CLIMATE. — EFFECTS OF COLD. 337 



casks of beer placed within eight feet of the fire, froze 

 three inches thick, and soon afterwards became al- 

 most entirely consolidated. In all cases of beer, 

 ale, wine and spirits, freezing, it may be observed, 

 that the aqueous parts only freeze so as to become 

 solid ; whereby, even in ale or beer, the liquor be- 

 comes concentrated in the centre, until almost as 

 strong as spirits. 



When the Dutch navigator, Barentz, wintered in 

 Nova Zembla, in 1596-7, a most extraordinary de- 

 gree of cold was sometimes felt. During the month of 

 November, in the hut erected by the miserable sailors 

 for their accommodation, ice two inches thick formed 

 on the floor, and their beds were covered with hoar- 

 frost ; and when the people washed their linen in- 

 doors, it would sometimes freeze almost immedi- 

 ately on being taken out of the warm water. In 

 December, wine froze in their hut, so that they 

 were obliged to melt it every time an allowance was 

 served out. At the -close of the year, the intensity 

 of the cold almost deprived the suffering sailors of 

 sensation ; they had recourse to hot stones, as an 

 application to tlieir feet and bodies, for keeping 

 them warm ; and though sitting before the fire, their 

 backs would sometimes be white with frost, and 

 their stockings would be burnt before they felt 

 any warmth in their feet. 



The effects of cold at Disco, as observed by 

 M. Paul Egede, on the 7th January 1738, and re- 

 corded by David Crantz, in his excellent " History 



VOL. I. Y 



