evil.] 
OF SELBORNE. 
285 
of the 9th, the air began to be so very sharp, that we thought 
it would be curious to attend to the motions of a thermometer : 
we therefore hung out two ; one made by Martin and one by 
Dollond, which soon began to show us wliat we were to expect ; 
for, by ten o'clock, tliey fell to 21, and at eleven, to 4, when Ave 
went to bed. On the 10th, in the morning, the quichsilver of 
Dollond's glass was down to half a degree below zero ; and that 
of Martin's, wdiicli w^as absurdly graduated only to four degrees 
above zero, sank quite into the brass guard of tlie ball ; so that 
when the weather became most interesting, this was useless. 
On the lOth, at eleven at night, though the air w^as perfectly 
still, Dollond's glass w^ent down to one degree liehnv zero ! This 
strange severity of the weather made me very desirous to know 
what degree of cold there might be in such an exalted and 
near situation as Newton. AVe had therefore, on the morning of 
the 10th, w^ritten to Mr. , and entreated him to hang out 
his thermometer, made by Adams ; and to pay some attention 
to it, morning and evening ; expecting w^onderful phenomena, 
in so elevated a region as two hundred feet or more above my 
house. But, behold ! on the 10th, at eleven at night, it was 
down only to 17°, and the next morning at 22°, when mine was 
at 10° ! We were so disturbed at this unexpected reverse of 
comparative local cold, that Ave sent one of my glasses up, 
thinking that of Mr. must, soniehoAv, be Avrongiy con- 
structed. But, AAdien tlie instruments came to be confronted, 
they went exactly together : so that, for one night a.t least, the 
cold at NeAvton was 18° less than at Selborne ; and, through 
the whole frost, 10° or 12° ; indeed, when we came to obserA^e 
the consequences, we could readily credit this ; for all my 
laurustines, bays, ilexes, arbutuses, cypresses, and even my 
Portugal laurels, and (which occasions more regret) my fine 
sloping laurel-hedge, were scorched up ; AAdiile, at Newton, the 
same trees had not lost a leaf ! 
We had steady frost on to the 25th, when the thermometer 
in the morning was down to 10° with us, and at Newton only 
to 21°. Strong frost continued till the 31st, when some tendency 
to thaAV Avas observed ; and, by the 3rd of January, 1785, the 
thaAv was confirmed, and some rain fell. 
