USA > Vermont > History of Vermont, natural, civil, and statistical, in three parts, with a new map of the state, and 200 engravings > Part 3
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Many perennial springs, and deep wells are found to continue nearly of the same temperature, both in summer and winter, and to be but very little affected | table, on the ninth page.
The following table contains the results of five years observation at Burlington, by Dr. Saunders, and one year at Rutland, by Dr. Williams.
Place.
Time.
No.Obs.|
N
NE
SE
S
sw
W
NW
fair. fclody | rain]
snwy fogfthoujau
Burlington 1803-81 Rutland
1682 739|11 19 1 826 43 1095 153 13 16 76 272 182 125 258
1025 159
676280 6.131
19 127 41 87
45 27
1789 -
89
15 21
* The author has in his possession a meteorologi- cal journal kept at Hydepark by Dr. Ariet Huntoon, l'or a period of 9 years, of which he had intended to Insert an abstract ; but, finding the three daily ob- servations to have been made too near the warmest part of the day to furnish the true mean tempera- ture of the 24 hours, and consequently uusuitable for comparison with the other tables, ho concluded not to insert it. In order to render meteorological observations of service in determining the relative temperature of places, uniformity ie the method of sonking them seems to be ind spensable, and a want of this fenders a great part of the journals which have been kept nearly nacles
* Although, at Burlington, we seldom have a wind from the east sufficiently strong to inen the vanes upen our churches, it is not uncommon, dut- ing the latter part of the night and early in the morning, when the weather is fair, to have a light breeze from the east, which is doubtless occasioned by the rolling down of the cold air from the moun- lains to supply the rarefaction over the lake. In other words, it is strictly a land breeze, similar to what occurs In;t ween the tropics, That these breezes aro local and limited is evident from the fact, that, at the same time, the general motion of the air is the u duferent duoction, as indicated by The motion of clouds in higher regions of the atmosphere.
constantly going on at the surface of the earth ; the temperature of these may, therefore, be regarded as a pretty fair in- dication of the mean annual temperature of the climate. The temperature of a well 40 feet deep, belonging to Mr. Sam- uel Reed, in Burlington, has been ob- served and noted during the year 18411 as follows, the first number after the day of the month being the depth in feet to the surface of the water at the time of the observation : Jan. 1, 14-46º, Feb. 12, 18-4-13º, April 14, 16-11º, June 1, 10- 44º, July 20, 10-4639, and Dec. 8, 20- 453º, giving a mean of 15.19, or .3º higher than that deduced from the daily obser- vations.
Winds .- For small sections of country the prevailing winds usually take their direction from the position of the moun- tains and valleys. That is very much the case in Vermont. Through the valley of the Connecticut and of lake Champlain the winds usually blow in a northerly or southerly direction, while easterly and westerly winds are comparatively of rare occurrence. In the valley of lake Cham- plain east winds are exceedingly rare, as will be seen by the following tables.+ Along our smaller rivers, particularly the Winooski and the Lamoille, the prevail-
CHAP. 1.
DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY.
11
-
Jan
93
161
2| 0 2 40.
411: 18
4:0
312 Jan
31
1
1
51
1
1
1
43
391
4
0 56
24
C
56
331
0,15: 2
59
27| 4| 011pr
90
2.1;
0 2: 9 422
4 2
63
15 11| 1
Apr
00
40)
1
1 7.21 6 2
31|
0 5
4
6: 20 -7
90;
33
2
1
1
51!
0
20; 7: 0 J ne
90
2.1| 1
5
48 1 6
64
5
79
69|
15
59
1]
49 36
49 2 3
Nov
90
93
40
3
0 3. 32
34 50' 0; 9 Dec
93
21
4
4
55
1
4 1
68
23. 0 2 Dec
93
27 8 5 6. 27
2 9 9
48
8-1
697 307 68 26
Total 1098 364 16 0 21 500 20 57 107 640 329 -157 Tota 1095 122 24
1833 Obs.
N ne E SE
S
SW!
WNW
fuir
chly r'n' s {1839 Obs.
N
ne E SE S
.11
nw
fair
eldy r'n sno
1841 Obs.
N
ne E SE
S
WNW
fair. cldy r'n,sno
52 25 610
Jan
93
36 2
0
13
2
7
4.)
37 38 Jan 19 0|14 Feb
84
21
2
40
3
0 3: 40
4
3
66
65
16 6. 16 8 19 11|
Apr 0|May OjJne
90) 93
33 20
0
5| 33
May Jne
90
27
0
2
3
8
( J ne
93
13 1
5. 4.
1 1 3 3 8 9 84
14 8; 6 3
0 July
93
93
34 33
3 13 43 40
0 4
Sept
90
0
0,
Oct
93
47 0
40
4
2
581 26 9| 0 Oct
93
23
2 03 0 2
1=
40|10| 1: 4|
23; 3 012
32 G|4| Dec
03|
25
21 1
40
5 5, 14
Dec
00 93
34 18: 0.
35
28
4 Dec
White An.
ne; E. SE;
S
:sWW nw
fair. cldy r'n'en.
1-40
N nel E SE. S
WNW
fair. cldy'r'n sno
1832
2
Whole No. observations
WINDS.
WEATHER.
1-3-
fais.
-
1
52
2
1
Feb
87
0 1 9
37:
2 4
8
42
24. 31- Frb
1:3
5
591
23 2 9 Mar
03:
0;
2
2!
32
0
0
31
3
36
0| 2 0
66 631
20, 71
93|
30: 4 3.13
33
0
5
12
54
2019 bjMay
93
53
J ne July
03|
32
6
01
1
46
1
3.
73
14 6;
July
93
17, 1 3 3 54'
July
93
30;
4
4 0)' 47, 1.
5
1: 0
312
9
70
15 15
Sept
00
45
2
3
35
2
72
15: 3|
Sept
Sept
90
14
01 0 0 52
0 0 2
53 2: 2 12
53
30 11
Oct
93
39
1
0
14
0
3 6! 50
36,
0 Oct
93
Nov
90
19 10 9 3 27 3 9
10
36
2
0
46' 01
2
2 50
31: 6
1 w = = = = =
Aug
93
9 1 5 5 52 213
6
18 6 0!
Aug
13
21
0 0; 0. 64
Oct
93
1918
3 0 0 35 310 13
Dec
205 52 17 |Total 1098 278 42 36 70 479 37 72
731
5 25478
6:55 20
4: 42 0 0
2 1
2
Feb
84
41 0
1
1
0 3
12
51
1
4
6
65;
4
GO
23 7|0 Apr 1911| 01May
90
50
0
3
1 0:
47
1 2 0
7
21
4 7 4
July Aug
93
29
1
()
5 1
0
25 3
65 55 6G
OfJuly 0 Aug 0 Sept
001
4.4
0.15| 22
45 9, 6
Nov
35 0 0 1
0; 5
42
41 2 0 Nov 90 93
30 40;
37: 610
-
2
45
42
40) 37 3| 2 Feb 23 2| 2 Mar 93
84
1×
1
45
6
4
2
21
1 2
28
610 5. 4 24
63 65,
10:16 2
Apr
90
43
93
3-1
1
1:
5
3
63 62 20' &
93 90|
391 47
21
6 3 5
38
54; 5|11| 2 19 0.14 2
6 14
64 21 5: 731 39 51
17 3 0 Oct 93
32
2 0 210
34
2 6 1
78
4
23 7|
93
1 0 2
0 Aug 0| Sept 00
36
3.10| 12
28, 7 0 12 4 0 10.5 0
2 6 35
90
20 4 3 7 40
93
211
2
1
-1 A
42
5.12
3
50, 28 0: 6
61 19 3 7
Mar
93 0: 0. 1|
471
0. 2
39
1| 210
2
0 2
29 10 20; 4
3 3 12
42 6: 1.
J ne
90|
42
1
0 1 3= 0; 4;
2
23 11' 1
6-
33
3
1
6
37
2
13.
11 31Mar
26
3 1 7
38| 5| 2
11
59 209 51
Mar
37|
1|
0 2 44
1
0. 4'
May
93
40)
3
21 5 0
11 3 0
2011 0
19| 7| 0 5 37|1 6
24| 4| 5| 7 37|
3. 2
3.0 4 }
36 41 7 G NOV
WINDS.
WEATHER.
Whole No.
observations
WINDS.
WEATHER.
.
-
-
Jan
35: 3 0: 6 30 10
24 0: 1:
54! 4
47| 36. 4. 0
4 Feb
14
0
0 2
3
0
0
0) 0: 36
0 3| 1
69
60 71
41
01
0 1: 57:
3 Mar
93
9 810|
1 2
1
3.
313 11 3 5| 7
33 2 6
72 13 8 0
Apr
.12
(
Fo May
(Total 1095 413 23 625 4-6 11 46 651660 341 6529 Total 1005 361 38 13 47 503 23 57 43 720 285 64 17 Total, 1095 343 2913 43 410 37 93|107 678 2-8.77.52
44 4 3 Nov 90
23 4 0 2 19
32 3:10
3 Jan
-
12
NATURAL HISTORY OF VERMONT.
PART I.
ANNUAL QUANTITY OF RAIN.
ANNUAL, FALL OF SNOW.
Rain .- The quantity of water, which | speak with much confidence on this point. falls in rain and snow in any one year, does not probably differ very considerably in the different sections of the state, but observations are too few to enable us to |
The quantity of water, however, which falls at the same places in different years, varies very considerably, as will appear from the following table :
RUTLAND. WINDSOR.
BURLINGTON.
MONTHIS.
Williams.
Fowler.
Thompson.
1789.
1806.
1828.
1832.
1833.
1838.
1839.
1840.
1841.
Inches.
Inches.
Inches.
Inches.
Inches.
Inches.
Inches.
Inches.
Inches.
January,
3.50
2.90
1.30
3.56
1.26
2.52
0.85
1.26
3.49
February,
2.78
2.14
2.10
3.22
2.63
1.32
1.20
2.19
0.80
March,
3.10
0.48
1.35
2.31
1.48
1.10
1.43
3.05
3.23
April,
3.01
2.78
2 75
1.96
1.28
1.31
1.60
4.69
3.54
May,
4.72
2.06
2.45
5.71
9.85
4.51
2.43
2.46
2.98
June,
3.91
2.73
3.70
3.41
4.28
5.37
3.70
2.8.4
5.1G
July,
2.31
4.34
5.95
3.52
7.54
3.25
6.26
4.18
2,87
August,
2.11
0.95
4.30
4.76
7.34
2.41
1.91
3.51
1.40
September,
2.48
4.57
9.85
1.81
4.17
1.33
2.91
4.71
3.62
October,
5.66
1.40
1.65
4.05
6.01
2.98
0.45
3.76
0.83
November,
4.10
2.17
6.2
3.01
1.91
3.78
2.57
2.92
2.47
December,
3.49
2 36
1.65
2.27
1.59
0.92
2.68
2.41
3.02
Total,
41.17
29.18
43.30
39.59
49.24
30.83
27.99
37.28
32.71
Mean quantity at B. for 7 years, 37.28 in's.
The depth of water, which falls during a rain storm or thunder shower, is much less than people generally suppose. A fall of 4 or 5 inches during a severe thun- der shower would not be thought at all extravagant by persons who have paid no attention to the accurate measurement of the quantity which fell. But during the seven years observations at Burlington contained in the above table, the depth of water which fell in one shower has nev- er exceeded two inches, and the whole amount in 24 hours has, in only one in- stance, exceeded three inches, and that was on the 13th of May, 1833, when the fall of water was 3.54 inches.
Snow .- For more than three months of the year the ground is usually covered with snow, but the depth of the snow, as. well as the time of its lying upon the ground, vary much in the different parts of the state. Upon the mountains and high lands, snows fall earlier and deeper, and lie later in the Spring than upon the low lands and valleys, and it is believed that they fell much deeper in all parts of the state, before the country was much cleared, than they have for many years past. As little snow falls at Burlington, probably, as at any place in the state. The following table exhibits the amount at this place for the last five winters :
Fall of Snow ut Burlington in the winters of
1837-'8.
Inc.
1838-'9. | Inc. | 1839-'40.
Inc.
1840-'1.
Inc.
1841-'2.
Inc.
Nov.
9,
2
Oet.
29,
1
Nov.
6,
2
Oct. Nov.
26,
Oct.
8,
2
66
26,
5
Nov.
7,
34
66
9,
13
22,
7
26.
34
Dec.
10,
3
19,
2
Dec.
11,
3
" 26,27,
33
66
29,
3
66
28,
1
17,
1
28,
5
27,
8
18,
15
Jan.
15,
1
18,
4
6
Jan.
5,
4
"6, 11,
5
9,
2
66
28,
12
66
29,
1
15,
Feb.
11,
5
Jan.
4,
1
23,
6
30,
2
Feb.
17,
15
Feb.
26,
1
Feb.
2,
21
22,
1
17,
8
66
28,
1
March
1
" 6, 10,
43
26,
4
March, 6,
6
21,
1
¥
27,
4
66
28,
2
March
3,
1
66
30,
3
19,
5
Apr. 6,13,
2
April, 2,
1
April
13,
22,
5
60
41
48
924
61
Dec.
7,
6
Dec.
2,
1
18,
3
Dec.
7,
17,
1
22,
3
14,
1.4
4
Jan.
10
Jan.
5,
2
19,
2
22,
1
Feb.
2,
1
10,
2
" 17,27,
7
March
5
8,
2
24,
7
March
7,
5
7, 15,
1
9,
4
26,
5
29,
7
" 22,25,
27,
3
13,
3
5,
16,
0
11,
1
28,
23,
2,
-
13
DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHIY.
CHAP. 1.
SLEIGHING.
SEASONS.
APPEARANCES OF BIRDS AND BLOSSOMS.
In 1838-'9, sleighis run from December [ or hail. The crops oftener suffer from an 23, to January 8, but there was no good excess, than from a deficiency, of moisture, though seldom from either. sleighing during the winter. In 1839-'40 sleighing was excellent from December 16, to February 5, fifty one days. In 1840- 'Al, 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, al- though sleighs continued to run till the 20th of March. In 1841-12, sleighing tol- crable from December 18, to January 20, after that no good sleighing though sleighs run at several periods for a few days at a tine.
The deepest snows, which fall in Ver- mont, are usually accompanied by a north or northeasterly wind, but there is some- 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
Seasons .- During the winter the ground is usually covered with snow, seldom ex- ceeding 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 occa- sional snows and driving winds, till the beginning of March, when with much boisterous weather there begin to appear 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 weather and state of the ground is usually such as to admit of sowing wheat, rye, oats, barley and peas, the latter part of April. Indian eorn is commonly planted about the 20th of May, flowers about the 20th of July, and is ripe in October. Po- tatoes are planted any time between the Ist of May and the 10th of June. Frosts usually cease about the 10th of May and commence again the latter part of Sept., bnt in some years slight frosts have been observed, at particular places, in all the summer months, while in others, the ten- derest vegetation has continued green and flourishing till November. The observa- tions 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
Sparrows
Barn Swallows seen.
Blossom.j
Currants Red Plum|Plumsand Blossom.
Cherries Blossom.
Crab Apple Blossom.
Common Apple Blossom.
April 28 May
9
May 12
May 1G
Mar. 25 Mar. 24
26
12
14
20
May 21 June 3
1837
20
.6
23
30
16
19
"
28
30 June
2
1838
23
31 May
2
19
22
26 June
1|
"
2
1839
25
25
21
"
21
3
12
17
20
23
1-41
271
27
27
23
251
261
29
31
23
May 12
1833
..
23/
28
21
4
6.
7
"
15 May 18
1840
15
April 26
4
12
14 May 22 May 26|
Vegetation, upon the low lands and | ture, and bring fruits and vegetables to along the margin of the lakes and large streams, is, in the spring, usually, a week or ten days in advance of that upon the high lands and mountains ; but frosts usu- ally occur, in the fall, earliest upon the low lands, allowing to each nearly the same time of active vegetation. The low lands, however, enjoy a higher tempera-
maturity which do not succeed well upon the high lands. To the above remark, with regard to early frosts, there are sev- eral exceptions. On the low islands and shores of lake Champlain, vegetation is frequently green and flourishing long after the frosts have seared it in other parts of the state, and, along several of the rivers,
14
NATURAL HISTORY OF VERMONT.
PART I.
OPENING AND CLOSING OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN.
DISAPPEARANCE OF THE ICE.
vegetation is protected by the morning fogs for some time after its growth has been stopped upon the uplands. The early part of the antninn is usually pleas- ant and agreeable and the cold advances gradually, but as it proceeds the changes become more considerable and frequent, and the great contrast between the tem- perature of the day and night at this sea- son render much precaution necessary in order to guard against its injurions effects upon health. The ground does not usu- ally become much frozen till some time in November, and about the 25th of that month the ponds and streams begin to be covered with ice, and the narrow parts of lake Champlain become so much frozen as to prevent the navigation from White- hall to St. Johns, and the line boats go in- to winter quarters, but the broad portions of the lake continue open till near the first of February, and the ferry boats from Bur- lington usually cross till the first of Jan- uary. The following table contains the times of the closing and the opening of the broad lake opposite to Burlington, and when the steamboats commeneed and stopped their regular trips through the lake from Whitehall to St. Johns, for sev- cral years past :
Year.
Lake Champin closed.
Lako Champl'n opened.
Lineboats comene'd running.
Lige Boals stopped.
Į
£816
Feb. 9
1817
Jan. 29
Apr. 16
1818
Feb
2 Apr. 15
1819
Mar.
4 Apr. 17 Apr. 25
1820
Mr. 8
Mar. 12
1821
Jan. 15
Apr. 21
1823
Feb. 7
Apr. 5 Apr. 15
1821
Jan. 22
Feb. 11
1825
l'eb.
1826
Feb. 1 Mar. 24
1827
Jan. 21 Mar. 31
1828
not elos'd
Jan. 31
Apr.
Apr. 6
1832
Feb. 6 Apr. 17
Apr. 23
1833
Feb. 2
Apr.
6
Apr. 8
1834
Feb. 13 Feb. 20
Apr. 4 Dec. 5
1835
S Janlo ¿ Fcb 7
Apr. 12
Apr. 21
Nov. 29
1836
Jan. 27
Apr. 21
Apr. 25
1837
Jan. 15
Apr. 26
Apr. 29
1838
Feb. 2 Apr. 13
Apr. 19
Nov. 29 Dec. 10 Nov. 26 Nov. 28
1839
Jan. 25 Apr. 6
Apr. 11
1840
Jan. 25
Feb. 20
18.11
Feb. 18
Apr. 10
Apr. 11 Apr. 28 Apr. 13
Dec. 1
18.12 1 not clos'd
It frequently happens that the ice con- tinnes upon the lake for some time after the snows are gone in its neighborhood and the spring considerably advanced. In such seasons the ice often disappears very suddenly, instances having been observed of the lake being entirely cov- ered with ice on one day and the next day no ice was to be seen, it all having dis- appeared in a single night. People in the neighborhood, being unable to account for its vanishing thus suddenly in any other way, have very generally supposed it to sink. This opinion is advanced in the account of this lake contained in Spat- ford's Gazetteer of New York, and the anomaly is very gravely attempted to be accounted for on philosophical principles. Bnt the true explanation of this phenom- enon does not require the absurdity of the sinking of a lighter body in a licavier. It is a simple result of the law by which heat is propagated in fluids. That bodies 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 incum- bent 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 en- tirely by the motion of the fluids, this cir- culation will go on, if the cold continues, till all the water from the surface downward to the bottom is cooled down to the tem- perature 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 2º above the freezing point. While the cold is se- vere, the ice will continue to increase in thickness, but the mass of water below the ice will be unaffected by the tempera- ture of the atmosphere above. Now the mean annual temperature of the climate in the neighborhood of lake Champlain
Jan. 23
Apr. 11
1829 1830 1×31
S Feb.3
Feb.
Jan. 24
Mar. 30
15
DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY.
CHAP. 1.
FORMATION OF ANCHOR-ICE.
SMOKY ATMOSPHERE. DARK DAYS.
does not vary much from 45º, 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 40º, and ice is forming at the top, the earth, beneath the water, is at the temperature of 45°, or 5° warmer than the water. Ileat will, therefore, be constantly imparted to the water from beneath, when the temperature of the water is less than 15º. The only effect of this communica- tion 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 con- junction 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 show, 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 immedi- ately put in motion, the rotten iee falls in- to small fragments, and, being violently agitated, in conjunction with the warmer water beneath, it all dissolves and van- ishes in the course of a few hours.
There is one phenomenon, which is of common occurrennee in many of our streams, during the coldest part of win- Wer, and which may not at first appear trconcilable with what has been said above, and that is, the formation of ice up in the stones at the bottom of the streams, usually called anchor ice. An- chor 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 tempera- ture of the whole mass is probably reduced nearly or quite to the freezing point be- fore 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-
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.
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 re- sult 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 atmos- phere wus usually most loaded with smoke in those autumns and springs which suc- ceeded warm and productive summers. These circumstances have led us to the opinion that the atmosphere may, by its solvent power, raise and support the mi- unte particles of decaying leaves and plants, with no greater heat than is ne- 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- tirely separated into their original ele- ments, or permitted to form new com- pounds. This process goes on insensibly, until, by some atmospheric change, a con- densation takes place, which renders the rilluvia visible, with all the appearance and properties of smoke.
Dark Days .- It sometimes happens that the atmosphere is so completely fill- ed with smoke as to occasion, especially when accompanied by clouds, a darkness, in the day-time, approaching to that of night. The most remarkable ocenrren- ces of this kind, within our own recollec- tion, 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 burning's; but the summer of 1819, is known to have been remarkable for the abundant growth of vegetation. Bnt the most remarkable
. A remarkable phenomenon attending this dis- integration of the ice by the influence of the sun's rays, and one which we think worthy of investiga- lion, as its separation into parallel icicles, or can- dies, as they are sometimes called, extending per- pondicularly from the upper to the lower surface of The ice, giving tho mass, p iticularly the lower por- tions, somewhat the appearance of a honey comb.
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NATURAL HISTORY OF VERMONT.
PART. I.
DARK DAY.
INDIAN SUMMER. METEORS.
darkness of this nature, which has occur- red since the settlement of this country, was on the memorable 19th of May, 1780, emphatically denominated the durk 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 Atlan- tic ocean. It was occasioned chiefly by a dense smoke, which evidently had a pro- gressive motion from southwest to noth- east. 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- 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 pla- ces it was such as to render candles as necessary as at midnight. Several hypoth- eses have been advanced to account for this remarkable darkness, such as an erup- tion 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 neces- sary for the production of the phenome- non, than a change of atmospheric press- ure, which should produce a sudden con- densation, and a southwesterly wind.
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