ATMOSPHEROLOGY. — EFFECTS OF COLD. 335 



the winter, beer casks placed in the ground, at the 

 depth of several feet, froze almost solid, and some of 

 them burst; many of the sailors had their faces, 

 ears, and toes frozen ; iron adhered to the fingers ; 

 glasses used in drinking stuck to the mouth, and 

 sometimes removed the skin from the lips or tongue ; 

 and, a sailor, who inadvertently used his finger for 

 stopping a spirit bottle, in place of a cork, while re- 

 moving it from the house to his tent, had his finger 

 fast frozen in the bottle, in consequence of which, a 

 part of it was obliged to be taken off, to prevent 

 mortification. 



Captain Middleton, in describing the cold of Hud- 

 son's Bay, notices the bursting of ice, rocks, trees, 

 joists and rafters of buildings, with a noise like the 

 firing of cannon, as an effect of severe frost. He 

 also states, that those persons who go abroad in 

 north winds, are liable to have their arms, hands 

 and faces blistered and frozen in a shocking man- 

 ner ; in such a degree, indeed, that the skin occa- 

 sionally peels off when they enter too suddenly in- 

 to a warm apartment. 



A Hamburgh whaler, under the command of Ja- 

 cob Janzen, was beset by the ice near Spitzbergen, 

 in the year 1769, and detained until the middle of 

 November, during which, though they were con- 

 stantly driving to the southward, a most intense 

 cold was sometimes experienced. On one occasion, 

 early in November, the effect of the frost was such, 



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