THROUGH FINLAND. 
343 
“ a few minutes at mid-day. In the month of January the cold 
“ was fo great, that the thermometers of Reaumur, which fell 
“ 14 degrees below the freezing point at Paris during the great 
“ froft of the remarkable winter of 1709 , here fell to 37 degrees. 
“ Spirits of wine froze. On opening the door of a warm room, 
“ the external air rufhing in, inftantly converted the vapour within 
“ into a fleece of fnow. On going out of the room, one’s breaft 
“ was as it were torn by the air : every moment there appeared, in 
“ the cracking noife made by the burfting of the wood of the 
“ houfes, threatening fymptoms that the intenfenefs of the cold 
“ would be Hill farther increafed. From the folitude that reigned 
“ in the ftreets, one would have fuppofed all the inhabitants to 
“ be dead: in fhort, at Tornea there were to be feen perfons who 
“ had been mutilated by the froft; fome had loft their legs and 
“ arms. The cold, always very great in thofe parts, was often fo 
“ fevere as to prove fatal to thofe who were expofed to it. A fud- 
“ den tempeft of fnow at times menaced ftill greater danger. 
“ The w 7 ind feemed to blow 7 at once from every quarter of heaven, 
“ and with fuch violence, as to throw down the chimneys of 
“ houfes. Any one w T ho fhould be caught in fuch a ftorm in the 
“ country, w r ould in vain endeavour to find his way by means of 
“ his acquaintance with places, or marks made by trees. He is 
“ blinded by the fnow, and plunges into fome abyfs if he move 
“ a ftep.” 
If the academician draws a frightful pifture of Tornea, which 
he faw only in winter, we are in a condition to fupply its counter¬ 
part 
