December,

3.49

2.36

2.41 3.02

Total,

41.17 29.18

Mean quantity at B. for 7 years, 37.28 in's.

1.65 2.27 1.59 0.92 2.68 43.3039.5949.2430.83 27.99 37.28 32.71

The depth of water, which falls during| Snow.-For more than three months of a rain storm or thunder shower, is much the year the ground is usually covered less than people generally suppose. A with snow, but the depth of the snow, as fall of 4 or 5 inches during a severe thun- well as the time of its lying upon the der shower would not be thought at all ground, vary much in the different parts extravagant by persons who have paid no of the state. Upon the mountains and attention to the accurate measurement of high lands, snows fall earlier and deeper, the quantity which fell. But during the and lie later in the Spring than upon the seven years observations at Burlington low lands and valleys, and it is believed contained in the above table, the depth of that they fell much deeper in all parts of water which fell in one shower has nev- the state, before the country was much er exceeded two inches, and the whole cleared, than they have for many years amount in 24 hours has, in only one in-past. As little snow falls at Burlington, stance, exceeded three inches, and that probably, as at any place in the state. was on the 13th of May, 1833, when the The following table exhibits the amount fall of water was 3.54 inches. at this place for the last five winters:

Fall of Snow at Burlington in the winters of

1837-'8. | Inc. | 1838-'9. | Inc .|1839-'40. | Inc. | 1840-'1. Inc. | 1841-'2. |Inc.

SLEIGHING.

SEASONS.

APPEARANCES OF BIRDS AND BLOSSOMS.

or hail. The crops oftener suffer from an excess, than from a deficiency,of moisture, though seldom from either.

Seasons. During the winter the ground is usually covered with snow, seldom exceeding one or two feet deep on the low lands, but often attaining the depth of three or four feet on the high lands and mountains. The weather is cold, and, in general, pretty uniformly so, with occasional snows and driving winds, till the beginning of March, when with much

In 1838-'9, sleighs run from December 23, to January 8, but there was no good sleighing during the winter. In 1839-40 sleighing was excellent from December 16, to February 5, fifty one days. In 1840'41, sleighs run from November 22, to November 29, and from December 7, to December 12, but the sleighing was not good. From December 27, the sleighing was good till the 8th of January, after which there was no good sleighing, although sleighs continued to run till the 20th of March. In 1841-2, sleighing tol-boisterous weather there begin to appear erable from December 18, to January 20, after that no good sleighing though sleighs run at several periods for a few days at a

time.

some slight indications of spring. About the 20th of that month the snows begin to disappear, and early in April the ground is usually bare. But the snows fall some weeks earlier and lie much later upon the mountains than upon the low lands. The

The deepest snows, which fall in Vermont, are usually accompanied by a north or northeasterly wind, but there is some-weather and state of the ground is usually times a considerable fall of snow with a northwesterly, or southeasterly wind. A long continuance of south wind usually brings rain, both in winter and summer. Although snows are frequent in winter and rains in summer, storms are not of long continuance, seldom exceeding 24 hours. Storms from the east, which are common on the sea board, do not often reach the eastern part of this state, and on the west side of the Green Mountains they are wholly unknown, or rather, they come to that portion of the country from a northeastern, or southeastern direction. Thunder showers are common in the months of June, July and August, but seldom at other seasons. They usually come from the west, or southwest, but are not often violent or destructive, and very little damage is ever done by hurricanes

Year.

such as to admit of sowing wheat, rye, oats, barley and peas, the latter part of April. Indian corn is commonly planted about the 20th of May, flowers about the 20th of July, and is ripe in October. Potatoes are planted any time between the 1st of May and the 10th of June. Frosts usually cease about the 10th of May and commence again the latter part of Sept., but in some years slight frosts have been observed, at particular places, in all the summer months, while in others, the tenderest vegetation has continued green and flourishing till November. The observations contained in the following table will afford the means of comparing the springs of a few years past. They are gathered from the Meteorological journal kept by the author at Burlington:

Robins Song Barn Currants Red Plum Plums and
Sparrows Swallows Blossom. Blossom. Cherries

seen.

Crab Common
Apple Apple

Blossom. Blossom. Blossom.

seen.

seen.

Vegetation, upon the low lands and ture, and bring fruits and vegetables to along the margin of the lakes and large maturity which do not succeed well upon streams, is, in the spring, usually, a week the high lands. To the above remark, or ten days in advance of that upon the with regard to early frosts, there are sevhigh lands and mountains; but frosts usu-eral exceptions. On the low islands and ally occur, in the fall, earliest upon the shores of lake Champlain, vegetation is low lands, allowing to each nearly the frequently green and flourishing long after same time of active vegetation. The low the frosts have seared it in other parts of lands, however, enjoy a higher tempera- the state, and, along several of the rivers,

OPENING AND CLOSING OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN.

DISAPPEARANCE OF THE ICE.

vegetation is protected by the morning | It frequently happens that the ice confogs for some time after its growth has tinues upon the lake for some time after been stopped upon the uplands. The the snows are gone in its neighborhood early part of the autumn is usually pleas- and the spring considerably advanced. ant and agreeable and the cold advances In such seasons the ice often disappears gradually, but as it proceeds the changes very suddenly, instances having been become more considerable and frequent, observed of the lake being entirely covand the great contrast between the tem- ered with ice on one day and the next day perature of the day and night at this sea- no ice was to be seen, it all having disson render much precaution necessary in appeared in a single night. People in the order to guard against its injurious effects neighborhood, being unable to account for upon health. The ground does not usu- its vanishing thus suddenly in any other ally become much frozen till some time way, have very generally supposed it to in November, and about the 25th of that sink. This opinion is advanced in the month the ponds and streams begin to be account of this lake contained in Spafcovered with ice, and the narrow parts of ford's Gazetteer of New York, and the lake Champlain become so much frozen anomaly is very gravely attempted to be as to prevent the navigation from White- accounted for on philosophical principles. hall to St. Johns, and the line boats go in- But the true explanation of this phenomto winter quarters, but the broad portions enon does not require the absurdity of the of the lake continue open till near the first sinking of a lighter body in a heavier. It of February, and the ferry boats from Bur- is a simple result of the law by which lington usually cross till the first of Jan-heat is propagated in fluids. That bodies uary. The following table contains the times of the closing and the opening of the broad lake opposite to Burlington, and when the steamboats commenced and stopped their regular trips through the lake from Whitehall to St. Johns, for several years past:

are expanded, or contracted, according to the increase or diminution of the heat they contain, is a very general law of nature. Fresh water observes this law, when its temperature is above 40°, but below 40° the law is reversed, and it expands with the reduction of temperature.

When winter sets in, the waters of the lake are much warmer than the incumbent atmosphere. The surface, therefore, of the water communicates its heat to the atmosphere, and, becoming heavier in consequence, sinks, admitting the warmer water from below to the surface. Now since heat is propagated in fluids almost entirely by the motion of the fluids, this circulation will go on,if the cold continues,till all the water from the surface downward to the bottom is cooled down to the temperature of 40°. It will then cease. The colder water now being lighter than that below, will remain at the surface and soon be brought down to the freezing point and congealed into ice. This accounts for the ice taking soonest where the water is most shallow, and also for the closing of the broad parts of the lake earliest in those winters in which there is most high wind, the process of cooling being facilitated thereby.

After the ice is formed over the lake, and during the coldest weather, the great mass of water, after getting a few inches below the ice, is of a temperature 8° above the freezing point. While the cold is severe, the ice will continue to increase in thickness, but the mass of water below the ice will be unaffected by the temperature of the atmosphere above. Now the mean annual temperature of the climate in the neighborhood of lake Champlain

FORMATION OF ANCHOR-ICE.

SMOKY ATMOSPHERE.

DARK DAYS.

scent, are successively brought in contact with the stones at the bottom, which, themselves, soon become ice-cold, after which they serve as nuclei upon which the waters are crystilized and retained by attraction, forming anchor ice.

does not vary much from 45°, and this is about the uniform temperature of the earth at some distance below the surface. While then the mass of the waters of the lake is at 40°, and ice is forming at the top, the earth, beneath the water, is at the temperature of 45°, or 5° warmer than the water. Heat will, therefore, be constantly imparted to the water from beneath, when the temperature of the water is less than 45. The only effect of this communication of heat to the water from beneath, during the earlier and colder parts of the winter, is to retard the cooling of the lake and the formation of ice upon its surface. But after the cold abates in the end of winter and beginning of spring, so that the lower parts of the ice are not affected by the frosts from above, the heat, which is communicated from below, acts upon the under surface of the ice, and, in conjunction with the sun's rays, which pass through the transparent surface and are intercepted by the more opaque parts below, dissolves the softer portions, rendering it porous and loose like wet snow, while the upper surface of the ice, hardened by occasional frosts, continues comparatively more compact and firm. In this state of things, it often happens that, by a strong wind, a rent is made in the ice. The waters of the lake are immediately put in motion, the rotten ice falls in-plants, with no greater heat than is neto small fragments, and, being violently agitated, in conjunction with the warmer water beneath, it all dissolves and vanishes in the course of a few hours.

Smoky Atmosphere.- From the earliest settlement of this country there have been observed a number of days, both in spring and autumn, on which the atmosphere was heavily loaded with smoke. The smoke has generally been supposed to result wholly from extensive burnings in some unknown part of the country. There is no doubt but that much of the smoke often is produced in this way, but it has appeared to us, that, since smoke is not a product, but a defect, of combustion, it may be possible for it to be produced even where there is no fire. We have been led to this conclusion by observing that the amount of smoke has not always been greatest in those years in which burnings were known to be most extensive; and by observing, moreover, that the atmosphere was usually most loaded with smoke in those autumns and springs which succeeded warm and productive summers. These circumstances have led us to the opinion that the atmosphere may, by its solvent power, raise and support the minute particles of decaying leaves and

cessary to produce rapid decomposition. When, by the united action of the heat and moisture of autumn and spring, the leaves are separated into minute particles, we suppose these particles may be taken up by the atmosphere, before they are en

ments, or permitted to form new compounds. This process goes on insensibly, until, by some atmospheric change, a condensation takes place, which renders the effluvia visible, with all the appearance and properties of smoke.

There is one phenomenon, which is of common occurrennce in many of our streams, during the coldest part of win-tirely separated into their original ele. ter, and which may not at first appear reconcilable with what has been said above, and that is, the formation of ice upon the stones at the bottom of the streams, usually called anchor ice. Anchor ice is formed at falls and places where the current is so rapid that ice is not formed upon the surface. In the case of running water, and particularly where the water is not deep and the current rapid, over a rough bottom, the temperature of the whole mass is probably reduced nearly or quite to the freezing point before any ice is formed; and then, where the current is so rapid that the ice cannot form at the surface, the ice-cold waters of the surface, in their tumultuous de

A remarkable phenomenon attending this disintegration of the ice by the influence of the sun's rays, and one which we think worthy of investigation, is its separation into parallel icicles, or candies, as they are sometimes called, extending perpendicularly from the upper to the lower surface of the ice, giving the mass, particularly the lower portions, somewhat the appearance of a honey comb.

Dark Days.-It sometimes happens that the atmosphere is so completely filled with smoke as to occasion, especially when accompanied by clouds, a darkness, in the day-time, approaching to that of night. The most remarkable occurrences of this kind, within our own recollection, were in the fall of 1819, and in the spring of 1820. At both of these seasons, the darkness was so great, for a while near the middle of the day, that a book of ordinary print could not be read by the sun's light. The darkness in both cases was occasioned principally by smoke, and without any known extensive burnings; but the summer of 1819, is known to have been remarkable for the abundant growth of vegetation. But the most remarkable

DARK DAY.

INDIAN SUMMER.

METEORS.

we should expect. When our ancestors arrived in this country, the whole continent was covered with one uninterrupted, luxuriant mantle of vegetation, and the amount of leaves and other vegetable productions, which were then exposed to spontaneous dissolution upon the surface of the ground, would be much greater than after the forests were cut down and the lands cultivated. Every portion of the country being equally shielded by the forest, the heat, though less intense, on account of the immense evaporation and other concurring causes, would be more

darkness of this nature, which has occur- | preceding articles, this is precisely what red since the settlement of this country, was on the memorable 19th of May, 1780, emphatically denominated the dark day. The darkness at that time is known to have covered all the northern parts of the United States and Canada, and to have reached from lake Huron eastward over a considerable portion of the Atlantic ocean. It was occasioned chiefly by a dense smoke, which evidently had a progressive motion from southwest to notheast. In some places it was attended with clouds and in some few with rain. The darkness was not of the same intensity in all places, but was so great through near-uniformly distributed, and the changes ly the whole of this extensive region as to cause an entire suspension of business during the greater part of the day, where the country was settled, and in many places it was such as to render candles as necessary as at midnight. Several hypotheses have been advanced to account for this remarkable darkness, such as an eruption of a volcano in the interior of the continent, the burning of prairies, &c., but by the one advanced in the preceding article, it receives an easy explication. The regions at the southwest are known to be extremely productive, and to have been, at that period, deeply covered with forest sand plants, whose leaves and perish able parts would be sufficient, during their decay, to fill the atmosphere to almost any extent; and nothing more would be necessary for the production of the phenomenon, than a change of atmospheric pressure, which should produce a sudden condensation, and a southwesterly wind.

of wind and weather would be less frequent than after portions of the forests had been removed, and the atmosphere, over those portions, subjected to sudden expansions from the influence of the sun upon the exposed surface of the ground. It is very generally believed, that our winds are more variable, our weather more subject to sudden changes, our annual amount of snow less and our mean annual temperature higher than when the settlement of the country was commenced. And causes, which would produce these changes, would, we believe, be sufficient to destroy, in a great measure, the peculiar features of our Indian Summers. The variableness of the winds, occasioned by cutting down large por tions of the forests, would of itself be sufficient to scatter and precipitate those brooding oceans of smoke, and prevent the long continuance of those seasons of dark and solemn stillness, which were, in ages that are past, the unerring harbingers of long and dreary winters and deluges of snow.

Indian Summer.-It has been said, though we do not vouch for its truth, that it was a maxim with the aborigines of this country, which had been handed down Meteors and Earthquakes.—Upon these from time immemorial, that there would subjects Vermont affords nothing peculiar. be 30 smoky days both in the spring and The common phenomenon of shooting autumn of each year; and their reliance stars is witnessed here as in other parts of upon the occurrence of that number in the country, and those uncommon disautumn was such that they had no fears plays which have several times occurred of winter setting in till the number was about the 13th of November, have been completed. This phenomenon occurred observed from various parts of the state. between the middle of October and the In addition to these, several of those rare middle of December, but principally in meteors, from which meteorolites or me. November; and it being usually attended teoric stones are thrown, have been noby an almost perfect calm, and a high ticed, but the records of them are few and temperature during the day, our ances- meagre. These meteors make their aptors, perhaps in allusion to the above pearance so unexpectedly and suddenly, maxim, gave it the name of Indian Sum- and continue visible for so short a period mer. But it appears that from the com- of time, that it is hardly possible to make mencement of the settlement of the coun- observations sufficiently accurate to furtry, the Indian Summers have gradually nish data for calculating their velocity, become more and more irregular and less distance or magnitude. That most restrikingly marked in their character, un-markable meteor which passed over New til they have almost ceased to be noticed. Now upon the hypothesis advanced in the

England in a southerly direction in the morning of the 14th of December, 1807,