of the Terrestrial Ghhe. 233 



short duration ; but it inevitably perishes when the cold is fre- 

 quent, and sufficient to congeal the rivers. 



Strabo reports (lib. ii.) that at the embouchure of Palus- 

 Meotis, the frost was so strong, that, in the winter, one of Mith- 

 ridates' generals defeated the cavalry of the barbarians on pre- 

 cisely the same spot where, in summer, they were vanquished 

 in a naval engagement. 



This is one of those passages which the advocates for the ge- 

 neral alteration of climates have most frequently brought for- 

 ward. But it is of no great vakie ; for Pallas, who resided 

 long in the south of Russia, says, that, during even ordinary win- 

 ters, the floating ice which comes down the Don not unfre- 

 quently covers the Strait of Zabache, but even a great portion 

 of the Sea of Azoph : and that in some winters the loaded 

 waggons pass without difficulty from bank to bank. 



We may now return to the examination of the climate, so far 

 as it relates to particular localities. 



X. Certain parts of Europe were not colder formerly than they are now, 



Strabo (lib. iv.) says, that the line of the Cevennes in Gallia 

 Narbonensis was the northern limit beyond which the cold pre- 

 vented the growth of the olive. The limit is still in the same 

 position. 



XI. Certain parts of Europe were not formerly hotter than they are at 



present 



The Greeks imported the date (Cordia myxa) from Persia 

 into their own country. According to Theophrastus it yielded 

 no fruit. This celebrated botanist adds, that in the Island of 

 Cyprus, without completely ripening, it is eatable. The small 

 quantity of heat, then, which this fruit in vain demands now-a- 

 days to reach complete maturation in this same island, was also 

 denied to it in remote antiquity. 



XII. Ofifie Climate in the neighbourhood of Rome. 



Theophrastus and Pliny report that the plains-in the environs 

 of Rome were covered with beech trees. The highest mean tem- 

 perature in which these trees thrive does not exceed 50**; and the 

 mean temperature of Rome is very nearly 60°. If, then, there be 



