149 



COLD. 



whatrrrr tendi to facilitate the etcapt of the water from 

 in turface by any mran but evaporation, has a remark- 

 ab'e influence on its t<-mprraturc. The gradual arm-It- 

 oration of 'he climate of America, it und< uhtrdly to 

 bf ascribed to this ciutr. at well as that of Europe. 

 Hume, in hi. Ettay on the Popuiour*rt< of Ancient Na- 

 tion*, hat proved by the mo*t ample authorities, that a 

 very great change hat taken place on the general tem- 

 perature of Europe oince no very distant period : It is 

 an obnervati' n of L'Abbe de But," says he, " that Italy 

 it warmer at present than it was in ancient times. The 

 annals of Rome tell us, that in the year 480 nb U. C. 

 the winter was so severe that it destroyed the trees ; the 

 Tyber froze at Rome, and the ground was covered with 

 tnow for forty days. When Juvenal describes a super- 

 stitious woman, he represents her as breaking the ice of 

 the Tyber, that she might perform her ablutions : 



Ifyternumfrarla glacic dttrcxdet in annum, 

 Ter mattttinu Tybrri mcrgriur. 



He speaks of that river's freezing at a common event. 

 Many passage* of Horace suppose the streets of Rome 

 full of snow and ice. We should have more certainty 

 with regard to this point, had the ancients known the 

 use of thermometers ; but their writers, without intend, 

 ing, give ut information sufficient to convince us, that 

 the winters are now much more temperate at Rome 

 than formerly. At present, the Tyber no more freezes 

 at Rome than the Nile at Cairo. The Romans esteem 

 the winter very rigorous, if the snow lie two days, and 

 if one see, for eight-and-forty hours, a few icicles hang 

 from a fountain that has a north exposure. 



" The observation of this ingenious critic," continues 

 Hume, " may be extended to other European climates. 

 Who could discover the mild climate of France in Dio- 

 dorut Siculus's (lib. iv.) description of that of Gaul ? 

 At it is a northern climate,' says he, it is infested 

 with cold to an extreme degree. In cloudy weather, in- 

 stead of rain there fall great snows ; and in clear wea- 

 ther, it there freezes so excessive hard, that the rivers 

 acquire bridges of their own substance ; over which, not 

 only single travellers may pass, but large armies, ac 

 companied with all their baggage and loaded waggons. 

 And there being many rivers in Gaul, the Rhone, the 

 Rhine, &c. almost all of them are frozen over ; and it 

 is usual, in order to prevent falling, to cover the ice 

 with chaff and straw at the places where the road passes. 

 Colder than a Gallic winter, is used by Petronius as a 

 proverbial expression. Aristotle says, (De General. Anim. 

 lib. ii.) that Gaul is to cold a climate that an ass could 

 not live in it. 



" North of the Cevennes," say Strabo, (lib. iv. ) ' Gaul 

 . produces not figs and olives ; and the vines which have 

 been planted bi-ar not grapes that will ripen. 



"Ovid (Triit. lib. lii. eleg. 9.) positively maintains, 

 with all the serious affirmation of prose, that the Euxine 

 sea wat frozen over every winter in his time ; and he ap- 

 peals to Roman governors, whom he names, for the 

 truth of his assertion. This seldom or never happens at 

 present in the latitude of Tomi, whither Ovid was ba- 

 nished. All the complaints of the same poet seem to 

 mark rigour of the seasons, which is scarcely experien- 

 ced at preent in Petersburg}) or Stockholm. 



" Tourncfort, a Provencal, who had travelled into the 

 same count! y, observes, that there is not a finer climate 

 in the world ; and he asserts, that nothing but Ovid's 

 melancholy could have given him such dismal ideas of it. 

 But the facts mentioned by that poet, are too circum- 

 stantial to bear any tuch interpretation. 



" Italy, says Varro, (lib. i. cap. 2.) it the most tern- CoU. 

 perate elm it- in Europe. The inland parts, (Gaul, G' r- '^"V* ' 

 many, and Paunoma, no doubt.) have almost perpetual 

 win'er. 



" The northern partt of Spain, according to Strabo, 

 (lib. lii.) are but ill inhabited, because of the great 

 cold." 



These extracts afford the most satisfactory evidence, 

 that the climate of Europe is much milder tlun it wat 

 in ancient times. The difference is undoubtedly owing 

 to the partial clearing of the woods, and the land being 

 better cultivated now than fi rmerly ; so that the biiprr. 

 fluou* water, which at that time was carried off in a great 

 measure by evaporation, is conveyed away by drains and 

 canals. 



The winter cold of the northern parts of Europe it 

 ttill more than sufficient to freeze mercury. The conge- 

 lation of this metal by natural cold, was first obi-rvcd at 

 Krasnojark, in lat. 56 SO', lonjr. 93 east. Mercury it 

 taid to have been sometimes frozen at Quebec, in lat. -17 . 



The following narrative, written by Captain Middleton, 

 F. R. 8. contains so minute a descnption of the effects of 

 natural cold during winter at Churchill's river, in Hud- 

 son's Bay, and is so applicable to the general effects of 

 cold in other places, that we shall make no apology for 

 giving it in his own words. 



" The lakes and standing waters, which are not above Account of 

 10 or 12 feet deep, are frozen to the ground in winter, hc winter 

 and the fishes therein all perish. Hudson'* 



Yet in rivers near the sea, and lakes of a greater depth u a y. 

 than 10 or 12 feet, fishes are caught all the winter, by 

 cutting holes through the ice down to the water, and 

 therein putting lines and hooks. But if they are to be 

 taken with nets, they cut several holes in a straight line 

 the length of the net, and pass the net, with a stick 

 fastened to the head-line, from hole to hole, till it reaches 

 the utmost extent ; and what fishes come to these holes 

 for air, are thereby entangled in the net ; and these fibhes, 

 as soon as brought into the open air, are instantaneously- 

 frozen as stiff as stock-fish. The seamen likewise freshen 

 their salt provisions, by cutting a large hole through the 

 ice in the stream or tide of the river, which they do at 

 the beginning of winter, and keep it open all that season ; 

 in this hole they put their salt meat, and the minute it is 

 immersed under water, it becomes pliable and soft, though 

 before its immersion it was hard frozen. 



Beef, pork, mutton, and venison, that are killed at the Meat pre- 

 beginning of winter, are preserved by the frost for six or " ' "T 

 seven months, entirely free from putrefaction, and prove f,^^ 

 tolerably good eating. Likewise geese, partridges, and 

 other fowl, that are killed at the same time, and kept 

 with their feathers on and guts in, require no other pre- 

 servative but the frost to make them good wholesome 

 eating, as long as the winter continues. All kinds of 

 fish are preserved in the like manner. 



In large lakes and rivers, the ice is sometimes broken 

 by imprisoned vapours ; and the rocks, trees, joists, and 

 rafters of our buildings, are burst with a noise not less 

 terrible than the firing of a great many guns together. 

 The rocks which are split by the frost, are heaved up in 

 great heaps, leaving large cavities behind ; which I take 

 to be caused by imprisoned watery vapours, that require 

 more room when frozen, than they occupy in their fluid 

 state. Neither do I think it unaccountable, that the 

 frost should be able to tear up rocks and trees, and split 

 the beams of our houses, when I consider the great force 

 and elasticity thereof. If beer or water is left in mugs, 

 cans, or bottles, nay in copper pots, though they were 

 put by our bedsides, in a severe night they arc surely 



