History of the Weather. 155 



Holstein to Denmark, with his whole army, foot and horse, fol- 

 lowed by the train of baggaa;e and artillery. During these years 

 the price of grain was nearly doubled in England : a circumstance 

 which contributed, among other causes, to the Restoration. 



In 1670, the frost was most intense in England and in Den- 

 mark, both the Little and Great Belt being frozen. 



In 16S4, the winter was excessively cold. Many forest trees, 

 and even the oaks in England, were split by the frost. Most of 

 the hollies were killed. Coaches drove along the Thames, which 

 \wis covered with ice eleven inches thick. Almost all the birds 

 perished. 



In 1691, the cold was so excessive, that the famished wolves 

 entered Vienna, and attacked the cattle, and even men. 



The winter of 1695 was extremely severe and protracted. The 

 frost in Germany began in October, and continued till April, and 

 many people were frozen to death. 



The years 1697 and 1699 were nearly as bad. In England, 

 the price of wheat, which in preceding years had seldom reached 

 to 30^. a quarter, now amounted to 71*. 



In 1/09, occurred that famous winter, called, by distinction, 

 the cold winter. All the rivers and lakes were frozen, and even 

 the seas, to the distance of several miles from the shore. The 

 frost is said to have penetrated three yards into the ground. — • 

 Birds and wild beasts were strewed dead in the fields ; and men 

 perished by thousands in tlieir houses. The more tender shrubs 

 and vegetables in England were killed ; and wheat rose in price 

 from 21. to 4/. a quarter. In the south of France, the olive 

 plantations were almost entirelv destroyed : nor have they yet 

 recovered that fatal dissaster. Tlie Adriatic sea was quite frozen 

 over, and even the coasts of the Mediterranean, about Genoa ; 

 and the citron and orange groves suffered extremely in the finest 

 parts of Italy. 



In 1716, tiie winter was very cold. On the Thames booths 

 were erected and fairs held. 



In 1726, the winter was so intense, that people travelled in 

 sledges across the Strait, from Copenhagen to the proviiice Sca- 

 nia in Sweden. 



In 1729, much injury was done by the frost, which lasted from 

 October till May. In Scotland, multitudes of cattle and sheep 

 were buried in the snow; and many of the forest-trees in other 

 parts of Europe were killed. 



The successive winters of 1731 and 1732 were likewise ex- 

 tremely cold. 



Tiie cold of 1740 was scarcely inferior to that of 1709. The 

 snow lay eight or ten feet deep in Spain and Portugal. The Zuy- 



dcr 



