SCIENCE-GOSSrP. 



GREAT FROSTS OF THE CENTURY. 



By E. D. Anderson and A. E. Mansford. 



HP HE recent frost is exceptionally interesting 

 ■*■ from having occurred so late in the season, 

 such a spell of continuous cold rarely happening 

 in February. It may be considered to have 

 commenced on January 22nd, and continued for 

 twenty-eight days. One or two slight thaws 

 took place in the day-time, but the mean tempera- 

 ture at Greenwich for the period was about 27^ F., 

 and the mean of the lowest night temperatures 

 21 F., or ii° of frost. On nine consecutive nights 

 a minimum of 20 F. or under was recorded. The 

 mean of the day temperatures in the great frost 

 of 1890-1 was about 1" higher; and the mean of 

 the night temperatures 4 higher, and none of the 

 frosts of the present century have had a lower 

 mean night reading than the frost of January and 

 February, 1895. 



Many low readings are reported from the various 

 stations in the British Isles ; among them are : 

 Holyhead, 17 F. ; Donaghadee, 16 F. ; Liverpool, 

 12 F. ; Oxford, 7 F. ; Greenwich, 6-9° F. ; Cam- 

 bridge and Aberdeen, 6° F. ; York, 3 F. ; Wick, 

 2° F. ; Durham and Brookeborough, minus 2 F. ; 

 Glenglee and Loughborough, minus 5 F. ; Stam- 

 ford, minus 8° F. ; Braemar, minus 12 F., or 44 

 of frost. Very low temperatures are frequently 

 quoted by individual observers, but they should be 

 accepted with great caution, as not only may the 

 instrument used be defective, but also its position 

 and environment materially affect the reading. 

 To ensure accuracy it is essential for a duly- tested 

 thermometer to be placed in the open in a properly 

 constructed screen, which should be about four 

 feet from the ground, and so arranged that when 

 ever the sun is shining its rays may reach it 

 without the intervention of any vegetation or 

 building. The varying influence of position on 

 temperatures recorded may be exemplified by the 

 following comparison of readings taken at Tulse 

 Hill (London, S.W.). 



Feb. 6th, 9 p.m. in the screen 20° F, on the snow if F. 



midnight ., ., I3'5° F 7° F - 



Feb. 7th, 1.30 a.m. „ ., 11 °F., ,. „ 5°F. 



I lowest during 1 go p ,0 p 



" •• ] early morning | " " " " 



The lowest reading on the snow at Tulse Hill was 

 o° F. on February 8th, when in the screen the 

 thermometer registered 6'- F. 



On the Continent, also, intense cold has been 

 experienced. Among the reports forwarded are : 

 Berlin, 7 F. ; Lyons, 6° F. ; Paris, 5° F. ; Munich, 

 i° F. ; Brussels, o° F. ; and Moscow, minus 18° F. 

 The above low temperatures are, however, far from 

 equalling the record of Verkoyansk, in north-east 



Siberia (Lat. 67° 34', Long. 153° 31'), where, 

 although only 164 feet above sea-level, in February, 

 1892, was registered minus gy& , or 125-6 degrees of 

 frost. The lowest known reading in the United 

 Kingdom was experienced in December, 1879, at 

 Blackadder in Berwickshire, minus 23 F., or 55 

 degrees below freezing-point being recorded. 



Snow crystals of exceptional size and beauty- 

 were remarked in London during the last week 

 in January, 1895, and there were considerable falls 

 of snow in Ireland and Scotland. The greatest 

 snowstorm known in the Lake District during the 

 present generation took place on February 5th, 

 and on the same day the fall in the Isle of Man 

 was exceptionally heavy. 



The most noticeable of the frosts of the present 

 century, with their mean and minimum tempera- 

 tures in London, are as under : 



1813-14, December 26th to February 5th, forty-two 

 days ; the mean temperature for that period being 

 2 7'3° F-i and the lowest temperature recorded 8° F. 

 A week of unusually dense fog preceded the frost, 

 which then set in with such severity that a fair was 

 held on the Thames, which lasted six or seven days ; 

 several printing-presses were erected on the ice, 

 and shilling donkey-rides, skittles, and dancing were 

 among the amusements indulged in. There are 

 records of the Thames having been frozen over in 

 Roman and Saxon times, as well as during the 

 winters of 1150, 1281, 1434, 1515, 1564, 1608, 1620, 

 1634, !683, 1715, 1739, and 1789, and it is supposed 

 that the reason it has not happened since 1813-14 

 is that owing to the removal of old London Bridge, 

 the narrow arches of which prevented the ice-floes 

 from being carried out to sea, the so-called 

 " scour " of the river is much increased, rendering it 

 difficult for the ice to form into a continuous mass. 



1838, January 5th to February 23rd, fifty days, 

 mean temperature 28"9~ F. minimum, minus 4" F. 

 The burning of the second Royal Exchange took 

 place during this frost, which was so intense that 

 the fire-hose was found to be frozen, and when 

 at length the Fire Brigade did get all into work- 

 ing order, as soon as they ceased to play on any 

 part of the building huge icicles were speedily 

 formed. 



1855, January 10th to February 25th, forty-seven 

 davs, mean temperature 29 7 F., minimum iii°F. 

 This frost is generally known as the " Crimean 

 winter," it having extended to the Continent and 

 entailed severe suffering amongst our troops then 

 in Russia. 



1860-61, December i5thto January 19th, thirty-six 

 days, mean temperature 299 F., minimum 8 C F 



