there must not only be especiall regard had to the Temperament of our Senses but to the Climes in which they blow and seasons of the year Since those which would seem hot at Christmas comparatively to the winter Cold should the same happen in July when wee had been long accustom'd to a different temperature of our Organs and the Ambient Air would undoubtedly appeare exceedingly Cold. Then wee denominate VVinds either Gelid or Hot in respect of those that usually blow in such Climats as the Southern Blasts with us here in England though they are Colder then the Ambient Air may be reputed Hot comparatively to the N. or N. E. which are much more refrigerative in these parts of the VVorld Thus wee ought not rashly to make judgment of their Qualitys but first consider what Symptoms of Heat they betray in relation to Weather-glasses or the Winds that commonly blow in such Countrys as likewise what mutations happen by them in the Temperature of the Air And afterwards compare all these Circumstances with the present disposition of our Organs least wee determine concerning the positive Qualitys of VVinds from only the Prejudices and Hallucinations of Sense There are severall Causes Productive of Heat As their passage through Hot Regions Or because they consist of the ignite and suffocating Air which infests the Burning Zone where the whole Masse is corrupted with such intolerable heats that the Winds which are either generated therein or only pervade the Torrid regions must needs for some time retain their temperament and Qualitys till at length they loose them in long voyages and the calorifique particles languish and dwindle away by degrees being oppres'd with multitudes of Heterogeneous exhalations in their course Then I think it not improbable but that the Solar rays or whatever parcells beside of the Subtil and Aetheriall matter may by mingling with them actually advance the heat of VVinds. And Lastly The ignite Damps such as wee sometimes discover in Colepits and Mines and all other of the Minerall and Metalline Kingdomes that finding no Vent cause Earthquakes in the Bowells thereof if they escape through the Pores of the Earth occasion Presters and Hot VVinds And those fiery eruptions which in many places of Calabria and Sicily are continually breathing out from the Subterraneall Regions must needs diffuse the seminals of heat through the whole body of the Air and VVinds especially such as come reaking from under Burning Mountains or at least are the results of those Calorifique mixtures by which some Mineralls and salts fermenting together in the Cavitys of the Earth emit Hot fumes Like severall Chymicall preparations such as Oyl of Tartar and spirit of Vitriol which cause a strange Ebullition and Heat by their commistion only And if wee suppose any thing Analogous to these under ground where Nature in her own Elaboratory often exceeds the greatest Sagacity of Art why may not the Tepid Steams and Vapors that ascend from thence be able to produce so considerable a degree of Heat in the Air that might occasion Scorching Winds And happily the Rancounters of Certain Mineralls with each other in those Passages where the VVaters flow may likewise by their mutuall ferments be the most probable cause of many Hot Baths Springs Neverthelesse Fromundus some other Naturalists of late in the Number of which wee may reckon our Countryman Mr. Hobs affirme that all VVinds whatever doe actually refrigerate and oftentimes so intensly that they prove the fittest instruments for the Congelation of Liquids And I must confesse it seldome falls under our observation that in any parts of Europe the VVinds are comparatively hotter then our Sensories or the Ambient Air yet in many Provinces of Afric Arabia but most of all near the Persian Gulf where they come just off from the Burning Sands they are intolerably hot and suffocating as appears from the Relations of the Portugalls first Voyages to the East Indies where they felt Gales of the E. and N. E. Wind so Hot that the Air seem'd to be inflam'd and scorching like fire So likewise Gasparo Balbi in his Travells speaks of four persons that weary'd in their Journy sat down near the Banks of Euphrates to refresh themselves a while and were all stifled by one of these Hot Winds And wee have a more surprising Narrative from Marcus Polo that when the King of Chermain sent an Army of 16 Hundred horse and 5 thousand foot against the Lord of Ormus for not paying his Tribute they all perisht by these Suffocating Blasts But if wee distrust the integrity of these writers Olearius in his Voyage to Persia describes the intemperature of the Air in those Countrys to be such that with the North or East Wind they felt a Cold which depriv'd them of their Limbs and on the Contrary the S. Winds were ready to choak them with the extremity of heat But Della Valle a Nobleman of Rome whose Curiosity led him through most of the Eastern Kingdomes reports that towards Arabia there was a VVind so scorching and Dry that it left behind it like marks of Fire wherever it came
A DISCOURSE Concerning the ORIGINE AND PROPERTIES Of VVIND With An Historicall Account of Hurricanes and other Tempestuous Winds By R. Bohun Fellow of New Coll in OXON OXFORD Printed by W. Hall for Tho. Bowman Anno Dom. 1671. THE PREFACE COnsidering the unsuccesfull Attempts of severall Authors who have adventur'd upon this difficult part of Meteorology I was sufficiently discourag'd from exposing to publick view those Collections which I had sometime made concerning the Causes and Properties of Winds But afterward by reason of my residence in a place principally concern'd in Naval Affairs where I had frequent opportunities of conversing with the most experienc'd of our Sea-Captains I began to compare the observations of their Voyages with the writings of the most celebrated of the Ancient and Modern Philosophers which I judg'd the only expedient to arrive at a more perfect History of Winds I have omitted nothing remarkable which was taken notice of by Aristotle whose Sagacity in these enquiries was the greatest that the Grecian World could boast of But the succeeding Ages which with their nice Speculations endeavour'd rather to amuse then satisfy the minds of men made little Progresse in the History of Nature till our Voyages to the East and West-Indies and the great encrease of Navigation for these Hundred years last past furnisht us with so many new discoveries and improvements in all Natural knowledge especially in what relates to the Motions of the Winds and Seas that we are every day forc'd to regret the insufficiency of those Theories which we receiv'd from the Schools of the Ancients since the Course of the Generall or Trade-Wind the Indian Monzoons the severall sorts of Brises in the African and American Climates which are certainly the most considerable Phaenomena that belong to an exact Treatise of Winds were as remote from the knowledge of their most inquisitive Naturallists as the places where they happen from Athens or Rome I must confesse the incomparable L d Verulam has given us much light in his Discourse on this Argument though he seems to have been little Curious in the Collections of Forreign Parts without which we must still have remain'd ignorant of the largest Portion of the Universe But I can boast of little assistance from others more then some Historicall observations of the Trade-Winds and Hurricanes taken from the learned Isaac Vossius which I made use of as finding them most agreable to the Relations of our Sea-Voyages and beleiving them Generally true I must likewise acknowledge my obligations to the Honourable Mr. Boyle for his advice upon severall occasions particularly in the experiment mention'd pag. 134 concerning the Qualities of Winds I have indifferently made use of either the Peripatetique or Epicurean Principles as they serv'd best for the Explication of the present Phaenomenon For though at this day some with the greatest applause embrace the Cartesian and Atomicall Hypotheses yet what are the Atomicall or Corpuscularian Placits but Democritus or Epicurus in another Dresse which we call the New Philosophy not that it was Invented but only Reviv'd and Vindicated by the Moderns from the Injuries and oppression of Time I have in the following Discourse offer'd at a fuller Account both of the Regular and Tempestuous Winds the Land Sea-Brizes and severall other particulars which most writers had past by in silence And though as to the Historicall part or Matters of Fact I may have committed some errours this must not altogether be imputed to my credulitye but the great Diversitie of Relations and innumerable Accidents which alter the mostconstant motions of the Currents and Winds I have known some Masters of Ships who missed of the Monsoons at the usuall seasons of the year in their return from the Indies and I have sometimes met with different Accounts of the Harmetan Winds and the Tornados on the Coasts of Guiny nor shall I undertake that every ship which has Crost the Line met with the Trade-Wind in the same Degree of Latitude I have therefore describ'd them as they generally happen and though there may be some Variation yet for the most part they very Regularly depend on the course of the Sun I may thus farre assure the Reader that I have manag'd this Affair with all imaginable Caution and seldome made use of any Account but when severall Relations did agree in the same particulars or when I found the persons of the most unsuspected integrity and which had no interest to deceive Then it was my ultimate Design to make the most advantageous use of these enquiries as they might conduce to any improvement in Philosophie Albeit I may possibly be obnoxious to Censure for diverse Philosophicall reflexions which I have occasionally made in the following Discourses Though I have for the most part rather Alluded to Severall then Adherd to any One Hypothesis Yet since all Disquisitions of this kind are but Conjectural and no exact Demonstration to be expected in Physiologicall Sciences I might challenge the freedome of my own thoughts reserving for others the same Libertie to abound in their own sense and to interpret Nature as they please The Contents THe Placits of the Ancients and their severall Definitions of Wind. pag. 6. The Opinion of De Cartes and other Modern Naturallists 7. 8. Wind no more then a Motion or Protrutrusion of the Air. 7. That there are Severall Origines of Wind First they are generated in the Lower Region by the Dilatation of Vapours or Air p. 12. By the Repletion or Superoneration of the Atmosphere p. 16. From Pressure of Clouds or the Elasticall Vertue of the Air c. 20. The 2 d Locall Origine of Winds in Generall from the Earth or Seas as from Submarine or Subterraneall Eruptions 23. By the Rarefaction of Liquids prov'd from the Experiment of the Aeolipile 24. Historicall instances of Winds breaking from under the Earth or Sea 27. 33. Of the Mascarets in the River of Dordogn and the suddain tumours in the Lake of Geneva 34. The 3 d Generall Cause of Wind by Descension from the Middle Region both from Vapours before and after their Coalition into Clouds 27. 39. Their Ingenit Gravity the cause of their descent 40. Not their Repulse from the Antiperistasis of Contraries 39. The Reason why some Winds blow with greater violence and impetuosity then others 45. The Formall Cause of Winds 46. The Opinions of Aristotle Theophrastus c. with the Latine Interpreters 47. 48. Some other conjectures concerning the Causes of their Oblique Motion 40. 50. c. The Undulating and Reflex Motions of Wind. 50. 51. The Matter of Winds an Explication of Aristotle's Opinion 58. Their Limits and Extent 63. The most Flatulent Seasons why they blow more in Spring and Autumn then at other times 65. The Severall Species of Winds 67. An Historicall Account of the Generall or Trade Wind. 68. 69. c. The Causes why it blows Constantly from the Easterly points and imitates the Course of the
them to consist of Earth though it was always to be most predominant nor the Ancients of Air alone without some allay of other Heterogeneous Elements In the 23. Section of his Problems Aristotle himself denominates Wind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aeris impulsum yet in the 2 d book of Meteors he seems rather to reflect this opinion on his predecessors declaring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. cap. 4. So that Aristotle allows not the simple agitation of Air to be reputed VVind wherein he dissents from the Stoics who held it only Motum aut Fluxionem Aeris And there have not been wanting the most eminent moderns who embrac'd their sentiments as Gassendus Beregard Dorisi c. Mr. Hobs defines it Air mov'd in a direct or undulating motion and to this purpose the learned Isaac Vossius Fournier Varenius many others The modern Peripatetics generally agree in an Hot and Dry exhalation repuls't by the Antiperistasis of the middle Region though I find no footsteps of any such opinion in the Text of Aristotle VVind in the most Generall Acceptation is any Sensible Motion of the Air By Air the Vulgar understand almost any invisible Matter whether Rarify'd vapours or Water though it consists of much grosser parts then that which is employ'd in respiration De Cartes computes that Rarify'd Air requires only thrice but Dilated vapours no lesse then 3000 times as much space as before their expansion wherefore in the Generation of VVinds he preferrs them before Fumid Exhalations or Air as in his Definition pag. 153. Venti nihil sunt nisi Moti Dilatati Vapores It seems to me lesse probable whether we reflect on the opinion of Aristotle or Cartesius that Winds should be always made up of Heterogeneous Exhalations distinct from the Body of the Air For certainly they are sometimes no more then Streams or Currents of Air it self shifting from one part of the Atmosphere to another So that the Air while it continu'd placid and calme may be compar'd to a Pond or Lake and when it 's violently agitated and mov'd it resembles a Torrent or River I have already declar'd that no one Hypothesis how comprehensive soever hath yet been able to resolve all the Incident Phaenomena so various are their Efficients and the Matter of which they consist I shall therefore comprise the Locall Origines of VVind under 3 Generall Heads 1. They are generated in the Intermediate space between the Earth and Clouds and that either by Rarefaction or Repletion and sometimes happily by the Pressure of Clouds Elasticall Vertue of the Air c. 2 ly From the Earth or Seas as by Submarine or Subterraneall Eruptions 3 ly By Descension or Resilition from the Middle Region But I shall explain my self how I desire to be understood of all these in the Following Discourses and then descend to the Matter of which they are Form'd their Limits and Qualities c. My Lord Bacon complains that the first species has been too much neglected by most writers while some seek for them in the Clouds and others in the Caverns of the Earth when as they are more frequently generated in the Intermediate Space which they call the Lower Region of the Atmosphere The Universall Efficient of this sort is the Sun the matter Air or whatever Vapourous Effluxions from the Earth Now imagine those Vapours or Fumes that are continually hovering in this Lower Region which being dilated will possesse so many hundred times more space then they did before the expansion to be attacq't by the quick and Penetrating beams of the Sun what a tumult and mutiny must this necessarily cause in the Atmosphere When all places were full before at least the Voids no way Proportionable to the dilatation whither must the ejected particles retire the spaces they should possesse are overstock't already they must be forc'd to send out Colonies to other parts where equivalent compressions and condensations are made where the spaces lye wast and in a manner destitute of Inhabitants But what Seditions Eddies Undulations must this cause in the whole body of the Air How will the Atmosphere fluctuate and be harrast to and fro and as it were curled with waves the Rarify'd vapours still flying to seek new habitations and so doe impell and bear along with them all they encounter in the way some condens'd bodys deserting their Seats and others as farr Expanded hasting to take possession that there can be no tranquillity or rest 'till the influences of the Sun cease or the vapours be exhausted And what is all this Strugling and Commotion of the Air but Wind For either the Dilatation of the former or too great an Accession of New matter will inchoate the collaterall agitation of VVinds as the Lord Verulam experimented from a crosse of Plumes in a Turret closely shut up when meanes were us'd by the evaporation of water to overstock the space and afterwards by Fire to thinne rarify the vapours the Plumes began to tremble by degrees and at last the motion grew rapid Instar turbinis the Water affording multitudes of vaporous steams the Fire resolving them into VVind It likewise appear'd from another of the Verulamian Experiments that Air of it self when other vapours are wanting will be sufficiently Agitated by Rarefaction For though without some other Auxiliary Exhalations Air alone might seeme able to create but a very feoble and languid VVind yet when it 's dilated into at least 60 times the extent it posses'd before the Expansion it must needs by this means crow'd and superonerate the former Spaces and so cause a considerable emotion of the Atmosphere So that if there be much Superfluous Matter and the Protrusion violent it causes storms and Tempestuous VVinds if it be lesse then are only Engendred those mild refreshing Airs such as use to come off from the Banks of Rivers and Ponds at Day-break De Cartes will scarce admit that Dilated Air exceeds above a quadruple proportion yet a person not lesse sagacious in the contemplation of Nature has prov'd in a late discourse that Air without Heat will be dilated to 13000 times the former extent though with it Mersennus never arriv'd to an 100 And questionlesse in the Atmosphere without the assistence of Art we may suppose it Rarefiable by the Heat of the Sun to incomparably larger Dimensions then De Cartes allows it at least sufficient to create very impetuous VVinds which may be occasion'd from any extraordinary expansion of the Air as we usually observe that in great conflagrations it blows manifestly fresher thereabout then it did before the people of Gascoigny at that time subjects to the Crown of England are said to have petition'd the King against the burning of Heath in Sussex Hampshire which afterwards rais'd a VVind very pernicious to their Vines Another cause which generates Wind is the Superoneration of the Atmosphere Democritus other Ancient Atomists supposing if there were too
W. throughout all India from noon till 12 at night and coming out of the Sea towards the Land are therefore call'd Viracoins or Sea Winds They often stay late and blow but slowly Nearer the Coasts of China you have the Terreinhos out of the West and N. W. S. E. and E. N. E. Being in the North they change to the South and then ensues a calme till the Terreinhos come in The Brises in the Straights begin about 9 or 10 in the Morning blowing freshest at noon and so gradually declining till 4 or 5 at last cease in a Calme which lasts till 10 11 or 12 at night VVhen begins the Land Brise till 5 or 6 and then Calme till the Sea Brise comes in This account I receiv'd from a Sea Captain well vers'd in all parts of the Levant having serv'd under the Venetians severall years in those Seas At the river of Constantinople the VVinds commonly blow thorough but in exceeding fair VVeather you shall have both the Land and Sea Brises as in the Straights If either the Easterly or VVesterly VVinds blow fresh they hinder both the Land and Sea Brises in the Mediterranean of which wee must note They are always the more languid and weaker the later they come in In very hot days and when no other VVinds are stirring you may sometimes observe this alternation between the Land and Sea Brises on the Coasts of England but scarce with any certainty beyond the Latitude of Portugal Brises of all sorts are more constant in Summer then Winter and between the Tropiques then in the Temperate Zones The Etesians or Anniversary VVinds are those which blow constantly at certain seasons of the yeare The most remarkable species begin in Summer about the rise of the Dog starre and last 40 days being preceded by their Prodromi or Fore-runners 8 or 10 days The account of Pliny is not much different from Aristotle as he computes their Etesians in the 2 d book of his Naturall History Not only the Stagirite and Theophrastus but of late De Cartes and many other Moderns derive their Origine from the colliquated snows and ice in the Northerly regions For the long continuance of the Sun neer 6 months together above their Horizon at last overcomes the obstinacy of the cold and dissolves the snows which being attenuated into VVinds make long marches towards the South where they find the Air more yielding and pure then the Foggs and grosse vapors of the North. They were call'd the Sleepy VVinds Venti Delicati Somniculares by reason they intermit in the night time and rise again with the Sun happily because the vapors were then only sufficiently dilated by the celestiall beams though in the night time they subside and hover neare the Earth being too refrigerate and dense to constitute VVinds till they are again quicken'd put in motion by the approaches of the Sun I am willing to acquiesce in the aforesaid cause and I believe wee in England or France might owe our Etesians to Groenland and other parts of the Frozen Zones because wee have no constant visible Fountains of any such VVinds in our own dominions but if the Etesians of Greece according to the sentiments of Aristotle doe allways depend on the resolution of snows in the North they would certainly take Russia Poland or Germany in the way which lye neerer the Artick Pole before they arrive at Greece and yet on the other side of the Taurican hills they are said to have Southerly VVinds about the time of the Graecian Etesians VVee may better make judgement of these Winds that being most Peculiar to this Country they were no Forreigners in their Originall but sprung from particular Fountains within it selfe such as the hills of Macedon and Thrace that have perennial Snows of their own and these being master'd by the scorching heats of Summer may give birth to their Etesian Winds which has this advantage over the other opinion that it clears the difficulty why they are silent in the night and blow with fresher Gusts at Midday when the Sun mounts highest in the Northern Hemisphere I shall only adde not to mention severall others of the modern Naturallists that even * Cabeus himselfe who was a person sufficiently Zealous in asserting the Peripatetique Hypothesis dissents from the opinion of Aristotle will scarce allow the Etesians of Greece a remoter Origine then the neighboring Alps. I shall not insist upon the mistake for which some of his own interpreters have severely enough reflected upon Aristotle That he should first deduce the Origine of these VVinds from the Frozen Zones and afterward assign the reason why they blow stronger in the Day time because the liquefaction of the Snows is interrupted by the Nocturnall Cold when it 's Notorious that in those Countrys the Sun for many Months together is never depres'd below their Horizon Towards the Adriatique and many parts of Asia they have Set Winds which arrive from the N. and N. E. Yet all these which were reputed the Venti Stati blow not from the Northerly Points for in Gascony about the same time with the Etesians of Greece they have rather Southerly Winds which Scaliger who was best able to judge of his own Country observes to be unwholesome and Pestilentiall At Madrid for the most part of the Summer they have a Brise from the Pyreneans or the Adjacent Guadarama which extremely allays the excesse of heat You shall have different sorts of Winds from the same Snowy mountain blowing to severall quarters according to the situation of the Countrys As was observ'd in those Countrys by the foremention'd Cabeus Saepe nobis Boreas Borealibus Auster Spirat It being not unusuall for them in Lombardy to feel a Northerly and at Tirol which is situate on the contrary side of the Alps a Southerly Wind at the same time In Italy they can never fail of Etesians from their own Appennines and so happily on the shoare of Guzarat and the Indian Ocean from mount Caucasus And where ever great Chains or ridges of Hills run along as the Caucasean or Appennine this very often renders an account of most Etesians there about Yet I question whether many Authors may not ascribe too much to this one cause for in some places they have Anniversary Winds that can never possibly have their rise from the Resolution of Snows And I believe it would prove extremely difficult to lay down any tolerable Hypothesis of the Monsoons on the Coasts of Afric and India from the best discoverys wee have yet been able to make of those Parts There are other Stated or Anniversary Winds which they call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Avicular and White-South Winds either because they were so friendly to the procreation of birds or rather that they return'd with Nightingales or Swallows in the spring beginning to blow after the Summer Solstice by the computation of Aristotle 70 days about the beginning
and Pestilentiall but to certain African Provinces healthfull and Pleasant The Northerly are coldest in our European World and the Southerly on the other side of the Aequinoctiall For the Arctick and Antarctick VVinds must needs be of the same nature blowing from either of the Poles where the cold is equally predominant So that the Qualitys of many VVinds seeme not so much to respect the Points of the compasse as the Course of the Sun The Eastern Winds according to Aristotle are hot and dry nor is their Siccity only remarkable in Greece Palestine Asia the Lesse and most parts of Africk where they make long marches over the parcht and barren sands but likewise in the more temperate climes of Holland and France by reason they passe through Poland Germany other vast tracts of Land and lastly arriving at our Isle they can suffer no considerable alteration in their qualitys by so small a passage over the Narrow Seas They are no very welcome guests to us in England being ominous to our Gardens Fields by blasting the corn and fruits I have known strange destruction done in one Night when they come late in the spring Sometimes they not only blite the leaves and blossoms but kill the Trees with their poysonous breath They bring after them swarms of Caterpillers and other devouring insects or those dry and tabid mists which corrupt the lungs and cause Epilepsys Consumptions c. whether by driving before them the putrid Air from Holland or however they contract that malignity in their natures Nevertheless wee can make no Generall conclusions of their propertys from hence which are chang'd by innumerable acidents For though in these Countrys of Great Britain they are inauspicious both to animals and plants yet in the West Indies the Eastern Brise is refreshing and healthfull above all other VVinds. In Arabia and those Asiatique regions they are exceedingly dry by travelling for many thousand leagues over the sandy desarts yet Blondus observes them to be rather humid in Italy and to occasion a relenting in the Air where they blow immediately from the Adriatique Seas In relation to their degrees of heat though Aristotle declares they are much hotter then the Westerly wee find by experience that with us in England the Easterly are at certain Seasons of the yeare exceeding cold and very often the most freesing winds especially if they hang somewhat towards the North. I need assign no other cause for the frigidity of the Easterly Winds then that they have their first rise from the Continent where the Midland Air is much colder then the Maritime The South Winds are generally reputed Hot and Moist on this side the Line being heated in their entry through the Torrid Zone or because they consist not of melted Snows as the Northern but of the Tepid and Sulphury steams from Africk and other Sunburn'd climes They passe over no Seas of any large extent just crossing the Mediterranean and British yet they moisten and relax the Air and cause wet weather by dissolving the Clouds into rain which are rather dissipated and blown over by the impetuous Norths Yet I think it very irrationall to conclude that all the Southerly should have their rise from the Torrid or the Northerly VVinds from the Frigid Zones Since it is not unknown to the Curious that in part of Italy and Provence they have very often Northerly VVinds rising as is suppos'd from some places about the Alps whereof they are not at all sensible in other Countrys of France through which they must of necessity passe if they came so farre North. In like manner at Marseilles and in the Mediterranean they have oftentimes Southerly VVinds when they blow from contrary points on the African Continent which lyes more to the South I believe very few of the South Winds here in England ever took a longer flight then from the Mediterranean Sea or the lower parts of France and it can scarce be suppos'd that the same Numericall Exhalations could ever travell from between the Tropiques and not be spent in the way long er'e they arrive at the British Coasts yet happily by protruding the Ambient Air and that successively the Contiguous to it the motion may at length be Propagated many hundreds of Miles beyond the reach of those vapors which caus'd the first Agitation So that it is not impossible but that a VVind which began neer the Aequinoctiall may by this means be continued even to the Poles of the VVorld However I shall make no longer digressions concerning their Extent but proceed to the Qualitys which are vulgarly ascrib'd to the Southerly VVinds. They are laxative stupefactive and pestilentiall They cause Epilepsies and pains in the head and were therefore styld 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Grecians They render men Shaagrin and melancholy and in some of the Azores Islands the children are said to sit dejected and leave their playing when they blow For first they open the pores of our bodys by their heat and then insinuate the malignant influences and the parts being pointed and volatile have not only an easy ingression into our blood but thaw and unloose the textures of ice and snow Nay it 's most certain that iron it selfe takes the file much better when the South Wind blows then at other times They many times cause a farre rougher Sea then the most Tempestuous Winds from the North Happily because they blow more obliquely and rake the Surface of the Water when as the Northerly oftentimes descend as from a precipice downwards which immediately deads and weakens their force They magnify visible objects As our Seamen observe their ships to appeare bigger at a distance either in misty weather or when the South Wind blows For the humid and nebulous vapors of which they consist distort the visual beams and by refracting them to the Perpendicular cause more rays of light to enter into the eye which makes the object seeme larger then otherwise would arrive at it in strait lines Many who are naturally inclin'd to Stammering in their speech do find their infirmity evidently worse when the Wind is toward the South Probably because the moisture of the Air causeth a greater relaxation of the Nervs and thereby a tremulous and unstable motion of the muscles at that time Which perhaps hath more power upon the Vocall muscles then others because they lye in the Road and are more expos'd to the invasions of whatever is breath'd in at the mouth or nostrills then others are Whence also wee find the tongue more apt to falter though somewhat in a different manner whensoever it is overmuch bedew'd with strong and vaporous liquors Smells are said to be most Fragrant in these Winds when the Air is humid and lax to convey the odoriferous particles They anticipate the Spring and cause the trees to blossome and bud forth before their time and by this means exhaust their spirits and nutritive juyce They damp linnen and paper though never
that little ice they have is soon gone It 's also observable neare the Sea side here in England as in the County of Cornwall that the Snow is generaly melted in lesse then a weeks space and the Frosts not so lasting as elsewhere Shall wee say the acrimony of the Sea vapors soon dissolves the textures of the ice and Snow or that they choak up and repell those Frigorifique Corpuscles which are as the Coagulum to cement and knit together the parts of liquids So likewise on the Coasts of Ireland the Complexion of the Air is much Hotter then in many other places of the same Latitude and were it not environ'd with the Ocean who would think Island inhabitable that lyes directly under the Polar Circle Yet this holds good only in the Temperate Zones for in the Torrid the Sea-Brise is refrigerative and abating the excesse of heat And contrariwise on the African Continent the Land-Winds which travell o're the Burning Sands allmost suffocate the miserable inhabitants which are roasted into Skeletons and sometimes loose their Hearing and Sight by the immoderate Heat Yet in part of Guiny where the Neighbouring mountains defend them from the Easterly Winds suffer the cool Sea-Brise to blow upon their Coasts how wonderfully are their Spirits reviv'd with the delightfull gale But though the Levants are so pernicious when they come reaking off from the Sandy VVilderness yet being Refrigerated in a long passage o're the Pacifique Ocean at the Caribbes and the American Continent they become the coolest of all VVinds and the greatest blessing which Providence could ever bestow on the New World to allay the otherwise insufferable heats of the Torrid Zone Only part of Peru though the Soyl be of it selfe fertile and enrich't with all the bountys of Nature yet on this side the Mountains the Land-Winds render it sterill and unfruitfull when as Brasile enjoys a more Temperate Heaven being bedew'd with the reflreshing Brise from the Adjacent Ocean From these severall instances it appears that the Land-Winds must needs be more intensely Heated between the Tropiques then in these parts of the VVorld that lye so farre distant from the course of the Sun And the Earth being a dense body retaines the Calorifique impressions when as the volutation of the waves so often changes the Superficies of the water that the same parts of the Ocean are not always expos'd to the Celestiall Beams And though it must be acknowledg'd that neare the Aequinoctiall the Surface of the Earth and consequently the Winds that blow over it are much warmer then in the Neighbourhood of the Poles yet without dispute the Ocean also is proportionably as much Hotter then our Seas And though the Sea-Winds seeme Refrigerative with them which rather betray very great Symptoms of Heat in these Countrys yet I question whether this in some measure may not be understood Comparatively to the disposition of our Sensories and that of the Ambient Air. For their Blood and Spirits being farre more agitated then ours and also accustom'd to a Climate excessively Hot they must of necessity have different Perceptions from us who live in the Colder Regions of the VVorld But beside these Vulgar or Elementary Qualities of VVinds they have almost infinite Variety in their Natures according to the severall Subjects they can operate upon and their Propertys are various as the different impressions which they make upon other Bodys For those which are Corrosive in reference to iron or stone may prove Pestilentiall to men and one and the same Quality have one denomination as it relates to Beasts a second to Birds and a third to Insects according to the different Capacities of the Recipient Some Winds are observed to raise strange disturbances and as it were Convulsions in Swine And those who keep Silk-worms are said to shut their Windows and protect them from the South-Wind which causes their sicknes and death but readily expose them to the North which conduces as much to their vigour and health So that we can never pretend to a perfect knowledge of their Qualities unless we understood their relations to all other bodies in the World But among the wonders of Winds we must not pass by the Harmatans of Guiny which for the time they blow cause Wainscoats and Planks to open and gape making wide chasms in the most solid and imporous wood I could insert many testimonies of this nature from credible persons severall who lived in those Countries and not a few of our Seamen have been witnesses of their strange effects I shall instance in one relation which was communicated to me by Captain Peachy who was long employd in the African Trade by the Royall Company The Harmetan VVinds so called by the Natives come but once a year constantly in December about Christmas and bring a very unwholsome Vapour Their arrivall is for the most part at the East and they go no farther then the E. N. E. their continuance is 4 or 5 days not blowing hard but with an easy gale the Natives are full of Aches and Pains in these times and care not for stirring out of doors The Trees that are standing during their continuance will open that you may put in your knife and sheath so will the boards of the floors when as before there was nothing seen and after they are gone they close up again to their wonted place This may proceed from their extreme Siccity when they blow off the Sands in that exceeding Hot Climate as wee see boards chop and gape that are kept over dry and more in Chambers or Cock-lofts then lower rooms and so likewise most sorts of wood by lying long in the Sun which exhausts their moysture The known remedy in such cases is to soak them thoroughly in water by which means they oftentimes swell again into their former dimensions so possibly may the trees and planks in Guiny when the Harmetans are gone and some Moyster VVind succeeds which brings with it a more Humid and relenting Air. VVee have observ'd effects of this nature in some of our very Drying March-VVinds and therefore the workers of Musicall Instruments commonly chuse to dry their materials at that time of the yeare which as they think renders them more resounding harmonious I have not as yet had sufficient opportunity to satisfy my selfe in one Curious enquiry which belongs to the History of VVinds only thus much I have heard that when a certain VVind blows at Florence the weavers of the finest silks leave off their work finding by experience that it quite spoyles the Oriency Brightness of their Colours so that they can by no diligence or invention seclude it out of their work-houses to hinder the ill effects thereof It is a cold Wind perhaps blowing off from the Snowy Hills where it gathers those corroding Salts which alter the texture of the superficiall parts and by causing new modifications of light change the colours of silks As the richest and most florid
is sometimes inflam'd then is call'd Prester from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 uro though the cause of it's Accension or indeed of any Fiery Meteor whatever is not so easily explicated Shall we conjecture that it consists of some such inflammable Matter which easily kindles from contact commistion or by the violent agitation or displosion of certain Minerall Spirits and Salts or may not the Presters and Fiery Winds break out in Actuall Flames from the Vulcanos and Burning Mountains under ground May they not proceed from a sufficient collection of inflammable Exhalations in the Regions of the Air Presters being a kind of Continu'd Lightning Sometimes there appears first like a Flaming Cloud in the Horizon from whence proceeds the Fiery Tempest in a most astonishing manner some of these Hurracanes and Whirlwinds have seem'd so very terrible as if there had happend one entire conflagration of the Air and Seas I was inform'd by Captain Prowd of Stepny a person of great experience and integrity that in one of his Voyages to the East Indies about the 17 degree of South Latitude he met with a Tempest of this nature towards the Coast of India of which I had some particulars extracted from his Journal First contrary to the course of the VVinds which they expected to be at S. E. or between the South and East they found them between the East and North the Sea extremely troubled and which was most remarkable and Dreadfull in the N. N. W. North and N. N. E. parts of the Horizon the skye became wonderfully red and inflam'd the Sun being then upon the Meridian These were thought Omens of stormy weather which afterwards happen'd according to their suspicions and as the Darknes of the night encreased so did the Violence of the VVind till it ended in an extreme Hurricane which an hour after Midnight came to such an height that no Canvas or sayles would hold and 7 men could scarce govern the Helme But that which I mention as most considerable to our purpose was that the whole Hemisphere both the Heavens and raging Seas appear'd but as one entire Flame of Fire and those who are acquainted with the reputation of this Grave Person will find no just reason to distrust the truth of the Relation Although these Fiery Whirlwinds are to be reckon'd as the most wonderfull events in Nature yet we have frequent examples of them in Historians and Philosophers One the most memorable which ever I read of was known some years since here in England and describ'd at large in the Publick Gazet it run a long in a tract as a dreadfull Torrent of Fire destroying all places wherever it came and if I mistake not did much damage in Lincolne-Shire but I cannot now recollect the particulars though as I remember it happend since the last Dutch warr They have a strange kind of Ecnephias towards the Arabian Gulf which rises from the North where also they have oftentimes Sandy Tempests and that not only in Afric near the Temple of Jupiter Hammon as seems to have been noted by Herodotus but especially in Arabia where the Floating Sands are driven by the VVinds sometimes have overwhelm'd no less then six thousand persons at once travelling in Caravans from Aleppo on their way to Babylon I shall conclude with a Description of Hurricanes which have the greatest affinity in their Nature to the Tornados but farre more lasting and violent by some they are call'd Huracanos and by others Orancan Yet I rather think the word was first borrow'd of the Natives and deduc'd from a Barbarous Origine VVe seldome hear of any Hurricanes but between the Tropiques and within the jurisdiction of the Generall or Trade-VVind which blowing perpetually from the Eastern points if it chance to be repell'd by a Land-Brise or any contrary Motion from the West This must needs occasion strange Conflicts and Seditions in the Air and were our senses fine enough to discerne the invisible commotions of the Atmosphere we should see it oftentimes disturb'd Fluctuating no less then the most Tempestuous Seas They are not alike terrible in all places between the Tropiques but raign more especially near High shoars and Islands that lye Eastward from the Continent so that they infest the Philippine and Caribbe-Isles more then any other parts of the Habitable World Nearer the Line it 's most inclin'd to Calms and though in the Torrid Zone there is but one Set VVind all the year round yet they are also extremely subject to Tempests whenever the Levants encounter any opposition from the West For although as I before noted the progresse of Wind is Naturally direct yet meeting with any impediment it whirles about in a Circular and Vortiginous Motion This cause was assign'd by Dorisi of the dangerous storms that happen near the Aequinoctiall not to instance in severall others who have declar'd for the same Hypothesis Ricciolus and more expresly Varenius in his Geography gives the like account of these Typhons or Hurricanes Causa Typhonis procul dubio est quòd Ventus ex aliqua plaga erumpens versus aliam in hac reperit impedimentum c. Potest etiam esse ab oppositis Ventis simul spirantibus c. We see these kind of Eddys in Rivers when the Course of the Channell is stopt by a damme or Bank at least when two contrary Currents meet And I believe the Phaenomenon of Hurricanes might be sufficiently illustrated from Hydrostatique experiments were it not my intention rather to prosecute their Naturall History then to determine their cause Though I shall endeavour to collect such observations as may not obscurely hint to us the fittest Materials on which to superstruct an Hypothesis But we cannot safely adventure upon this Arduous attempt without more exact discoveries of many particular Circumstances and Accidents which are of greatest importance to these nice Speculations I should enquire what Anniversary Winds blow either in Guiana or the Neighbouring continent especially from the West in those Months which are most suspected for Hurricanes Then what judgement can be made of their Causes from their Prognostiques since I am assur'd from very good hands that they have oftentimes been foretold by the Indians Moreover the Influences of the Sun the nature of the Currents and Shoars the Phasis of the Moon c. ought not to be neglected by the Inquisitive Naturallist Lastly whether they are not frequently accompany'd by Earthquakes as I have been inform'd by some who were Planters in the West Indies which was likewise taken notice of in that excellent History of the Caribbes of an Hurricane which happen'd in the year 1563 together with an Earthquake For the Included Spirit which caus'd that Palpitation in the Bosome of the Earth being afterwards releast from it's imprisonment might occasion these dreadfull Tempests and VVinds. Fournier who is generally reputed an Author of good credit skilfull in what relates to Hydrography mentions an Inundation on the Coasts