310 WEATHER. 



frost were, that the horses fell sick with an epi- 

 demic distemper, which injured the winds of many, 

 and killed some; that colds and coughs were 

 general among the human species ; that it froze 

 under people's beds for several nights ; that meat 

 was so hard frozen that it could not be spit- 

 ted, and could not be secured but in cellars ; 

 that several redwings and thrushes were killed 

 by the frost; and that the large titmouse con- 

 tinued to pull straws lengthwise from the eaves 

 of thatched houses and barns in a most adroit 

 manner, for a purpose that has been explained 

 already l 



On the third of January, Benjamin Martin's 

 thermometer, within doors, in a close parlour 

 where there was no fire, fell in the night to 20, 

 and on the 4th to 18, and on the 7th to 17^, a 

 degree of cold which the owner never since saw 

 in the same situation ; and he regrets much that 

 he was not able at that juncture to attend his 

 instrument abroad. All this time the wind con- 

 tinued north and north-east ; and yet on the 8th, 

 roost-cocks, which had been silent, began to 

 sound their clarions, and crows to clamour, as 

 prognostic of milder weather; and, moreover, 

 moles began to heave and work, and a manifest 

 thaw took place. From the latter circumstance 

 we may conclude, that thaws often originate 

 under ground from warm vapours which arise, 

 else how should subterraneous animals receive 

 such early intimations of their approach ? More- 

 over, we have often observed that cold seems to 

 descend from above ; for when a thermometer 

 hangs abroad in a frosty night, the intervention of 

 a cloud shall immediately raise the mercury ten 



1 See Letter XLI. Part I. 



