NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 
53 
Local Observations.— We have Primula vulgaris and Ulex Europ ecus 
in bloom ; Vanessa urticce taken in the streets, Winter Moth abundant. 
Young birds of Hedge Sparrow taken in our gardens. It is a grand time 
for pupa-digging, of which we are taking advantage.—T. J. Goldsmith, 
Nottingham, Jan. 16. 
Mildness of the Season. —Up to the time of writing this paragraph, 
the winter (?) of 1883-4 has given us no frost or snow, and has been alto¬ 
gether abnormally mild. Wild flowers—violets, snowdrops, and prim-, 
roses—are abundant; birds are building their nests—we have just 
heard of a brown linnet’s, containing six eggs, being taken near Bed- 
worth—and there have been many days superior in warmth and sun¬ 
shine to those of the inclement summers with which we have lately 
been familiar. In considering the cause of the high temperature 
which has prevailed, we may note the unusually disturbed state of the 
surface of the sun, as evidenced by the numerous spots, many large 
enough to be visible to the naked eye, which have been noted on 
the photosphere during the last few months. Then it may be suspected 
that the conditions which have produced the remarkable sunsets 
referred to in our last number may also have influenced the tempera¬ 
ture of the earth’s surface. The presence of much aqueous vapour, 
or of matter in a finely divided form, as volcanic dust, would un¬ 
doubtedly tend in this direction, as it would prevent the radiation of 
heat from the earth, and so act like the glass roof of a hot-house, or 
a cloud. Gilbert White (letter lxv.) notices that the year 1783, in 
which Sicily and Norway were subject to earthquakes and, the air 
was filled with volcanic dust (though he did not know this latter fact), 
was remarkable for its extreme heat. Thunder-storms abounded, 
wasps swarmed in myriads (letter lxiv.), and honey-dew ruined the 
beauties of the garden. 
The Mild Season in the Fens.— The mildness of the weather for the 
time of year has been unprecedented. Of winter we have had none, 
but the weather-wise predict a period of severity about Easter. The fruit 
trees are showing the forwardness of the season in an extraordinary 
manner, and make proprietors of orchards shrug their shoulders as they 
see the bursting buds and contemplate the prospect- of nipping frosts 
ahead. The cherries are the most precocious. In one case near the town 
sufficient bloom might have been gathered from a cherry tree to form 
a large-sized bouquet, whilst there are instances of currants and goose¬ 
berries failing to shed some of their leaves at all. In all departments 
of the orchard the sap is rising fast; when once the sap gets active (and 
nothing will do it sooner than the warm muggy days lately experienced) 
orchardists may rely on high prices and scarcity of fruit in 1884. In 
the floricultural line the deceptiveness of the season is equally apparent. 
Violets have been plentifully plucked in the hedges during the past 
fortnight, and there are beds of primroses blooming in many gardens. 
Half-hardy plants remained in the beds in the open without so much 
as receiving a check. The fens are “boiling” in newly-turned grounds, 
