Curiosities of Science, Past and Present: A Book for Old and YoungTimbs, John
Science
Curiosities of Science, Past and Present: A Book for Old and Young
Timbs, John
Science
The climate of the Khasia mountains, which lie north-east from
Calcutta, and are separated by the valley of the Burrampooter River
from the Himalaya range, is remarkable for the inordinate fall of
rain--the greatest, it is said, which has ever been recorded. Mr. Yule,
an English gentleman, established that in the single month of August
1841 there fell 264 inches of rain, or 22 feet, of which 12½ feet
fell in the space of five consecutive days. This astonishing fact is
confirmed by two other English travellers, who measured 30 inches of
rain in twenty-four hours, and during seven months above 500 inches.
This great rain-fall is attributed to the abruptness of the mountains
which face the Bay of Bengal, and the intervening flat swamps 200 miles
in extent. The district of the excessive rain is extremely limited; and
but a few degrees farther west, rain is said to be almost unknown, and
the winter falls of snow to seldom exceed two inches.
HOW DOES THE NORTH WIND DRIVE AWAY RAIN?
We may liken it to a wet sponge, and the decrease of temperature
to the hand that squeezes that sponge. Finally, reaching the cold
latitudes, all the moisture that a dew-point of zero, and even far
below, can extract, is wrung from it; and this air then commences “to
return according to his circuits” as dry atmosphere. And here we can
quote Scripture again: “The north wind driveth away rain.” This is a
meteorological fact of high authority and great importance in the study
of the circulation of the atmosphere.--_Maury._
SIZE OF RAIN-DROPS.
The Drops of Rain vary in their size, perhaps from the 25th to the ¼ of
an inch in diameter. In parting from the clouds, they precipitate their
descent till the increasing resistance opposed by the air becomes equal
to their weight, when they continue to fall with uniform velocity. This
velocity is, therefore, in a certain ratio to the diameter of the
drops; hence thunder and other showers in which the drops are large
pour down faster than a drizzling rain. A drop of the 25th part of an
inch, in falling through the air, would, when it had arrived at its
uniform velocity, only acquire a celerity of 11½ feet per second; while
one of ¼ of an inch would equal a velocity of 33½ feet.--_Leslie._
RAINLESS DISTRICTS.
In several parts of the world there is no rain at all. In the Old World
there are two districts of this kind: the desert of Sahara in Africa,
and in Asia part of Arabia, Syria, and Persia; the other district lies
between north latitude 30° and 50°, and between 75° and 118° of east
longitude, including Thibet, Gobiar Shama, and Mongolia. In the New
World the rainless districts are of much less magnitude, occupying two
narrow strips on the shores of Peru and Bolivia, and on the coast of
Mexico and Guatemala, with a small district between Trinidad and Panama
on the coast of Venezuela.
ALL THE RAIN IN THE WORLD.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account