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PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



In 1691, the cold was so excessive that the famished wolves entered Vienna, and 

 attacked the cattle, and even men. 



The winter of 1695 was extremely severe and protracted. The frost in Germany began 

 in October, and continued till April ; and many people were frozen to death. 



The years 1697 and 1699 were nearly as bad. In England, the price of wheat, which 

 in preceding years had seldom reached to 30 shillings a quarter, now mounted to 713. 



In 1709 occurred that famous winter, called by distinction the cold winter. A11 the 

 rivers and lakes were frozen, and even the seas, to the distance of several miles from the 

 shore. The frost is said to have penetrated three yards into the ground. Birds and wild 

 beasts were strewed dead in the fields, and men perished by thousands in their houses. 

 The more tender shrubs and vegetables in England were killed ; and wheat rose in its 

 price from two to four pounds a quarter. In the south of France, the olive plantations 

 were almost entirely destroyed ; nor have they yet recovered that fatal disaster. The 

 Adriatic Sea was quite frozen over, ,and even the coast of the Mediterranean about Genoa, 

 and the citron and orange groves suffered extremely in the finest parts of Italy. 



In 1716, the winter was very cold. On the Thames, booths were erected, and fairs 

 held. The printers and booksellers pursued their professions upon its surface. 



Fair on the River Thames, 1716. 



In 1726, the winter was so intense that people travelled in sledges across the strait from 

 Copenhagen to the province of Scania in Sweden. 



In 1729, much injury was done by the frost, which lasted from October till May. In 

 Scotland, multitudes of cattle and sheep were buried in the snow ; and many of the forest 

 trees in other parts of Europe were killed. 



The successive winters of 1731 and 1732 were likewise extremely cold. 



The cold of 1740 was scarcely inferior to that of 1709. The snow lay eight and ten 

 feet deep in Spain and Portugal. The Zuider Zee was frozen over, and many thousand 

 persons walked or skated on it. At Leyden, the thermometer fell 10 below the zero 

 of Fahrenheit's scale. All the lakes in England froze; and a whole ox was roasted 

 on the Thames. Many trees were killed by the frost ; and postilions were benumbed 

 on their saddles. In both the years 1709 and 1740, the General Assembly of the 

 Church of Scotland ordained a national fast to be held on account of the dearth which 

 then prevailed. 



