476 APPENDIX, 



olifervations made therein the years 176 « and 1762, the mean heat of 

 thofe years was 73°, 65. The mean heat in the month oF January was 

 57" ; that of February was 63".* It is but feldom that the mean heat of 

 ibe fevercft week in the winter, falls more than 7 or 8 degrees below the 

 mean temperature of the whole month. This will give 49 degrees, 3S the 

 mean temperatare of the fevered week, in the winter at Grand Cairo. And 

 this cannot be greatly different from the temperature of the winter, in the 

 land of Paleflinc. From this way of coiriputaiion. we fhall have 2^ de- 

 grees of Farcnheit's thermometer, as the alteration which has t^ken plac« 

 in the feverity of the winters in that country, fmce tne time of Moies. 



The climate in Italy isalfo found to be very different now, from what 

 it was »8 centurusago. Virgil, the celebrated poet, was diftinguifhcdalfb 

 by his knowledge in agricultu.'e. In his Georgics he is frcquentlv giving 

 advice tor the fecuriy of cattle, againff the dangerous effects of ice and 

 fnow. His direftions were defi^'i.d for the country round Mantua or 

 Napies, his native place, in the laniude of 41". Mentioning Calabria, the 

 moft fouthern partof Italv, he fpcaks of tne fre-zing of the rivcis. as an 

 event that was lommonlv to be cxpefted. Pliny, Juvenal, and .^lian, 

 writers in the firll and fccond crniurics, fp'-.ik ot ice and fnow as what 

 was common in Italy. One of thefe writprs, yElian, has a chapter which 

 confjrts altogciher of inffrufticns how ofifh for eels, when ihf water is 

 coveied \vith ice. The decree of cold nfctffarv to ■ ff^ft this, canriot be 

 cftimated at a iefs degree than 25. From thp meteor logical obfervations 

 which were made at Rome in tne year 1782 and 1783, it appears that the 

 mean heat in the month of January at that p'.sce. is now 46 degrees ; and 

 that the mean heat of the coldelf vi'cek in the winter was 42 degrees ;+ 17 

 degrees greater than that, in which the permanent freezing ot riv< rs akes 

 place. The change of climate therefore in Italy during the iaft i8 centu- 

 ries, cannot have been Iefs than 17 degrees ; but from the inaccuracy of the 

 ancient accoiints it may have been many more. 



A fimilar change has taken place in the country round Conftantinople, 

 and the Euxine or Black Sea. Fhi.v we coUeft from the works of Ovid. 

 This celebrated poet was bauifhed to Tomos, by the Roman emperor. 

 This place is in the latituaeof 44^ ; and lies n^ar ihe'coatt ot the Euxine 

 Sea. The poet fpeut leven yeais in his banifhment at tliJs place, aboutthc 

 middle of the firft century. He informs us that he faw the Euxine Sea 

 covered with ice : That he walked upon this ice ; and that oxen and car- 

 riages paffcd over it. He goes farther, and add:, that when he called for 

 wine in a fevere fcaion, it was prefented to him in a ftate of congelation : 

 And that the fnow in many places, was never c^ilfolved during the fummer 

 fealon. Tournefort obfcrves that in the dayi, of Conttantine, the {freight of 

 Byz.intium was frozen over : And that in the year 401. the Euxir-e Sea was 

 covered with ice for 20 days tcgether. We have not any meteorological 

 obfervations to (fate with exaflnefs, what the prelent temperaiure of that 

 climate is. But nothiiig would be more uncommon and extraordinary, 

 than to fee this fea frozen over now. In 16S7. the Turks were greatly 

 aflonifn'.d at the appearance of fome ice at Conllantinoplf : And in all the 

 adjacent country, inllcad of a frozen (ca, fiozen wine, and perpetual fnow, 

 they have now a fine moderate warm climate ; one of the moft luxuriant, 

 and delightful, that is to be found upon the face ot the ea th. So far as wc 

 can judge from the general phenomena, the change of the climate there, 

 has been tally equal to what has taken place in Italy. 



* Voyage, Vol. I. 



i Ejbera, Soc, M«tor, Palat.Obfcrvatioacs RotnaDJe, Torn, II & III* 



