DECEMBER. 351 



the freezing together of the tips of the eyelashes, during the 

 momentary twinkling of the eye ; — ^ these warn us of the 

 real state of the atmosphere, and of the danger of remaining 

 long exposed, even when it does not feel very unpleasant to 

 the senses. 



C — We yesterday found one of the fowls in the barn in 

 an awkward predicament : it was lying on the floor, unable 

 to stand : and on taking it up we perceived that both feet 

 were frozen hard, so as to be perfectly stiff, and chinking, 

 when struck, like stones. We brought it to the house, and 

 put it to lie with its feet in a bowl of cold water, where it 

 remained very contentedly for a considerable time, until its 

 feet were thawed, and they seemed perfectly restored. 



F, — They are for the present, but after having once been 

 frozen, they are peculiarly liable to a recurrence of the acci- 

 dent, and rarely survive the winter. 



C. — I observed a curious circumstance a short time ago : 

 I had taken a bowl of water into my room to wash my 

 hands, but something delaying me, it remained for an hour 

 untouched. Then, when I dipped my hands in it, it was 

 perfectly fluid, and altogether free from any incipient crystals 

 of congelation ; but in an instant it became a semi-solid 

 mass, filled with minute particles of ice. 



F. — I have often observed the same fact, and at one 

 time mentioned it to my friend, Mr. W. C. St. John, of 

 Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, whose acquaintance with 

 the science of chemistry led me to ask him for an explana- 

 tion. He told me that, as " water cools below 32°, the 

 particles of it approach one another ; but in consequence of 

 its being still, i. e. unagitated, those particles, although they 

 approach, remain equidistant from each other : — that is to 

 say, the repulsive power (alias, the matter of heat) and the 



