Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/369

337&#93; FRO the water has exhaled, the ground becomes as hard as before, beiog compressed by the incumbent weight o£the air. — See also Ci *y, p. :;. Nor is the salutary influence of frosty seasons, on the health of mankind, in the least confirmed by the annual bills or' mortality ; as many old and debilitated persons, Whose vital heat is insutiicient to excite into action their vessels, al- ready top unsusceptible of Irritation, die in consequence of long frosts, during severe winters. Birds, and other wild animals, as well as ten- der vegetables, pori.->h benumbed from the same cause. — It deserves, however, to be remarked, that a sharp -dry frost does not affect the human skin with that sensation of chilly and piercing cold which we experience, when the air is loaded with moisture, the temperature of which is near the freezing point. This remarkable difference arises from the intense degree of cold produced by the evaporation of fluids (see p. 236), which conti- nually takes place on the surface of living bodies, where it naturally produces a more perceptible effect, than the simple contact of dry air would occasion, when it is but a few degrees below freezing. To the young and robust, therefore, frost is more pleasing than moist air ; as, in the former, they are able to keep themselves warm by in- creased exercise} which, in the latter, only tends to promote and render die evaporation more severely felt on the skin. For the same rea- son, Dr. Darwi'n observes, se- vere and continued frosts " destroy the children of the poor, who want both food, fire, and clothing in this harsh climate." no, vu. — VOi. if, FRO te& Ti) preserve vegetable roots, as well as fruit, from the effect of cold, tlr- following directions will be sufficient : Dry sand, and cut straw, are eminently adapted to that purpost i itatoes, turnips, onions, bic. should be loosely placed on sand, either under or above ground, and slightly covered with cut straw or chaff j but carrots an 1 parsnips, We are informed, may be kept during the whole winter, by placing them in rows or heaps, so that their tops project at the sides, being tta* reverse of the method followed with turnips when packed in carts. — See also Apples, vol. i* p. 8p. If, notwithstanding these pre- cautions, vegetables should be in- jured by the frost, it will be advi- sable, especially with frozen pota- toes, to immerse them in cold water for a short time, on the ap- proach of a thaw. By this expe- dient, fiie frosty particles are gra- dually extracted, and the vegetat- ing principle is preserved, after the severest season. On the other hand, an intense degree of cold is also attended with some good effects. Thus, aroma- tic spirits possess a weaker flavour when newly distilled, than after they have been kept six or seven months, especially during the win- ter season. Experience has evinced, that this favourable change was produced only by the influence of cold; and M. Baume found, that by immersing quart-bottles filled with liquors, into a mixture of pounded ice and sea-salt, for six or eight hours, the sprit proves as grateful to the palate as that which had been kept for several years. — Geoffroy remarks, that simp'e waters also acquire a more agreea- Z blf