2S4 Rev. C. Smith on the Ilybcrnatimi of the Chimney Simlloiv. 



pose, be frequently found dormant in its hole ; though I have 

 no other reason to suppose this than that, when warm weatlier 

 occurs early in spring, he has often been seen going about, 

 sluggishly indeed, according to the warmth of the atmosphere, 

 or the comparative abundance of his food ; arid then, upon a 

 change of weather, disappearing hke the bat, till such time as 

 the sun had exerted more of its genial influence upon the earth. 

 Thus, the sand-martin made his appeai'ance in Loi-n this year, 

 as eai'ly as 15th April, and was seen during the 16th and 17th, 

 when the wind blew gently from S. W., and the thermometer 

 ranged from 50° to 60° in the shade. But when the wind changed 

 to the E., the thermometer ranged from 41° to 48°, and he dis- 

 appeared till the 30th, when the wind was S. W., and the ther- 

 mometer again ranged from 55° to 60°, 



I need not add how much more probable it is, that this bird 

 should seek shelter in the dry holes which it had dug for itself, 

 than among reeds in a situation foreign to its habits. It is 

 much more easy to beheve, that it should migrate to any dis- 

 tance, than that it should possess the faculty of suspending its 

 sentient powers, by an act of volition, and of again emerging from 

 the waters, before their temperature had scarcely undergone a 

 change. And, if they have been found in such situations, it 

 might be well to ascertain whether they were dormant or dead ; 

 whether they were, like the group found on Lochaw-side, re- 

 covered to a confused sense of existence, and falling into the 

 waters as readily as into any other situation, or actually seeking 

 shelter from the severity of the weather, and dropping their sen- 

 tient while they retained their living principles. 



Thermometrical Observations, at Pitt-Town, New South Wales. 

 By the Reverend John Macgaevie, A. M. Minister of the 

 Scots Church, Portland Head. In a Letter to James Dun- 

 lop, Esq. Paramatta. (Communicated by Mr Dunlop.) 

 Deae Sir, 



Jl he temperature of the atmosphere, and of tlie earth, as in- 

 dicated by the thermometer, has been so often examined by your- 

 self, in connection with Sir Thomas Brisbane, our late respected 



