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IS less trustworthy than had a station been selected at a greater distance from 

 town. In treating of our winters we have to consider their mean temperature, 

 their duration, the periods of frosts, snow, and cold, the rainfall, winds, effects 

 on vegetation, freezing of rivers, thickness of ice, &c. They sometimes set in as 

 early as 20th October, as in 1859, and continue occasionally, as in 1799, 1814, 1837, 

 1838, 1853, and this year, 1879, till the middle or end of May. Sometimes we 

 have a sharp spell early (with very severe frosts) in November. In these cases 

 the proverb is generally true, "If it bears a man before Christmas it won't bear 

 a goose after." In later times November was severe in 1782, 1786, 1851, 1858, 

 1871, and 1874. In each of these cases the following January was warm, and in 

 most of them there was scarcely any frost after Christmas. Again, occasionally 

 the frost sets in towards the end of November or beginning of December. In 

 these cases it generally breaks up by Christmas, and often returns towards the 

 end of January. Our most severe frosts, however, are those which commence the 

 last week in December to the middle of January, and which have continued in a 

 few cases for six or seven weeks almost unbroken ; and then again, sometimes we 

 have scarcely any winter till the beginning of February, and have then a long 

 time of snowy, bitter weather, without any great permanence of frost, and when 

 this continues to the end of May the epithet of "Black Spring" is not inappro- 

 priate. Occasionally we escape the whole winter, and scarcely have any frost at 

 all. This was remarkably the case in 1778-9, 1795-6, 1821-2, 1827-8, 1833-4, 1845-6, 

 1847-8, 1868-9, when the mean temperatures of winter were respectively 45'9°, 

 44-5°, 46-2°, 45-8°, 45-9°, 457°, 45-3°, 451°. 



The present winter may be said to have commenced on the 26th of October ; 

 from this time till the 4th December, without any severity of frost, we had 

 with only two days exception (November 24th and 25th) continuously cold days 

 and much north wind ; the temperature generally many degrees below the aver- 

 age. From the 4th December the earth was frost bound till the 26th— the 9th to 

 15th and 20th to 26th inclusive being most severe. On the mornings of the 24th 

 and 25th the thermometer registered 22 degrees of frost, with the mean tempera- 

 ture of 14 below freezing, or 20 degrees below the average of 60 years. On the 

 26th we had the curious phenomenon of a silver thaw, iron palisading and shrubs 

 being coated with ice. On the 28th the strong south wind produced a remarkable 

 change of temperature, and by the 29th the ice on the river Wye, which was 

 frozen over on the 25th, and had borne well for skating on the sides, being from 

 seven to nine inches thick in places, broke up and came rushing through the 

 arches of the bridges with great force on the high flood. On the 31st the mini- 

 mum reading of the thermometer was 40 degrees higher than on the 25th, and the 

 mean of the 24 hours (51 "4°) was higher than was reached again till May 20th. 

 On the evening of New Year's day the frost again set in and continued for 12 days. 

 On the 7th and 8th a heavy fall of snow to the depth of six to seven inches, when 

 not drifted, ushered in five nights of intense frost, the clear sky and brisk dry 

 wind causing the thermometer to descend on the surface of the snow to the fol- 

 lowing on successive nights, viz, : — 4°, 9°'5, 2°"0, 0°. I have noticed lower tem- 



