WEATHER. 319 



two Siberian days, my parlour cat was so electric, 

 that had a person stroked her, and been properly 

 insulated, the shock might have been given to a 

 whole circle of people. 



I forgot to mention before, that, during the 

 two severe days, two men, who were tracing 

 hares in the snow, had their feet frozen ; and 

 two men, who were much better employed, had 

 their fingers so affected by the frost, while they 

 were thrashing in a barn, that mortification fol- 

 lowed, from which they did not recover for many 

 weeks. 



This frost killed all the furze and most of the 

 ivy, and in many places stripped the hollies of all 

 their leaves. It came at a very early time of the 

 year, before old November ended, and may yet 

 be allowed, from its effects, to have exceeded 

 any since 1739-40. 



LXIV. 



As the effects of heat are seldom very remark- 

 able in the northerly climate of England, where the 

 summers are often so very defective in warmth and 

 sunshine, as not to ripen the fruits of the earth so 

 well as might be wished, I shall be more concise 

 in my account of the severity of a summer sea- 

 son, and so make a little amends for the prolix 

 account of the degrees of cold, and the inconve- 

 niencies that we suffered from some late rigorous 

 winters. 



The summers of 1781 and 1783 were unusually 

 hot and dry ; to them, therefore, I shall turn back 

 in my journals, without recurring to any more 

 distant period. In the former of these years my 

 peach and nectarine trees suffered so much from 



