THE YEAR 1825. 263 



It was a sad destructive season for the poor butter- 

 flies, and no sooner did a specimen appear upon the 

 wing, than the swallow and all the fly-catching tribe 

 snapped them up, rendered eager and vigilant from the 

 scarcity of insect food. Even that active and circum- 

 spect creature the hummingbird sphinx could not 

 always, with every exertion of its agility, escape their 

 pursuit. 



Early in August rains fell, and continued seasonably 

 until September; and their effect upon our scorched 

 vegetation, from the general heat of the earth and the 

 air, was extremely rapid. The larch, and other trees 

 which had shed their leaves, now put forth their tender 

 green foliage as in spring ; and by the end of Septem- 

 ber the universal verdure of the country, and profusion 

 of feed in the pastures, was so perfectly unlike what we 

 had been accustomed to in common years, as to be as- 

 tonishing. Even as low in the year as the llth of Oc- 

 tober, there was no appearance of any change in the 

 foliage, except a slight tinge upon the leaves of the 

 maple; and this day was so brilliant, that the cattle 

 were reposing in the shade, the thermometer varying 

 from 66 to 68 F., and the general warmth to our feel- 

 ings was greater than that indicated by the instrument. 

 October the 20th, the weather changed, some sleety rain 

 fell, and the hills were sprinkled with snow, the ther 

 mometer falling to 40, and all our hirundines, which 

 had been sporting about us up to this period, departed : 

 yet still vegetation continued in all its vigor, and on the 

 1st of November dog-roses hung like little garlands in 

 the hedges ; the cornel bushes (cornus sanguinea) were 

 in full bloom ; and corn-roses (rosa arvensis) were de- 

 corating 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 constitutions. 

 Violent catarrhs, and lingering, unremitting coughs, 

 prevailed among all classes, both before and after 



