The only way that I can at all account for this fact- for such it is-is, that on that quarter, between us and the sea, there are continual mountains, hill behind hill, such as Nore-hill, the Barnet, Butser-hill, and Ports-down, which somehow divert the storms, and give them a different direction. High promontories, and elevated grounds, have always been observed to attract clouds, and disarm them of their mischievous contents, which are discharged into the trees and summits, as soon as they come in contact with these turbulent meteors; while the humble vales escape, because they are so far beneath them.

But when I say I do not remember a thunder-storm from the south, I do not mean that we never have suffered from thunder-storms at all; for on June 5th, 1784, the thermometer in the morning being at sixty-four, and at noon at seventy, the barometer at twenty-nine, six-tenths one-half, and the wind north, I observed a blue mist, smelling strongly of sulphur, hang along our sloping woods, and seeming to indicate that thunder was at hand. I was called in about two in the afternoon, and so missed seeing the gathering of the clouds in the north, which they who were abroad assured me had something uncommon in its appearance. At about a quarter after two, the storm began in the parish of Harteley, moving slowly from north to south; and from thence it came over Norton-farm, and so to Grange-farm, both in this parish. It began with vast drops of rain, which were soon succeeded by round hail, and then by convex pieces of ice, which measured three inches in girth.* Had it been as extensive as it was violent, and of any continuance, (for it was very short,) it must have ravaged all the neighbourhood. In the parish of Harteley, it did some damage to one farm; but Norton, which lay

* On the 4th January, 1829, a violent hail-storm passed over Edmonton, near London; during which, hailstones fell of an irregular shape, and measuring three and four inches in circumference. Calamities from hail, however, are but of rare occurrence in this country, compared with the Continent. In France, hail-storms are frequent and formidable, and, in many districts, have done great injuries to corn, as also to vines and olive trees. In the years 1799, 1800, and 1801, the storms of hail in France had been more than usually prevalent, and many families had, in consequence, been reduced to ruin. This state of things suggested to M. Barrau, of Toulouse, the establishment of a mutual indemnity insurance company against hail, which has been continued ever since.

Some time ago, hailstones fell at Sterlitamak, in the government of Oneaburg, which were found to contain in their centre a nucleus of small stones. These were analyzed, and in one hundred, their component parts consisted of red oxide of iron 70.00, of oxide of manganese 7.50, alum 3.75, silica 7.50, sulphur and waste 5.00.

ED.

in the centre of the storm, was greatly injured; as was Grange, which lay next to it. It did but just reach to the middle of the village, where the hail broke my north windows, and all my garden-lights and hand-glasses, and many of my neighbours' windows. The extent of the storm was about two miles in length, and one in breadth. We were just sitting down to dinner; but were soon diverted from our repast by the clattering of tiles, and the jingling of glass. There fell, at the same time, prodigious torrents of rain on the farms above mentioned, which occasioned a flood as violent as it was sudden; doing great damage to the meadows and fallows, by deluging the one, and washing away the soil of the other. The hollow lane towards Alton was so torn and disordered as not to be passable till mended, rocks being removed that weighed two hundred weight. Those that saw the effect which the great hail had on ponds and pools, say that the dashing of the water made an extraordinary appearance, the froth and spray standing up in the air three feet above the surface. The rushing and roaring of the hail, as it approached, was truly tremendous.

Though the clouds at South Lambeth, near London, were at that juncture thin and light, and no storm was in sight, nor within hearing, yet the air was strongly electric; for the bells of an electric machine at that place rang repeatedly, and fierce sparks were discharged.

When I first took the present work in hand, I proposed to have added an Annus-Historico-Naturalis, or the Natural History of the Twelve Months of the Year; which would have comprised many incidents and occurrences that have not fallen into my way to be mentioned in my series of letters; but, as Mr Aikin of Warrington has lately published somewhat of this sort, and as the length of my correspondence has sufficiently put your patience to the test, I shall here take a respectful leave of you and Natural History together. And am,

With all due deference and regard,

Your most obliged,

And most humble Servant,

SELBORNE, June 25, 1787.

GIL. WHITE.

OBSERVATIONS

ON

VARIOUS PARTS OF NATURE,

FROM MR WHITE'S MSS.

WITH

REMARKS BY MR MARKWICK AND THE EDITOR.

OBSERVATIONS ON QUADRUPEDS.

SHEEP. The sheep on the downs this winter (1769) are very ragged, and their coats much torn; the shepherds say they tear their fleeces with their own mouths and horns, and they are always in that way in mild wet winters, being teased and tickled with a kind of lice.

After ewes and lambs are shorn, there is great confusion and bleating, neither the dams nor the young being able to distinguish one another as before. This embarrassment seems not so much to arise from the loss of the fleece, which may occasion an alteration in their appearance, as from the defect of that notus odor, discriminating each individual personally; which also is confounded by the strong scent of the pitch and tar wherewith they are newly marked; for the brute creation recognize each other more from the smell than the sight; and in matters of identity and diversity, appeal much more to their noses than their eyes. After sheep have been washed, there is the same confusion, from the reason given above.

RABBITS.-Rabbits make incomparably the finest turf, for they not only bite closer than larger quadrupeds, but they allow no bents to rise; hence warrens produce much the most

delicate turf for gardens. Sheep never touch the stalks of grasses.

CAT AND SQUIRRELS. A boy has taken three little young squirrels in their nest, or drey, as it is called in these parts. These small creatures he put under the care of a cat who had lately lost her kittens, and finds that she nurses and suckles them with the same assiduity and affection as if they were her own offspring. This circumstance corroborates my suspicion, that the mention of exposed and deserted children being nurtured by female beasts of prey who had lost their young, may not be so improbable an incident as many have supposed; and therefore may be a justification of those authors who have gravely mentioned, what some have deemed to be a wild and improbable story.

So many people went to see the little squirrels suckled by a cat, that the foster mother became jealous of her charge, and in pain for their safety; and therefore hid them over the ceiling, where one died. This circumstance shews her affection for these fondlings, and that she supposes the squirrels to be her own young. Thus hens, when they have hatched ducklings, are equally attached to them as if they were their own chickens.

HORSE.-An old hunting mare, which ran on the common, being taken very ill, ran down into the village, as it were, to implore the help of men, and died the night following in the street.*

HOUNDS. — The king's stag hounds came down to Alton, attended by a huntsman and six yeoman prickers, with horns, to try for the stag that has haunted Harteley Wood for so long a time. Many hundreds of people, horse and foot, attended the dogs to see the deer unharboured; but though the huntsman drew Harteley Wood, and Long Coppice, and Shrubwood, and Temple Hangers, and, in their way back, Harteley and Ward-le-ham Hangers, yet no stag could be found.

The Rev. Mr Bree says, "Some years ago, a quantity of peat soil was thrown down in a heap, in the corner of a small field adjoining my house, for the purpose of being used in the garden as occasion required. A horse that was turned out into the same field (which I may observe afforded a good pasture) was in the frequent habit of going to this heap of peat soil, and feeding upon it with as much apparent satisfaction as if it had been a rick of good hay. A pointer dog, also, which was usually kept tied up, on being let loose, would almost invariably go to the heap of soil, and devour lumps of it with avidity."-ED.

The royal pack, accustomed to have the deer turned out before them, never drew the coverts with any address and spirit, as many people that were present observed; and this remark the event has proved to be a true one : for as a person was lately pursuing a pheasant that was wing-broken, in Harteley Wood, he stumbled upon the stag by accident, and ran in upon him as he lay concealed amidst a thick brake of brambles and bushes.

OBSERVATIONS ON BIRDS.

BIRDS IN GENERAL.

In severe weather, fieldfares, redwings, skylarks, and titlarks, resort to watered meadows for food; the latter wades up to its belly in pursuit of the pupa of insects, and runs along upon the floating grass and weeds. Many gnats are on the snow near the water: these support the birds in part.

Birds are much influenced in their choice of food by colour; for though white currants are much sweeter fruit than red, yet they seldom touch the former till they have devoured every bunch of the latter.

Redstarts, fly-catchers, and black-caps, arrive early in April. If these little delicate beings are birds of passage, (as we have reason to suppose they are, because they are never seen in winter,) how could they, feeble as they seem, bear up against such storms of snow and rain, and make their way through such meteorous turbulences, as one should suppose would embarrass and retard the most hardy and resolute of the winged nation? Yet they keep their appointed times and seasons; and, in spite of frost and winds, return to their stations periodically, as if they had met with nothing to obstruct them. The withdrawing and appearance of the short-winged summer birds, is a very puzzling circumstance in natural history.

When the boys bring me wasps' nests, my bantam fowls fare deliciously, and, when the combs are pulled to pieces,