2 A Retrospective View of the Progress of 



warm rain, and followed mostly by fine weather up to the 

 30th, when it cleared off after a warm south rain, the tem- 

 perature falling to zero on the 30th, and to 6° below on the 

 31st. 



But February more than made up for the preceding month. 

 The ground was nearly bare of snow, and being wet from 

 the rain of the 29th January it froze up, very hard. The 1st, 

 indicated 5° below zero ; the 7th, 8° below ; and the 9th, 2° 

 below. The 10th was rainy, and the remainder of the 

 month was alternately rainy and cool or fine, with scarcely 

 any snow. 



March continued cool and backward, and was accompanied 

 by more rains and snows, at least in number, than either of 

 the preceding months. No less than fourteen of the thirty- 

 one days were cloudy, with rain or snow. On the 14th, the 

 thermometer was at 18°, and the weather fine ; the next fine 

 day was on the 22d ; the light snows which had fallen then 

 began to thaw rapidly, and on the 27th all traces of them were 

 gone, witli but an inch or two of frost. Up to the close of 

 the month it continued favorable. 



April commenced with fine weather, Avith but one rainy 

 day up to the 15th. A northeast storm of great severity then 

 set in, and continued up to the 22d. After which it was fine 

 again, with cool northerly and easterly winds to the close of 

 the month. 



May was, on the whole, a favorable month. No frosts of 

 sufficient severity to do any damage to vegetation were ex- 

 perienced in the vicinity of Boston ; the earlier part was cool 

 with showers, and the first very warm day was on the 19th, 

 when the thermometer indicated 90° ; after this it was cool, 

 to the close of the month, with the average of fair- and cloudy 

 weather. 



June opened cool with fair weather the first week ; on the 

 9th, a great quantity of rain fell ; this was followed by con- 

 tinued cool weather up to the 18th, when it set in warm and 

 pleasant. The 30th was the warmest day of the summer, 

 the thermometer reaching 99° in the shade. With the ex- 



