70 METEOllOLOGV. 



the pages of Diogenes Lacrtius, that very industrious collector in re- 

 gard to this distingished man. 



The entire biography of Pythagoras, as given by him, is very attrac- 

 tive. Says Diogenes : Life he compared to the assemblage of people at 

 a festival. Some came to engage in the contests, others for trade, the 

 better sort as spectators ; so in life, some are addicted to glory and gain, 

 and others (philosophers) to the pursuit of truth. Drunkenness he 

 called, substituting one word for another, destruction. He disapproved 

 strongly of all excess, and recommended temperance both in eating and 

 drinking. 



He never inflicted punishment, either upon a servant or a freeman, 

 in a passion. 



It is said, he advised his disciples to inquire carefully, when they 

 returned home. 



Advice, than which he could give none better to his pupils, and breath- 

 ing the spirit of a higher dispensation than he enjoyed. 



METEOROLOGY. TJic year 1845. 



As the last month of the year, which has just been brought to a 

 close, i>resentcd a character somewhat unusual, it may be well to put the 

 facts on record for future reference, and at the same time to take a gen- 

 eral view of the whole year. This course is the more important, as we 

 arc liable to make a very incorrect comparison of the weather of one 

 period with that of another, if we depend upon memory alone. We, 

 for instance, very frequently hear persons assert that the then present 

 weather is the coldest or the hottest, the driest or wettest season that 

 lias been known for the last twenty, thirty, or forty years ; whereas a 

 reference to authentic records, in most of instances, will show that the 

 case is not at all as stated. The past, with its inconveniences and its 

 enjoyments, fades rapidly from our memory, and, feeling the weight of 

 present difficulties, or tasting the sweetness of present pleasures, we are 

 apt to exaggerate, unintentionally though it be, and to represent that 

 which is j^st before us as either better or worse, as the case may be, 

 than any thing of a similar kind, which we have experienced for years 

 gone by. It is therefore, that it is important to have recourse to the re- 

 cords of instrumental observations, if we desire our information con- 

 cerning the various conditions of the weather to be accurate. 



Our recorded observations extend backward only a fraction more 



