CYI.] OF SELBORNE. 283 



On the 27th much snow fell all day, and in the evening the frost 

 became very intense. At South Lambeth, for the four following 

 nights, the thermometer fell to 11, 7, 6, 6 ; and at Selborne 

 to 7, 6, 10 ; and on the 31st of January, just before sunrise, with 

 rime on the trees and on the tube of the glass, the quicksilver sank 

 exactly to zero, being 32 degrees below the freezing point : but 

 by eleven in the morning, though in the shade, it sprang up 

 to 16 J 1 a most unusual degree of cold this for the south of 

 England ! During these four nights the cold was so penetrat- 

 ing, that it occasioned ice in warm chambers, and under beds ; 

 and in the day, the wind was so keen, that persons of robust 

 constitiitions could scarcely endure to face it. The Thames 

 was at once frozen over both above and below bridge, so that 

 crowds ran about on the ice. The streets were now strangely 

 incumbered with snow, which crumbled and trod dusty; and 

 soon turning grey, resembled bay-salt : what had fallen on the 

 roofs was perfectly dry, that, from first to last, it lay twenty-six 

 days on the houses in the city ; a longer time than had been 

 remembered by the oldest housekeepers living. According to 

 all appearances, we might now have expected the continuance 

 of this rigorous weather for weeks to come, since every night 

 increased in severity ; but behold, without any apparent cause, 

 on the 1st of February a thaw took place, and some rain fol- 

 lowed before night, making good the observation above, that 

 frosts often go off as it were at once, without any gradual 

 declension of cold. On the 2nd of February the thaw per- 

 sisted ; and on the 3rd swarms of little insects were frisking 

 and sporting in a courtyard at South Lambeth, as if they had 

 felt no frost. Why the juices in the small bodies, and smaller 

 limbs, of such minute beings are not frozen is a matter of 

 curious inquiry. 



Severe frosts seem to be partial, or to run in currents ; for, at 

 the same juncture, as the author was informed by accurate 



1 At Selborne, the cold was greater than at any other place that the author 

 could hear of with certainty : though it was reported at the time, that, at a 

 village in Kent, the thermometer fell two degrees below zero, viz. 34 degrees 

 below the freezing-point. 



The thermometer used at Selborne was graduated by Benjamin Martin. 



