76 The Effects of a Drought 



There was, however, one feature of the 

 past summer that had peculiar interest. For 

 eight days in August (5-12) we had the 

 hottest " spell" ever known. The thermo- 

 metric readings have been higher in other 

 years, but this is not everything : all the con- 

 ditions are to be considered, the hygrometric 

 especially, and in this instance it can be 

 safely said that no record exists of continued 

 heat when wild-life was so generally affefted 

 and the weather, as a whole, so nearly that 

 of the equatorial tropics. As a whole, the 

 effect of the heat, as I observed it, was a 

 stupefying one. It produced a languor that 

 while withstood by such wild animals as 

 rabbits, mice, and chipmunks, made them 

 inert and much more easily outstripped in a 

 race. This was notably so in the case of the 

 jumping, the short-tailed meadow, and the 

 white-footed mouse ; not one of which, it 

 may be said, is akin to the typical house 

 mouse. In several instances, the land tor- 

 toise, though it was sheltered by dead leaves 

 and in the shady woods, was very noticeably 

 indisposed to move about. In the range of 

 my rambles there was a marked period of 

 rest, as we may call it, from 10 A.M. to 4 



