CLIMATE. 287 
in the northern parts the snow falls in the beginning of 
September, and disappears only in the beginning of June. 
For reasons which will at once suggest themselves, the 
climate on the coast is more mild and more equable than 
it is in the interior of the country—the winter less severe, 
the summer more cool, the autumn and the spring more 
prolonged and variable. The times at which the ice on the 
rivers and lakes breaks up has not changed much in the 
southern part of the country. In the districts of Hel- 
singfors and Borga for a number of years there bas been 
no change, while to the east it has been later, and to the 
west somewhat earlier, in breaking up. In the sea the ice 
is often floating about so late as June, and blocks up 
the narrow channels. A north-west wind delays the 
appearance of summer, the east wind is characterised by 
damp, the south-west wind by warmth. 
The warmest place in Finland is the town of Abo, where 
the medium temperature in winter is —5° 7’ Celsius, while 
in Helsingfors it is —7° 2’ Celsius, and in Tornea it is 
—l17°. The highest temperature throughout the country 
in summer is 30° Celsius in the shade. In February 1844, 
which was one of the severest winters in Finland, the 
thermometer sank in Helsingfors to—37°, and in Ulea- 
borg it was three successive days below the freezing point 
of mercury. In Helsingfors, the climate of which, accord- 
ing to the observations of Professor Hallstrom, is one of 
the most steady and regular observed anywhere, there are 
annually 93 clear days, 83 half clear, and 189 cloudy. In 
Abo there are 108 clear, 109 half clear, and 153 cloudy. 
In the course of the last hundred years the climate has 
become perceptibly milder, and if it can be shown that 
there is a periodical alternation of warm and cold days, it 
can be shown that the cold does not destroy the fields so 
frequently as formerly. The drying up of many swamps, 
the increased cultivation of the soil,and.the destruction of 
the woods, have all had a beneficial influence on the 
climate. 
The following more explicit information is supplied by 
