386* Imperial Academy of Sciences at Peterslurgft* 



and neatest manner— from five to fifty guineas, according 

 to merit * 



To be produced on or before the first Tuesday in Fe- 

 bruary, 1603. 



The plough which gains the premium to remain the pro- 

 perty of the board, the price of it being paid. 



IMPERIAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AT PETEItSBUftGH. 



The following observations on the remarkable cold which 

 took place on the 13th of January last year, were commu- 

 nicated to the Academy of Sciences by their correspondent 

 Dr. Meyer, in a letter dated Saratof, January 11, 1804. 

 They were collected partly at Saratof, and partly obtained 

 from the southern districts. 



At Pensa, which is 200 versts north from Saratof, M, 

 Europeus made the following remarks during the cold 

 period. 



From the 3d to the 5th of January the eold increased 

 from 26 to 30 degrees. It then decreased till the loth, on 

 which day it was only 1G. On the 1 1th, the weather being 

 serene, with a boisterous north wind, it was in the morn- 

 ing 23, at noon 22, and in the evening 28 degrees. On 

 the 12th in the morning 29, at noon 30, and in The evening 

 31 degrees, the weather serene and windy : the wind north- 

 west. On the 13th the mercury sunk entirely into the 

 bulb of the thermometer, the scale of which reached only 

 to 44 degrees. In the morning and evening the atmosphere 

 was thick ; at noon clear, with the wind north. On the 

 14th the cold was 40 degrees, the weather clear, and the 

 wind north. On the 15th the cold decreased from 26 to 18 

 degrees, and then to 21 and to 3 degrees. 



From general Savelief, who has an estate on the Cauca- 

 sian lines, the following information was obtained : The 

 Terek had ice above half an arschin* in thickness: in 

 common years this rapid river has ice only 2 verschocks in 

 thickness, and very often no thicker than a straw. The 

 greatest cold, which took place in the beginning of .Januarv, 

 prevailed only in certain places : in some it was milder; in 

 others all the pear, plum, apricot, and peach trees were 

 completely frozen ; the apple trees, however, were not 

 affected. On the 2Cth and 27th of April a strong frost 

 again took place, and did great injury to the vines. 



The ice on the Volga, which in common years is from 

 12 to 14 verschocks f in thickness, was in February, when 



* The arschin is 28 inches English. 



f A verschock is the 16th part of an arb'chin. 



broken 



