i)0 On the Temperature of the Sea, and its Influence 
south-western coast of England, accompanied Avith torrents of 
rain: my gau<?e measuring 2"18 inches — the largest quantity I 
ever registered in 24 hours. Before evening the wind and rain 
had ceased and the snow had disappeared. During the night of 
the 5th the wind further shifted to the south and south-west, 
and the morning of tlie 6th was calm and clear, and as mild and 
balmy as May. The thermometer at 9 A.M. stood at 50°, and so 
powerful was the influence of the westerly winds in driving back 
the invasion of cold, that the average temperature of several fol- 
lowing days was 55^ (the then temperature of the air in mid- 
ocean) and of the nights 45^, and the genial warmth penetrated 
the whole country. 
A second period of extreme cold followed. On the 10th of 
January the wind from the north and east again set in, bringing 
Arctic cold over western Europe and covering the land with a 
mantle of snow. In the east of England the thermometer fell to 
zero, and the long continuance of winds from the north and 
north-east penetrated the western counties, producing there an 
unusual degree of cold. On the night of the 14th my minimum 
marked 11'^; in the valley at Truro it registered b", and on the 
granite hills of Alternun 4°. But the air was dry, the sky clear, 
and, with a gentle wind, the weather was enjoyable. Again the 
Avind passed ominously to the east, when clouds above and gusts 
of wind below gave indications of the gathering storm. On the 
20th the wind further veered to east-south-east, and from this 
fatal point it again blew a hurricane, sweeping across the entrance 
of the English Channel ; it reached its maximum of intensity at 
4 P.M., and died out at night. 
The exhausted wind, still following the course of the sun, 
passed to the south-west, and the country became suffused with 
warmth and loaded with humidity ; the chilled walls of the 
houses, precipitating the moisture, ran with Avater ; the tempera- 
ture of the rooms in my house, Avithout fire, Avas 44°, but in the 
open air, at 9 A.M., it Avas b'3'. On going out to read the ther- 
meters I felt as if passing into a heated room : the air was hot 
and filled with fragance exuding from the burst sap-vessels of 
the trees Avounded by the alternation of frost and heat ; the 
scent from a Cupressus Avas very poAvcrful and extended to full 
50 feet around it. 
The Avind from the north-east usually comes Avith a gentle 
current, under a clear sky, and penetrates but sloAvly westward. 
But the south-Avest Avind comes like a mighty giant, clothed 
with heavy clouds and dripping with moisture. He stalks with 
his warm breath through the land, and the snow falls in heavy 
lumps from the boughs and fades rapidly away from the hill- 
