CHAPTER XXXVn. 



CALENDAR, 



§ 1.— Aspect of the Mokth. 



'2173. Deceweeb, the last month of our yeaf 



was, as its name indicates, the tenth of the Roman 



calendar. Although the thermometer often sinks 



below freezing during this month, the frosts are 



seldom of long continuance. Rain and wind abound, — 



•' Sullen and sad, with all hig rising train 

 Of vapours, clouds, and storms." 



The variations of temperature are smaller then in November 

 The mean temperature of the earth, one foot beneath the sur- 

 face, is now 41 -IS"; at two feet, 42-83°; that of the atmosphere being 

 38-14°. 



2174. December gives unmistakable signs of winter ; the last lingering leal 

 has fallen from the beech and oak, and it will occasion no surprise if one rise 

 some morning to find an unvaried expanse of snow overspreading the earth. 

 Nevertheless, a few flowers still linger in the garden ; the delicate and fragrant 

 Chinese rose still blooms, if not so rich in hue or powerful in odour as at 

 midsummer, the absence of other flowers renders them highly valuable. Tlie 

 star-like anemone, too, sometimes enlivens the December border, as does thr 



