An irregular surface is always attended by an irregular climate. This is occasioned by the different influence of the sun on surfaces of different degrees of slope; and by the different degrees of interruption which hills or irregularities of different shapes and sizes give to the wind. There is scarcely such a thing as a perfect calm during bright sunshine in a hilly irregular country; because, while on one side of the hill the sun generates an intense heat, on the opposite side of it, the soil and air remain cold. For persons of narrow chests and weak lungs, a hilly situation, therefore, is far from being desirable; for, independently of the irregularity of the climate, the fatigue of walking up and down hills or slopes, is greater to such persons than it is to others. The most even and regular climates are to be found over the most even and regular surfaces. Hence, other circumstances being favourable, a level plain, at a distance from mountains, generally affords the mildest and best climate for invalids.

This is also the kind of situation in which a kitchen-garden is least subject to be injured by winds; and, if the subsoil admits of being thoroughly drained, and is not so near higher grounds, or a large surface of water, as to be liable to be inundated by night dews from them, it is preferable to every other.

7. The character of the climate of a situation near the sea, near a lake, or near a broad river, resembles in some respects, that of an irregular surface; for, the effect of the sun on the dry soil being very different from its effect on the water, a current of wind is created, in consequence of the difference of temperature. The air, in such situations, is milder in winter, in consequence of the heat given out by the water; and cooler in summer, in consequence of less heat being given out by the water than by the dry ground, and of the breezes which arise from the tendency to an equilibrium in volumes of air of different temperatures. Natural or accidental hollows, when they have an outlet for drainage, and for the escape of the heavy air which accumulates in them, afford sheltered, and sometimes very picturesque, situations for building in. Old stone quarries, gravel pits, and chalk pits are of this description; and, when they are open to the south or south-east, with, perhaps, a prospect in front, the most delightful little places may be made of them that can well be imagined.