Jarvis Magnet - 1906 Volume 2 Number 2

THE MAGNET. '3
vulsions in which he was rendered s pe echless, and that th e best pla ce lor him was
bed. When I said this, Bates looked much relieved, and s lunk a way, while his
wi fe lighted us to our rooms and inform ed us th at the best cu re for s uch ailments
as ours wa s a compound which s he made herself, a nd would gladly g ive us for th e
small sum of seven ty-five cents. I a m afraid we gave her but scant thanks for her
kindness.
Next morning, when we started off, th e ex-staff officer and capturer of
Sebastopol wa s nowhere to be seen. J.S. M.
(!npriceo of 1Hature.
THE weather which we have enjoyed (?) during th e last few months represents,
to most of us, a failure on the part of nature to provide us with a " winter" :
ill fact, it does not seem so incredible that such t ro pica l animals as the mastadon
once roamed over th e s u burbs of our city, a s the discovery o f a tooth o f this a nima l
ill the neigborhood-of Yonge Street indicates.
But som e comfort may be taken in learning that only on ce in th e history of the
Meteorolog ica l Bureau has a milder January been recorded. This was in 1880,
when the average temperature for J anuary was 10.5 I ° Fah. above the J anuary
normal. During th e corresponding month th is year, the average temperature was
3. n ' above the normal, very nearly a s high as in 1880. December of this winter
hOI, also been exception ally mild.
Nature does not onl y va ry th e monotony of the seasons by a n occasional
wa rm winter, but has been known to inflict upon us except io na lly cold summers.
. ccl' ruing to existing records , the historic su mmer of 181 2 is th e most s a lient
example. Met eorolog ical records of the early part of the eigh teenth century are
Y~ r y rare. as weather prediction was not at th at time considered to be of scient ific
value. But in old diaries, letters, etc . , we o fte n find de scriptions of weather conditious
and th e more s trik ing meteorological .phenomena which have proved of
reat value to modern sc ie nce .
By corelating such eviden ce we End that the summer o f 1812 w as very cold ,
neing referred to, in so me pl ac es, as " the sum m erless year." At S alem, Mass.,
.lay was t ', June 5°, July S° and Au gust 4° below th e normal, and records very
similar to these taken in V ermont, where, it is stated, s now fell during every
month in the year. On June 8th the whole sta te was covered with s no w , which
r maiued on the ground for four days in s om e localities. Cro ps were seriously
mpered, especially that of corn , the grE.ater part of which was completely
-troyed.
.-1. - to the coming su m me r, all predictions are little better than g uess es . Mr.
upart, variously known as the" Weather Man'" and" Old Probs," would not
ture even a suggestion; and yet alma nacs have prophesied the weather for every
! oft he present year! H.P.M.