GVl.] 
OF SELBORNE. 
283 
On the 27tli much snow fell all day, and in the evening the frost 
became very intense. At South Loiiibeth, for the four following 
nights, the thermometer fell to 11, 7, 6, 6 ; and at Selborne 
to 7, 6, 10 ; and on the 31st of January, just before sunrise, with 
rime on the trees and on the tube of the glass, the quicksilver sank 
exactly to zero, being 32 degrees below the freezing point : but 
by eleven in the morning, though in the shade, it sprang up 
to 16J ^ — a most unusual degree of cold this for the south of 
England 1 During these four nights the cold was so penetrat- 
ing, that it occasioned, ice in warm chambers, and under beds ; 
and in the day, the wind was so keen, that persons of robust 
constitutions could scarcely endure to face it. The Thames 
was at once frozen over both above and below bridge, so that 
crowds ran about on the ice. The streets were now strangely 
incumbered with snow, which crumbled and trod dusty; and 
soon turning grey, resembled bay-salt : what had fallen on the 
roofs was perfectly dry, that, from lirst to last, it lay tw^enty-six 
days on the houses in the city ; a longer time than had been 
remembered by the oldest housekeepers living. According to 
all appearances, we might now have expected the continuance 
of this rigorous weather for weeks to come, since every night 
increased in severity ; but behold, without any apparent cause, 
on the 1st of February a thaw took place, and some rain fol- 
lowed before night, making good the observation above, that 
frosts often go off as it were at once, without any gradual 
declension of cold. On the 2nd of February the thaw per- 
sisted ; and on the 3rd swarms of little insects were frisking 
and sporting in a courtyard at South Lambeth, as if they had 
felt no frost. AVhy the juices in the small bodies, and smaller 
limbs, of such minute beings are not frozen is a matter of 
curious inquiry. 
Severe frosts seem to be partial, or to run in currents ; for, at 
the same juncture, as the author was informed by accurate 
1 At Selborne, the cold was greater than at any other place that the author 
could hear of with certainty : though it was reported at the time, that, at a 
village in Kent, the thermometer fell two degrees below zero, viz. 34 degrees 
below the freezing-point. 
The thermometer used at Sell)orne was graduated l»y Benjamin Martin. 
