RECORD OF THE PAST YEAR. COLD SNAPS; POLAR WAVES.” IN case people forget this sort of thing, and imagine our winters are getting "milder of late years," it had better be placed on record; and in no place will it be so universally read and noted as in the pages of Ven nor's Almanac. After a period of comparative mildness, ending in widely-scattered snow-storms, the mercury early on the morning of the 28th of December, 1880, took a sudden and tremendous plunge to and below the zero-line over almost the entire length and breadth of the North American continent. The following is a tabulated record of the low temperatures then registered: A period of snow-storms followed this unusually severe period, and this was again succeeded by another "cold snap," of which the following was recorded in Canada: MOON'S PHASES. Third Quarter. Day of Week. 238 26 Sa 239 27 S 240 28 M 29 Tu 242 30 W 241 243 31 Th D. H. M. H. M. 5 11 29 eve. 11 17 eve. 4 26 eve. 4 14 eve. H. M. 21 8 II eve. 7 59 eve. 7 47 eve. H. M. 7 5 eve. 3 29 eve. Augustus Cæsar, seized by love of fame, Its sign Zodiacal of course was Virgo. The month of August is likely to give a good deal of rain up to about the 20th day, after which fine warm and dry weather is likely to set in, and extend well through September. "When it rains in August it rains honey and wine." When first the moon appears, if then she shrouds But four nights old (for that's the surest sign), Are void of tempests both by land and sea.— If it rain on St. Bartholomew's Day (24th August), it will rain forty days after.-Roman Proverb. If the twenty-fourth of August be fair and clear, 12th Sunday after Trinity. Sheep huddle together at the approach of bad weather, and turn their tails toward its direction. Dogs and cats feel lazy at the approach of rain. The reason is because the air is deficient in oxygen, and the damp depresses the nervous system. THE August of 1876 was the driest perhaps in a score or more of years; that of 1881 was even more so, and for a much greater period of years. The August of 1877 was excessively wet and stormy, and so in all probability will be the August of 1882. This is my general prediction for the month at date of writing (October 10, 1881). WHEN Overtaken in the country in a thunder storm, it is safer to stand out in open ground than under shelter of a tree. A valley or hollow is safer than an eminence. Indoors, contiguity to the walls is not so safe as the centre of the room. Placed on a bed or seated in a hair-cushioned chair, with your feet on another, in the middle of an apartment, is a position of almost perfect security, even though the lightning strikes the building and enters the room where you happen to be. Snow-storms were again general after this "cold wave," and on the 12th were experienced in England and Scotland. On the 14th and two following days another frigid wave was reported from all sections. On the 14th in Western cities the temperatures were as follows (below zero): Detroit, 10°; Chicago, 15°; Milwaukee, 15°; Winona, 25°; St. Paul, 24°; Dubuque, 20°; Davenport, 20°; Des Moines, 10°; St. Louis, 8°; Peoria, 18°; Omaha, 14°. The temperature at Montreal on the same date was 9° below zero. In London, Eng., 25° of frost were registered. Strange to say, at Hamilton, Ontario, a thaw and rain set in and sleighing disappeared. On the 15th the mercury fell to 13° below zero at Montreal, and similar low temperatures continued in western sections. On the 18th there was again intensely cold weather in Manitoba, and snow-storms in South-western States, while in London, Eng., the weather was cold and blustery, with snow. It very often happens that intense cold in the North-west is accompanied by storms and gales in Britain; and certainly this was the case during the January of 1881. On the 21st, Hamilton, Ontario, again had snow sufficient for sleighing in a one-foot-and-a-half snowfall, while snow-storms and gales swept over New York and other seaboard cities of the Middle United States. On the 22d the north of France was visited by a cold and wintry wave, while on this continent rain and snow-storms and floods in Western Territories were experienced, there causing loss of life and great destruction of property. On the 24th a cold wave struck North Carolina, and snow fell at Wilmington—a most unusual occurrence; while on the same date heavy rains visited the State of Virginia. In Canada and Northern New York State temperatures were low. On the 26th cold weather was again reported from Britain, while on this side the Atlantic snow-storms were general. It is worthy of note here, for comparison in future, that about this date also snow-drifts in the neighborhood of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., were from seven to fifteen feet deep along some of the lines of railroad. From septem, "seven," and from umber, “shower," From the small fact that rain begins its reign. Dew and fog are indicators of fine weather. 13th Sunday after Trinity. If dry be the buck's horn On Holyrood morn, 'Tis worth a vest of gold; But if wet it be seen Ere Holyrood e'en, Bad harvest is foretold.-Yorkshire Proverbs. 14th Sunday after Trinity. A bright yellow sky at sunset presages wind; a pale yellow, wet.Admiral Fitzroy. A dark, gloomy blue sky is windy, but a light, bright blue sky indicates fine weather. When the sky is of a sickly-looking greenish hue, wind or rain may be expected.—Ibid. 15th Sunday after Trinity. A rapid rise of the barometer indicates unsettled weather; a slow rise indicates fair weather. The result of all rapid changes in the weather, or in any of the instrumental indicators, is brief in duration, while that of a gradual change is more durable. 16th Sunday after Trinity. It is generally believed that the storm derives its advancing force from the wind, but this is not so; the direction of the wind at any place being entirely distinct from that of the storm's progress over the earth's surface. For instance, while the storm advances slowly eastward, the wind has every possible direction at different places within the limits of the storm. -Loomis. THE heat during the early portion of last September (1881), up to the 9th and 10th days, throughout Canada and the United States, will long be remembered by all who experienced it. In Washington on the 7th the heat was almost unbearable, and was recorded by the Signal Service as the hottest day in a period of ten years. This was the fourth torrid wave of the summer of 1881. THERE were extensive forest-fires in different localities in the United States; especially in the northern part of Michigan, where there was great destruction of life and property. President JAMES A. GARFIELD died the 19th of the month. On the 29th, as milder weather set in in Britain, another severely cold wave swept over Canada and a portion of the United States, lasting up to the 4th of February. At Montreal the temperature for six consecutive days was 6o, 9°, 8o, 5o, 12o, 16o, and 6° below zero, and at Winnipeg on the 31st of January was 38° below zero. And still the weather continued mild in Great Britain. In Chicago on the night of the 31st one hundred men were employed in clearing the streets of snow. FEBRUARY, 1881, entered about the middle of the cold snap with which January closed, and while cold reigned triumphant everywhere. Even Toronto, that most exceptional of all points re the weather, was obliged to confess, "Cold and snow have been reigning as supreme here for the last week or so as if there were no Lake Ontario to temper the frost, and as if this were as high a latitude as Montreal or Ottawa." Trains running into Chicago on the 1st of February were from ten to twenty hours late, "owing to severe snow-storms and drifts," and there was "intensely cold weather throughout New York State." This cold wave also again embraced Hamilton, Ontario, where there was likewise plenty of snow. In Ontario the temperature ranged from 5° to 15° below zero. On the 4th, St. Paul, Minn., was snow-bound, and a heavy storm raged at Winnipeg. On the 6th "a regular blizzard swept over Minnesota and the Far West," and miles of wire were blown down. also raged in New Brunswick. Storms Following this period of storm, at length came the "January thaw," and rain, slush, and floods reigned supreme for a time. The snows ran off rapidly everywhere. At St. Louis navigation was resumed after being closed for seventy-two days. An extraordinary rainfall occurred in California up to the 7th instant, occasioning disastrous inundations in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. A very severe storm of rain and sleet, accompanied by low temperature, prevailed in Chicago on the 7th and 8th insts., the breaking down and freezing together of telegraph-wires causing much inconvenience to business-men. On the 11th it was again snowing heavily throughout the North-west, and a railroad blockade was again threatened. Gales raged on the English coast, and nine barges were sunk in the Thames. In Ireland the storm was the most violent since the great storm of the year 1839. On the 14th snow-storms again took place in Kansas and points westward, and there was a general cessation of the thaw. Floods were reported in Ohio and Pennsylvania and at Washington. There was very stormy weather on the Atlantic. Snow-storms and |