696 THE YEAR 1825. 



40, and all our hirundines, which had been 

 sporting about us up to this period, departed : yet 

 still vegetation continued in all its vigour, and on 

 the 1st of November dog-roses hung like little gar- 

 lands in the hedges ; the cornel bushes (cornus 

 sanguinea) were in full bloom ; and corn-roses 

 (rosa arvensis) were decorating our hedges in a 

 profusion equal to that of a common August. 

 November 4th there were slight ice and partial 

 snow, with various alternations undeserving of 

 notice, but the weather was generally fair and mild 

 until Christmas. 



All these preceding heats and rapid changes 

 had, I think, a manifest influence upon our con- 

 stitutions. Violent catarrhs, and lingering, unre- 

 mitting coughs, prevailed among all classes, both 

 before and after Christmas, to a degree that I never 

 remember ; and children were afflicted with measles 

 almost universally. Early in January a violent 

 wind was succeeded by a severe frost, and in some 

 places by a deep snow ; but after about ten days' 

 duration, a very gentle thaw removed all this, and 

 the remainder of our winter was mild and agree- 

 able, introducing what might be called an early 

 spring, dry and propitious for every agricultural 

 purpose. The trees that refoliaged so vigorously 

 in autumn seemed in no way weakened by this 

 unusual exertion, but produced their accustomed 

 proportion of leaves, and the sprays of every bush 

 and tree, ripened and matured by the last summer's 

 sun, displayed a profusion, an accumulation of 



