owners, who were only too glad to escape with their lives. There was a great destruction of property on this occasion, and three lives were lost. This was the last occasion of a fair on the Thames, although we have had, for short periods, very severe weather since that time. In the winter of 1860-61, for instance, the cold was so severe as to cause several very serious accidents on our lines of railway, by rendering the metal of the tires brittle. From the Times of January 11th, 1861, we learn, that at the Chatham station of the London, Chatham, and Dover railway, one of the signalmen was in the act of moving the powerful iron lever which works the distance-signal at the entrance to the tunnel, when, on attempting to lift the bar, the lever snapped in two, as the signalman described it, like a tobacco-pipe. The bar was of wrought iron, 24in. thick, and weighed nearly 1 cwt. The point at which the fracture occurred, showed the iron to be of good quality, and no indication of a flaw could be detected. For some weeks previously the cold had been unusually severe, the temperatures being given by the Registrar-general, as follows:-Helston, 18°0; Truro, 11°0; Torquay, 22°0; Ventnor, 22°0; Osborne, 18°9; Worthing, 17°-9; Fairlight, 20°0; Hurstpierpoint, 3°0; Clifton, 7°1; Glocester, 1°C; Pembroke, 18°5; Lampeter (Cardigan), 0°6; Greenwich Observatory, 8°0; Guildhall, 14°5; Regent's Park (York Terrace), 10°9; Camden Town, 67; Leyton (Essex), 1°3; Oxford, 0°0; Apsley, 135; Bedford, 6°0; Cardington, 3°6; Diss (Norfolk), 3°0; Derby, 2°0; Nottingham, 80; Liverpool Observatory, 16°2; Manchester, 3°0; Leeds, 3°0; Harrogate, 9°5; Scarborough, 16°0; St. Paul's, Silloth, 1°5; North Shields, 6°8; Alnwick, 12°0. In the extreme North of England the cold was not so severe as it was South of Yorkshire. Mr. Lowe, writing from Beeston, near Nottingham, 25th December, 1860, records the greatest cold ever known in England. On that day a thermometer four feet above the ground, was 8° below zero, and another thermometer on the grass, was 13°-8 below zero, or 45°8 of frost. In the middle of the day Mr. Lowe saw a horse with icicles hanging from his nose three inches in length, and as thick as three fingers. On that morning the writer was walking, after Church, with a lady, near Salisb...y in Wiltshire, when her breath condensed, on her veil, into a solid lump of ice. For some days the Times contained records from all parts of the country of the unusual degrees of cold. Had this state of things lasted long, we should have had the Thames in a solid condition, and the fairs of former periods imitated on its surface. LONDON: PRINTED BY R. CLAY, SON, AND TAYLOR. Society FOR Promoting Christian Knowledge. BOOKS SUITABLE FOR PRESENTS. Most of these Works may be had in ornamental bindings, with gilt edges, at an extra charge of 6d. each. BIBLE PICTURES and STORIES. With Colored BIRDS of the SEA-SHORE. 12 Colored Plates. each 3 0 1 8 BIRDS' NESTS, with 22 Colored Plates of Eggs. By the Rev. C. A. JOHNS 4 6 3 0 CHANNEL ISLANDS, Rambles among the CHAPTERS on COMMON THINGS of the SEA- CHILD COMFORTERS, The DEWDROP and the MIST. By CHARLES TOMLINSON, ELDAD the PILGRIM 10 3 6 3 0 EVENINGS at the MICROSCOPE. By P. H. Gosse, FIRESIDE TALES. 2 Vols. 6 0 3 6 FLOWERS of the FIELD. By the Rev. C. A. JOHNS. 7 0 FOREST TREES. 2 Vols. By Ditto 7 6 GARDENING for CHILDREN. By Ditto ILLUSTRATIONS of USEFUL ARTS, MANUFACTURES and TRADES. BY CHARLES TOMLINSON, Esq. 1300 Woodcuts. In 1 Vol. 4to. LITTLE LUCY. By Mrs. W. GLENNIE SMITH MARGARET ARNOLD. A Tale MARGARET LESLIE MONTHLY FLOWER GARDEN, The. the Rev. C. A. JOHNS. 12 Colored Plates 2 0 1 0 4 0 8 0 Price. MONTHLY GLEANINGS from the FIELD and 24 s. d. MONTHLY WILD FLOWERS. Edited by Ditto NICHOLLS' HELP to READING the BIBLE 1 8 8 1 0 OUR NATIVE SONGSTERS. By ANNE PRATT. 73 PARIS, RAMBLES ROUND. By the Rev. C. A. PICTURES and STORIES for LITTLE CHILDREN. PITCAIRN; the Island, the People, and the Pastor. POISONOUS, NOXIOUS, and SUSPECTED PLANTS. SCENES in the CAMP and FIELD; being Sketches of the War in the Crimea SELBORNE, NATURAL HISTORY of. late Rev. GILBERT WHITE, A.M. Arranged for Young Persons. A new and revised Edition TOPOGRAPHY-PALESTINE and |