The Thames was at once so frozen over both above and
below bridge that crowds ran about on the ice. The streets were
now strangely incumbered with snow, which crumbled and trod
dusty; and, turning grey, resembled bay-salt; what had fallen on the
roofs was so perfectly dry that, from first to last, it lay twenty-six
days on the houses in the city; a longer time than had been
remembered by the oldest housekeepers living. According to all
appearances we might now have expected the continuance of this
rigorous weather for weeks to come, since every night increased in
severity; but behold, without any apparent cause, on the 1st of
February a thaw took place, and some rain followed before night;
making good the observation above, that frosts often go off as it
were at once, without any gradual declension of cold. On the
second of February the thaw persisted; and on the 3d swarms of
little insects were frisking and sporting in a court-yard at South
Lambeth, as if they had felt no frost. Why the juices in the small
bodies and smaller limbs of such minute beings are not frozen is a
matter of curious inquiry.
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