The kind of climate of the given locality is the circumstance of a permanent nature which, next to elevation and soil, ought most to influence the choice of a country residence. In warm climates, an open and airy situation is preferable to a close and sheltered one; and in hot climates, such as in Australia, situations with such an inclination of surface as is favourable for shade, will be sought rather than those with surfaces so inclined as to meet at a more direct angle the sun's rays. In cold climates, sheltered situations will be preferred, for the sake of warmth; and, in moist climates, elevated dry situations, open to the south, and exposed to the breeze, with a dry subsoil, and good natural surface drainage, afford the only opportunities of counteracting or diminishing the natural inconveniences always attendant on continued rains and fogs. In almost every situation, the wind prevails, throughout the year, more in one direction than in all the others; and, hence, it is obvious that such winds must blow the smoke of the town or c?ty, throughout the greater portion of the year, in the opposite direction.

It will be borne in mind, however, that the natural currents of the wind, in any given locality, are always more or less modified by inequalities of the surface; and these inequalities, when they are so great as to become hills and mountains, will materially affect the theory here laid down. In such cases, the observation of what actually takes place in nature will form the best guide. A large river, in a tolerably straight direction, more especially if acted on by the tides of the sea, has always considerable influence upon the direction of the wind, from the difference which exists between the temperature of the surface of the water, and that of the adjoining land and houses. In the heat of summer, the river has a tendency to create a current of air by its coolness, and in winter by its warmth; and this action is greatly increased when the motion of the river is rapid, or when it rises and falls with the tide.