sorb, as it were, the heat, faster than it could be received from the atmosphere of the room, notwithstanding its being so very much warmed.

You will probably suppose that a room, at the temperature of 73. must be uncomfortably hot. It is beyond what summer heat in England usually shews. I, like all other Englishmen, came to this country, strongly prejudiced against stoves and warm rooms; but I have found that warm rooms are very comfortable in cold weather; and that they are more likely to be comfortable, if heated by a stove, than if by an open fire-place.

The prejudices against stoves are, I think, ill founded. When one who has not been accustomed to it, comes into a room heated by a stove, he is struck with the equal degree of warmth that prevails; and he is apt to fancy the air is close, meaning, I suppose, unwholesome; he probably throws open a window, and cold air immediately rushes in. I question if that is more wholesome; a strong current of air is produced, from which very bad effects often

Where the air of a room is kept uniformly warm, it must be changing every moment. By being heated, it is rarified and presses upwards; its place is supplied by the cold air from without, which, being more dense, rushes in at every little crevice in the lower part of the room.

The principal advantage arising from the uniform heat of a stove, is, that the walls of the room become warmed, and communicate their warmth to the air which comes into the room, and gets in contact with them. In a room, the walls of which are cold, if the air is heated and rarified, it will be cooled and condensed the moment it comes in contact with the cold walls; and as by condensation it becomes heavier, it will rush downwards, producing a current of air towards the floor, which will be felt by those sitting close to the wall.

You will uniformly see these observations exemplified in assembly rooms and churches, the walls of which, being cold, condense the warm air. By condensation, it parts with the moisture which it held in solution, and which is seen running down

LETTER XXI.

Quebec, 1808,

No part of the Canadian winter is more interesting than the conclusion of it, when the snow begins to disappear, and the ice in the rivers to break up, which is the case in the end of April.

One would naturally suppose, that six months frost and snow would have become insufferably tiresome to a stranger. I can assure you I have not found it so.

The winter may be divided into three seasons, or portions, as it were: for two months at the beginning, the snow is falling, and the frost becoming daily more severe. We are amused by making observations upon it, and by the novelty of our situation, and our consequent habits. The middle two months of severe frost is not without interest: we then see winter in all his majesty, after he has bound up the lakes and rivers in fetters of ice, and covered the earth as with a mantle.

The last two months are interesting, be cause we are anxious to see by what means, and in what manner, such an immensity of snow and ice is to be got rid of,

The influence of the sun is little felt in February. In March, however, you are sensible of its power; and, during this month, the weather in general is very beautiful; the frost is still sufficiently severe to keep the roads hard and good; the sky is clear, the sun shines bright; it is pleasant to get into a cariole, and drive a few miles into the country. During the month of April, the influence of the sun has been so great, as powerfully to affect all nature.— The snow has nearly disappeared about the first week in May; the ice in the lakes and rivers is broken up, by the increase of water from the melting of snow, and it is floated down to the great river St. Law-. rence, where it accumulates in immense quantities, and is carried up and down with the tide.

At this time the St. Lawrence presents one of the most extraordinary scenes in nature. You cannot form an adequate idea

sorb, as it were, the heat, faster than it could be received from the atmosphere of the room, notwithstanding its being so very much warmed.

You will probably suppose that a room, at the temperature of 73. must be uncomfortably hot. It is beyond what summer heat in England usually shews. I, like all other Englishmen, came to this country, strongly prejudiced against stoves and warm rooms; but I have found that warm rooms are very comfortable in cold weather; and that they are more likely to be comfortable, if heated by a stove, than if by an open fire-place.

The prejudices against stoves are, I think, ill founded. When one who has not been accustomed to it, comes into a room heated by a stove, he is struck with the equal degree of warmth that prevails; and he is apt to fancy the air is close, meaning, I suppose, unwholesome; he probably throws open a window, and cold air immediately rushes in. I question if that is more wholesome; a strong current of air is produced, from which very bad effects often