Winter. The mean of the winter months is 37°14, which may be considered very mild for this latitude. The thermometer was at no time as low as zero, so that it did not make ice sufficiently thick for filling ice houses, only two or three inches being the extent of the best, and the main supply for summer use was brought from the heads of the Muskingum river. Steam boats were laid up only a few days, by the floating ice, during the winter. In the eastern states the cold was excessively severe. On the tenth of January, after a great snow storm on the eighth of that month, extending from the borders of Pennsylva nia to Maine, the mercury sunk in Salem, Mass., to 23° below zero, in the city of New York to 11° below, and at Ogdensburgh, N. Y., to -38°. The extreme cold on the Atlantic coast was said to be greater than at any time during the last seventy years.

Spring. The mean for the spring months is 55°.90, an unusual high range, being nearly four degrees above 1858, and more than ten above 1857, that being only 45° 89, so that there is a wide range in the temperature of our springs, which is most strikingly apparent in the blossoming of trees, especially that of the peach, there being a variation of not less than forty days in the opening of the fruit buds of this highly prized tree. The later the bloom is retarded the greater the chance for a crop, but so variable is the climate of southern Ohio, that only one season in three can be counted on for the production of this delicious fruit. The apple crop is rather more certain, and yet nearly every other year is a failure from the blighting effects of late spring frosts. But for this drawback it would be one of the most productive countries in the world in fruit, and the valley of the Ohio as celebrated pomologically as it now is for the growth of Indian corn. The unusual heat of the spring is chiefly attributable to the month of May, which was 67° 20, or six degrees above the average temperature, which is sixty-one degrees. The heat was nearly that of June, and rarely experienced, as there is commonly a difference of ten or twelve degrees in these two months. The peach was in blossom this year on the 28th of March, and the apple on the 12th of April. In 1857 the peach opened on the 2nd of May, and the apple on the 9th.

which

Summer.--The mean of the summer months is 71°19, is not much below the average, notwithstanding the uncommonly low temperature of June. The unprecedented occurrence of a severe and destructive frost as late as the fifth of June overwhelmed the country with fear and astonishment; at a period in the growth of wheat usually considered as past all danger of this kind, a sudden change of temperature in one night spread destruction and ruin to a large portion of the fields of this important cereal over all the central portions of the valley of the

Ohio, and extending from Iowa to northern New York. Indian corn shared largely in this calamity. The warmth of May had hastened the growth of this plant in many fields to the height of twelve or eighteen inches. In all such cases the fields had to be replanted, but where it was only a few inches above the surface it recovered from the injury, and produced a fair crop. The wheat being in full head, and much of the grain in the milk, was entirely ruined. Potatoes were badly frosted, but in a good measure regained a healthy state. Peaches and apples, which in most orchards had attained the size of almonds, were so much damaged as to fall from the trees in a few days, and only certain favored localities ripened any fruit. So serious an injury from untimely frost has not been experienced since the first settlement of the state in 1788. In the year 1834, severe frosts visited Ohio as late as the middle of May, but the wheat crop was not so far advanced, being only in blossom, and by throwing up new stalks from the uninjured roots, produced finally an abundant harvest. Providentially the autumnal frosts of 1859 were retarded until near the close of October, and the late planted fields of corn were fully matured, to the great delight and wonder of the husbandman, for the failure of this grain would be more serious calamity than that of wheat, as both man and beast largely depend on it for sustenance.

Autumn. The mean for the autumnal months is 52°.71, which is rather below the average, but was sufficient to ripen all the late crops. Sweet potatoes were uncommonly good in quality, and abundant in quantity. Buckwheat was largely cultivated, partly in place of the common grain, and produced a great yield. The Catawba and other grapes ripened well, and abounded in saccharine principle, so necessary in making good wine. The smaller fruits were plentiful, so that on the whole we have more cause to be thankful, rather than to complain of the dealings of Providence in the past year.

Floral Calendar, &c.-February 25th, Bluebird heard; 27th, Yellow garden crocus in bloom; March 4th, Many birds of passage seen and heard; 9th, White crocus; 12th, Hepatica triloba; 14th, Golden bell or Forsythia viridis, Acer rubrum, (Red maple), Ulmus Americana; 16th, Hepatica acutifolia; 21st, Grass quite green in pastures; 22d, Magnolia conspicua, Claytonia Virg. ; 26th, Red cherry, Balm of Gilead,_and_Sugar maple; 27th, Crown Imperial; 28th, Peach tree, Red Pyrus Japonica, Hyacinths; 29th, Sanguinaria Canadensis; 31st, Gooseberry.-April 1st, June berry; 2d, Dandelion, Pink colored Pyrus-Japonica, Cherry and Plum, Primroses; 4th, Flowering almond, Anemone nemorosa; 5th, Phlox divaricata, Dielytra cucul.; 7th, Annona triloba, Papaw; 11th, Burgundy pear, Trillium grandiflorum; 12th, Double flow.-Peach, Siberian crab, Spiræa prunifolia, Cercis Canadensis, or Red bud; 13th, Apple tree;

14th, Chickasaw plum, Strawberry, Sedum ternatum; 17th, White ash tree; 22d, Cornus Florida; 24th, Dodecatheon Amer.; 27th, Harebell; 28th, Vernal snow drop; 30th, Tulips.-May 2d, Tree peony, var. papaw; 4th, Haw tree, Dicentra spectabilis; 5th, Mountain ash, Aquilegia Canad.; 6th, Magnolia tripetala, Viburnum, (Snow ball); 8th, European Horse chestnut; 10th, Rose colored peony, Yellow Harrison rose; 12th, Blackberry and Robinia Pseudacacia; 15th, Rose Acacia and Annual roses; 16th, Iris Persica, Crimson peony; 17th, Purple peony; 18th, Moss rose; 19th, White peony, also several new peonies from seed planted five years ago, bloom first time; 21st, Peas on table, planted in January; 22d, Syringa Philadelphica, Strawberry ripe; 24th, Bulbous Iris; 26th, Foliage of trees unusually rich and fine; 27th, Fragrant peony, and large rose colored; 28th, Linocera flexuosa; 30th, Erigeron annuum.-June 1, Star of Bethlehem; 2d, Common cherry, ripe; 5th, Severe frost, killing wheat, corn and fruit, made ice in a bowl of water, half an inch thick, a few miles west of Marietta; 12th, Canterbury bell in bloom; 19th, Red raspberry ripe; 23d, Pennsylvania lily in bloom; 27th, Wheat harvest begins in fields that escaped the frost, on high hills, or where protected by the fog from the rivers; 28th, June apple ripe.-July 5th, Chestnut tree in bloom; 8th, Sweet bough apple and Gravenstein ripe; 12th, Gladiolus flori; 13th, Blackberry ripe, but a large portion destroyed by frost, American broom in bloom.-August 8th, Catherine pear ripe; 13th, Watermelon ripe.-September 1, St. Michael pear; 15th, Seckel pear fully ripe.

In every month during the past year there has been more or less frost, as in the year 1816.

ART. XXII.-Geographical Notices; by DANIEL C. GILMAN. No. XI.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DR. KARL RITTER.-The death of Dr. Karl Ritter, the father of the modern science of Physical Geography, and one of the most eminent and beloved of the scientific men of Germany, has already been announced in this Journal. We present herewith a sketch of his life, translated and condensed from a highly interesting tribute to his memory which is attributed to the pen of Dr. Kramer of Halle, in the Berlin Zeitschr. für allgemeine Erdkunde.

CHARLES RITTER was born at Quedlinburg the 7th day of August, 1779. His father, a man of noble character, fine feelings and a pious mind, was physician to the Abbess of the Convent there, and was much esteemed for his skill. However, in consequence of the slanders of an envious individual, he lost the

largest part of his practice, and, although his good name was restored after the lapse of two years, and his clients returned, grief and sorrow had so heavily weighed upon him during this time, that in the full strength of manhood, he succumbed to a typhous fever. He left an almost destitute widow with five little children, of whom the eldest, a boy, was ten years of age, the fourth, Charles, only five years old. This situation of the poor widow, a noble and highly educated woman, excited the utmost sympathy of her neighbors. All endeavored, either by words, or in a more substantial way, to make good the wrong which had been done to her husband. She found many sympa. thizers, away from home. Thus, the Prince of the adjoining Bernburg took care of the education of the eldest boy. Salzmann, the celebrated educator, a former associate of Basedow, had bought Schnepfenthal, and was about to open an educational institution there. He had made it a point to take a boy as his first pupil, gratis. A notice in a journal of the death of Dr. Ritter at Quedlinburg, who had left a widow with five little children, first attracted his attention. Soon after he sent two of his friends there, to make the acquaintance of the children and to see whether there was a boy amongst them, that would conform to his wishes. They decided in favor of little Charles. The mother, though with a sorry heart, assented, and, at the invitation of Salzmann, brought the child herself to Schnepfenthal. She was accompanied by one of her elder sons and Gutsmuths, then a candidate of theology and instructor of the children, who had not left them, although the mother had declared that she was no longer able to pay him his salary. A residence of a few days in Salzmann's house cemented the ties of mutual friendship and esteem, so that Salzmann, shortly before their departure, expressed a wish to keep the older boy also. To Gutsmuths he proposed to remain in Schnepfenthal as a teacher. This had been a secret wish of the mother, but she did not think it possible. Ritter accordingly came to Schnepfenthal, the first pupil of the new institution, and remained there for eleven years, until he went to the university. This lovely spot, which Ritter always considered his true home, was situated at one end of the 'Thueringer Wald' and was surrounded by a most charming landscape, having in one direction a view of a far extending fertile plain, richly adorned with cities and vil lages; in the other, there rose well timbered mountains of various shapes, intersected by fine valleys. All around was activity and life. Here he received from his early youth the most vivid impression of the glory of God's creation, of the variety of formations on the surface of the earth, and their special relations to the life upon them. Here Ritter grew up under the guidance of excellent men and skillful teachers. Those that ex

erted the greatest influence upon him, were Salzmann himself, Bechstein and Gutsmuths, the latter of whom continued here also, to take special care of young Charles, and probably implanted in him a love for geographical knowledge.

The method of instruction was that suggested by Basedow, and tried first in the Philanthropin at Dessau, but it was freed from those vain and needless peculiarities that adhered to it there. Classical languages were less studied, but the most attention was paid to all those sciences and accomplishments, which stand in direct relation to life, and among these the modern languages occupied a more prominent place, than anywhere else. To this an unusual impetus was given by scholars from different countries, who thronged, soon after the opening of the institu tion, to Schnepfenthal. By physical training, and by strengthening the character and intellect, a general and equal development of body and mind were especially aimed at, and, although practical rationalism pervaded the whole institution, darkening a little the deepest sources of true blessings, there still reigned piety, love, and the purity of high moral sense. Under these influences all those noble qualities of Ritter's heart and mind were developed, that distinguished him so much in after days. The future lay dark before him, and he had not decided upon his course in life, but he felt a strong desire to study, of which however there was as yet no prospect. His mother, though married again several years after the death of her first husband to the celebrated pedagogue Zerrenner, was not able to provide for him. But Providence interposed here also. A rich merchant from Frankfurt on the Main, associated with the large firm of Bethmann, Mr. Hollweg, visited the institution at Schnepfenthal and became very much interested in the young Ritter. After hearing of his circumstances, he declared himself willing, on the recommendation of Salzmann, to furnish the necessary means of study, upon the condition however, that Ritter, after the completion of his studies, should enter Hollweg's house as instructor of his children.

So Ritter went, at the age of 17 years, to the University of Halle, and was matriculated November 2, 1796, as studiosus cameralium under the prorectorate of Curt Sprengel. Here he remained for two years. Halle was then the centre of great scientific activity. F. A. Wolf especially was then in the height of his renown. Ritter did not pursue a specific course of studies, as his previous education had not been directed towards that channel, which however he sometimes regretted in later life. He often mentions A. H. Niemeyer, to whose circles he had access, and in whose house he lived, and who exercised upon him. an important influence in improving his mind and inciting him. to farther study. Niemeyer occupied then a prominent place