RETROSPECT OF THE SEASONS, 
251 
of the last five weeks of the year was at least 40 degrees. There were four night 
frosts, one of 5 degrees on the 22nd December, but on no occasion was a single 
day frosty throughout. Thus, half the winter had passed without any existing ne- 
cessity to throw a mat over a glazed sash : our account, it is true, refers chiefly to 
the latitude of London ; but as a consistent whole, we believe a milder season had 
not been recorded for years. 
The gardener had little anxiety or trouble concerning his fires ; but during the 
dark weather much care was required to obviate the effects of a damp, vaporous 
atmosphere ; the utmost cleanliness, the removal of every decaying leaf, and 
the liberal admission of dry air, whenever possible, were preventives of great 
importance. 
The new year came in fine, with brilliant sun, and lively north-west air ; tempe- 
rature, at three observations, 38, 46, 35 degrees, — and here we notice an unwonted 
rise in the barometer to the 11th day, when the mercury stood at 30 inches 
53 cents ; it then receded, but, as is frequently observed in January, in a high state 
of the glass, the heavens were almost wholly overcast, nor did the sun appear till 
the 20th day. 
The wind had become south-westerly, with showers, and the general state of the 
weather, to the close of January, was cloudy-changeable, with lively wind by night ; 
the lowest average temperature was fully six degrees above the freezing point. 
Vegetation was on the move. Fuchsias produced young shoots from the old wood ; 
crocus and snow-drops were in flower, even the buds of the vine enlarged, and Bibes 
sanguineum gave assurance of very speedily producing the form of its clusters. The 
reader will, we hope, retrace similar phenomena. 
February came in with a sunny day, and there was an alternation of fine, warm, 
and rainy weather during a week. Then the glass rose to " Fair " (30 inches 
several tenths); the weather cleared for a few days, but on the 11th clouds and rain 
predominated till the close. We marked four or five frosty nights, the 10th and 
11th being the coldest, with 7 degrees. The averages were, however, high, and 
spring flowers advanced rapidly. 
March brought in its many weathers — fine gleams, cloudy, with rain and hail ; 
wind strong, westerly, till, on the 16th, after very heavy showers, it chopped to the 
north, and cold commenced. The 17th and 18th very cold, 4 degrees of frost; 
19th, 6 degrees, wind east; 20th keen — the Equinox occurred near midnight', the 
sky brilliantly clear ; the wind had been north, but it veered suddenly by south-east 
to south-west, just at this critical period; while the morning of the 21st dawned 
with great frosty rime, and eight degrees below freezing. The wind was forcible, 
and soon raised the temperature to 44 degrees, and rain fell. Subsequently the 
weather became very wet, and rain continued till nearly the end of April ; in that 
month there were twenty-two clays more or less rainy. 
The effects of the equinoctial frost were striking, particularly on the blossom of 
fruit-trees. Still the Fuchsias in the open ground continued without injury, and 
