302 NATURAL HISTORY 



As it appeared afterwards the ilexes were mucli injured, 

 the cypresses were half destroyed, the arbutuses lingered 

 on, but never recovered; and the bays, laurustines, and 

 laurels were killed to the ground, and the very wild hollies, 

 in hot aspects, were so much affected that they cast all 

 their leaves. 



By the 14th of January the snow was entirely gone ; the 

 turnips emerged not damaged at all, save in sunny places, 

 the wheat looked delicately, and the garden plants were 

 well preserved ; for snow is the most kindly mantle that 

 infant vegetation can be wrapped in : were it not for that 

 friendly meteor, no vegetable life could exist at all in 

 northerly regions. Yet in Sweden the earth in April is 

 not divested of snow for more than a fortnight before the 

 face of the country is covered with flowers. 



LETTER LXIL 



TO THE HONOURABLE DAINES BARRINGTON. 



HERE were some circumstances attending 

 the remarkable frost in January, 1776, so 

 singular and striking, that a short detail of 

 them may not be unacceptable. 



The most certain way to be exact will be 

 to copy the passages from my journal, which were taken 

 from time to time as things occurred. But it may be pro- 

 per previously to remark, that the first week in January 

 was uncommonly wet, and drowned with vast rains from 

 every quarter; from whence may be inferred, as there is 

 great reason to believe is the case, that intense frosts sel- 

 dom take place till the earth is perfectly glutted and chilled 

 with water, 1 and hence dry autumns are seldom followed by 

 rigorous winters. 



1 The autumn preceding January, 1768, was very wet, and particu- 

 larly the month of September, during which there fell at Lyndon in the 



