THE YEAR 1825. 
263 
It was a sad destructive season for the poor butter- 
flies, and no sooner did a specimen appear upon the 
wing, than the swallow and all the fly-catching tribe 
snapped them up, rendered eager and vigilant from the 
scarcity of insect food. Even that active and circum- 
spect creature the hummingbird sphinx could not 
always, with every exertion of its agility, escape their 
pursuit. 
Early in August rains fell, and continued seasonably 
until September; and their effect upon our scorched 
vegetation, from the general heat of the earth and the 
air, was extremely rapid. The larch, and other trees 
which had shed their leaves, now put forth their tender 
green foliage as in spring ; and by the end of Septem- 
ber the universal verdure of the country, and profusion 
of feed in the pastures, was so perfectly unlike what we 
had been accustomed to in common years, as to be as- 
tonishing. Even as 1 low in the year as the 11th of Oc- 
tober, there was no appearance of any change in the 
foliage, except a slight tinge upon the leaves of the 
maple; and this day was so brilliant, that the cattle 
were reposing in the shade, the thermometer varying 
from 66° to 68° F., and the general warmth to our feel- 
ings was greater than that indicated by the instrument. 
October the 20th, the weather changed, some sleety rain 
fell, and the hills were sprinkled with snow, the ther- 
mometer falling to 40°, and all our hirundines, which 
had been sporting about us up to this period, departed : 
yet still vegetation continued in all its vigor, and on the 
1st of November dog-roses hung like little garlands in 
the hedges ; the cornel bushes (cornus sanguinea) were 
in full bloom ; and corn-roses (rosa arvensis) were de- 
corating our hedges in a profusion equal to that of a 
common August. November 4th there were slight ice 
and partial snow, with various alternations undeserving 
of notice, but the weather was generally fair and mild 
until Christmas. 
All these preceding heats and rapid changes had, 1 
think, a manifest influence upon our constitutions. 
Violent catarrhs, and lingering, unremitting coughs, 
prevailed among all classes, both before and after 
