Difference of climates. those of the others. The people inhabiting the frigid zones are sinall in stature, and deficient in point of intellectual qualifications. The natives of the torrid zone have stronger passions, and less energy, both of body and mind, than those of the tempe rate zones. However different the regions of the globe may be, the Creator has made such arrangements as are conducive to the well being of their inhabitants. He causes each country to produce those things which the nature of the climate renders most needful for the people residing in it. For the natives of the torrid regions, a worm, that feeds upon the leaves of the mulberry tree, spins a web, of which they make silk, that serves them for clothing. In the same countries there is both a tree and a shrub, that bear a kind of pod, containing a very fine, woolly substance, with which light stuffs are also manufactured. The cold countries, on the contrary, abound with animals which afford abundance of furs for the clothing of the northern nations, and are covered with vast forests, which supply them with plenty of fuel. To cool the blood of the inhabitants of the south, their fields and gardens furnish them with refreshing fruits in such profusion, that they can spare a large quantity for the people of other countries. In the cold regions God compensates the deficiency of vegetable productions by the prodigious abundance of fishes contained in the seas, rivers, and lakes; and by the vast number of animals, most of which, it is true, wander about wild in the forests, and are a terror to man; but yet supply him with the most valuable skins for clothing, flesh for food, and many needful articles › of domestic economy. Remarkable phenomena of the sea. Thus there is not a region of the globe whose inhabitants do not receive demonstrations of the greatness and the beneficence of their Creator. No country is so sterile as not to afford, in one way or other, the necessaries, and even the comforts of life. Every where, O bountiful Father, we discover the traces of thy wisdom and goodness. Even those trackless desarts, and those mountains towering to the very clouds, that cover a large portion of Asia and Africa, contain monuments of thy wisdom and loving-kindness. Even in the polar regions, mantled in everlasting ice and snow, as well as in our temperate climates, songs of praise ascend to thee, O Father of all beings. In every language the tribute of glory and gratitude is paid to thy name. From the regions in which we dwell hymns of thanksgiving ought more especially to ascend to thee, who hast so highly distinguished us by thy favor from so many millions of the inhabitants of the globe. JULY 22. REMARKABLE PHENOMENA OF THE SEA. It is usual to consider the sea only in a terrifie point of view, without paying attention to the divine wonders and benefits which it presents to our view. It cannot, indeed, be denied that the ocean is one of the most tremendous elements, when the tempest roars, and its impetuous billows are swelled into mountains. It drives ships far out of their course, and beats against them with such violence that they are at length completely filled with water, and swallowed up by the waves; or it casts them Remarkable phenomena of the sea. upon sand-banks or upon rocks, where they are dashed to pieces. Sometimes a vessel attracted into the vortex of a whirlpool, is hurled round in rapid circles, and finally absorbed in the fathomless abyss. These whirlpools are occasioned by the meeting of numerous currents and eddies in vast caverns at the bottom of the sea, by the confinement of its waters in narrow channels, and by rocks. Not less dangerous are the water-spouts, which the wind raises into the air. These masses of water hover over the surface of the sea, and are whirled round with great violence by the wind. They often burst with a tremendous noise, and are sometimes productive of fatal effects: for when vessels come within the sphere of their action, they raise them up into the air, and letting them fall again, dash them to pieces, or whelm them in the deep; or at least they carry away the masts and rigging, and fill the ships with water. In this manner vessels are frequently destroyed, with all their crews.* * With respect to the causes of these formidable phenomena, philosophers are not agreed. Many have considered them as the effect of electrical attraction, while others have ascribed them to a sudden rarefaction of the air, and others again have endeavored to account for their formation by the convergence of winds. A water-spout commonly begins with a very small cloud, which mariners term a squall, and which soon augments into an enormous cloud, of a cylindrical form, or that of a reversed cone, and produces a noise like an agitated sea, sometimes emitting thunder and lightning, pouring down large quantities of rain or hail, and overwhelming every thing which it encounters in its course. Mariners, when they perceive the approach of a water-spout, frequently endeavor to break it by firing a cannon before it approaches too near the ship. Mr. Nisholson, in his Philosophy, introduces the following obser But we should be extremely ungrateful were we to consider only the calamities occasioned by the sea, without taking notice of the magnificent works of the Lord, and the wonders of his goodness displayed in the deep. The first thing which appears worthy of remark is the saltness of the sea, which is so great, that one pound of water is said to contain two ounces of salt.* Sea-salt produces no sediment, and consequently appears lighter than common salt. Nevertheless, it is not diminished by evaporation, or by the continual influx of fresh water, and the cause of this has never been ascertained. It may be that mountains of salt exist in the ocean, but in this case the sea would be much vations, which greatly strengthen the hypothesis that ascribes these phenomena to electricity "It was observed of water-spouts, that the convergence of winds, and their consequent whirling motion, was a principal cause in producing that effect; but there are appearances which can hardly be solved by supposing that to be the only cause. They often vanish, and presently appear again in the same place; whitish or yellowish flames have sometimes been scen moving with prodigious swiftness about them. The time of their appearance is generally those months which are peculiarly subject to thunder-storms, and they are commonly preceded, accompanied, or followed by lightning, the previous state of the air being alike in both cases. the long-established custom which the sailors have of pre. senting sharp swords to them, is no inconsiderable circumstance in favor of the supposition of their being electrical phenomena." T. And *The proportion of salt contained in sea-water varies considerably in different climates. It is salter toward the equator than near the poles. In the Baltic, one pound of water yields only a quarter of an ounce of salt; near Hofland half an ounce; and in the British seas about two ounces. T. Remarkable phenomena of the sea. salter in some places than in others.* It is possible that the rivers may carry along saline or nitrous particles with their current to the sea; but how could these affect the prodigious extent of ocean? But be the cause of this phenomenon whatever it may, so much is certain, that the saltness of the sea is necessary for the accomplishment of certain ends. It is this that preserves its waters from becoming putrid, and, by encreasing its gravity, renders it capable of transporting greater weights. The color of the sea-water likewise appears worthy of notice. It is not every where alike. Exclusive of the effect produced in all water by the color of the bottom and that of the sky, besides its appearing black where it is of great depth, white with foam during storms, and tinged with gold and silver and the most brilliant hues when the setting sun seems to plunge beneath its waves; various species of insects, the putrid relics of marine plants, the mixture of different substances which the rivers carry with them, communicate peculiar colors to certain parts of the ocean. Sometimes its unruffled surface appears to be studded with thousands of glistening stars; sometimes the track of a vessel is marked by a.stream of fire, and the fishes themselves that appear above the water exhibit the same luminous appearance. Recent experiments have proved that this phenomenon entirely proceeds from the putrescent particles of marine animals. This we have seen in the preceding note is really the ease, but it is ascribed either to the more considerable evaporation which takes place, for instance, near the equator, or to the influx of fresh water from rivers, as in the Baltic. and other seas. T, |