" One often hears this statement on a hot summer's day from an
Indian visitor; while, on the other hand, our Canadian cousins assure us
that their bright, clear winter, though so intensely cold, is not so
trying as ours. This is to a great extent caused by the unusual moisture
of the air in England. John Burroughs tells us that "the average
rainfall in London is less than in New York, and yet it doubtless rains
ten days in the former to one in the latter," which he explains by the
fact that in England "it rains easily, but slowly."
That we can bear greater dry than damp heat is easily proved by holding
one's hand before a fire, and then plunging it into hot water, using a
thermometer in both cases to test the heat. The same fact with regard to
cold can be tried by holding both hands in a draught of cold air, the
one hand being wet, the other dry.
* * * * *
Lovers of natural history are not all aware what advantages the first
sharp frost offers them for the study of animal and vegetable life in
ponds. Thoreau, one of the most devoted admirers of nature, says in his
"Walden," that, "The first ice is especially interesting, being hard,
dark, and transparent, and affords the best opportunity that ever offers
for examining the bottom, where it is shallow; for you can lie at your
length on ice only an inch thick, like a skater insect on the surface of
the water, and study the bottom at your leisure, only two or three
inches distant, like a picture behind a glass.
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