112 RUSSIA IN EUROPE, 



degrees lower. The same writer remarks, that it is very difficult for 

 an inhabitant of our temperate climate to have any idea of a cold so 

 great. It is sucn, ihat, when a person walks out in that severe wea- 

 ther, the cold makes the eyes water, and that water, freezing, hangs 

 in little icicles on the eye-lashes. As the common peasants usually 

 wear their beards, icicles are frequently seen hanging to their chins 

 like a solid lump of ice. In some very severe winters, sparrows, 

 though a hardy species of birds, have been seen quite numbed by the 

 intense cold, and unable to fly : and drivers, when sitting on their 

 loaded carriages, have sometimes been found frozen to death in that 

 posture. When the thermometer has stood at 25 degrees below f 

 boiling water thrown up into the air by an engine, so as to spread, 

 has fallen down perfectly dry, formed into ice. A pint-bottle of com- 

 mon water was found by Dr. King frozen into a solid piece of ice in 

 an hour and a quarter. A bottle of strong ale has also been frozen in 

 an hour and a half; but in this substance there was about a tea-cup 

 full in the middle unfrozen, which was as strong and inflammable as 

 brandy or spirits of wine. But, notwithstanding the severity of the 

 cold in Russia, the inhabitants have such various means and provi- 

 sions to guard against it, that they suffer much less from it than might 

 be expected. The houses of persons in tolerable circumstances are 

 so well protected, both without doors and within, that they are sel- 

 dom heard to complain of cold. The method of warming the houses 

 in Russia, is by an oven constructed with several flues ; and they can 

 regulate the warmth in their apartments by a thermometer with great 

 exactness, opening or shutting the flues to increase or diminish the 

 heat. When the Russians go out, they are clothed so warmly, that 

 they almost bid defiance to frost and snow ; and it is observable that 

 the wind is seldom violent in the winter; but when there is much 

 wind, the cold is exceedingly piercing. 



One advantage which the Russians derive from the severity of 

 their climate, is the preserving of provisions by the frost- Good 

 housewives, as soon as the frost sets in for the winter, about the end 

 of October kill their poultry, and keep them in tubs packed up with a 

 layer of snow between them, and then take them out for use as occa- 

 sion requires : by which means they save the nourishment of the 

 animal for several months. Veal frozen at Archangel, and brought to 

 Petersburg, is esteemed the finest they have ; nor can it be distin- 

 guished from what is fresh killed, being equally juicy. The markets 

 in Petersburg are by this means supplied in winter with all manner 

 of provisions, at a cheaper rate than would otherwise be possible ; 

 and it is not a little curious to see the vast stacks of whole hogs,, 

 sheep, fish, and other animals which are piled up in the markets for 

 sale. The method of thawing frozen provisions in Russia is by im- 

 merging them in cold water; for when the operation of thawing them 

 is effected by heat, it seems to occasion a violent fermentation, and 

 almost a sudden putrefaction : but when produced by cold water, the 

 ice seems to be attracted out of the body, and forms a transparent in- 

 crustation round it. If a cabbage, which is thoroughly frozen, be 

 thawed by cold water, it is as fresh as if just gathered out of the gar- 

 den ; but if it be thawed by fire or hot water, it becomes so rancid 

 and strong that it cannot be eaten. 



The quickness of vegetation in Russia is nearly the same as has 

 been described in Sweden and Denmark. The snow is the natural 

 manure of Russia, where grain grows in plenty, near Poland, and in 



