CHAPTER Xiy. 

 MONTHLY CALENDAK. 



-Aspect of the Month. 



417. The Gate of the Year, '-'the En- 

 trance-hall of the Seasons/' as it has been 

 called, whose portico, supported by glit- 

 tering pillars 01 ice, leads through long 

 vistas of leafless snow-laden branches 

 and frosted-work of silvery tracery. 



Of what may seem the sparkling trees 

 And shrubs of fairy land, 



to the verixal glories of spring, the flow- 

 er}' landscape of summer, and the russet 

 and golden tints of autumn. January, 

 divested ot its poetical character, is the 

 lirst month of our year, and the second of winter. The average temperature 

 is 39'' during the day and 32° during the night, and the mean temperature, 

 dm-ing an average of many years, does not fall below the freezing-point ; 

 severe frosts, and frosts of long continuance, occiuring in January, are there- 

 fore exceptional occurrences in our climate. 



