The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-08 00:00:00

THE WEATHER.

This is the coldest day we have had since the frost set
in on the 13th of December. Yesterday morning, at four
o'clock, the thermometer in the Zoological Gardens Re-
gent's Park, stood at 11 deg. Fahrenheit, being the same
tempeiature asjon Christmas at midnight at the same place
At Hackney, at seven o'clock the thermometer was 17
deg., and at nine o'clock stood 15 deg., the wind being
north, and rather inclining to the west. At noon, and at
four in the afternoon, a thermometer at Charing-cross in-
dicated 28 deg. Fahrenheit. The atmosphere was hazy
at, and after, noon, but gave no indications of a change in
the weather. The roads were slippery, and most of the
suburban omnibuses and other vehicles had extra horses
attached•to them. Although the external thermometer
at the Zoological Gardens indicated so low a degree of
temperature, in the giraffe-house the thermometer averaged
from 52 deg. to 54 deg. ; in the elephant-house, 44 deg.
to 45 deg. ; in the repository, 50 deg. to 53 deg. ; and
the monkey-house, 49 deg. to 52 deg. ; these being found
most conducive to the general health of the animals. It is
feared that this severe weather will prove very destructive
to many of the half-hardy and aeclimat:sed shrubs and
trees in our public gardens, many of which have scarcely
recovered from the effects of the winter of 1837-38.
In some places the Thames is frozen over. We have a
dense fog, as we had yesterday, which renders the naviga-
tion of the river exceedingly difficult, especially below
bridge. A number of collisions took place amongst the
craft yesterday. The bows of a fishing smack, called the
Dart, belonging to Gainsborough, came in contact with
the stern of' a collier brig, moored in Limehouse-reach,
and carried away a portion of her bulwarks ; the fishing
smack was also much injured. The crowded state of the
Pool, in addition to the fog, proved a serious inconvenience
to vessels passing up and down. The fields of ice which
Lad accumulated below bridge during the frost have,
within the last few days, almost entirely disappeared, and
the steam-boats which usually land their passengers at
London-bridge wharf, but which during the frost have
only come up to Blackwell, have resumed their old land-
ing place. Above bridge, 'particularly off Battersea,
Wandsworth, Twickenham, and higher up, a good deal of
ice is still floating about. Should the present frost con-
tinue a few days longer, the navigation of the river will
again be greatly impeded.
The thunderstorm of last Sunday seems to hare been
general throughout the country.

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MARCII OF DRUNKENNESS.—Out of twelve
charges brought up at Bow-street yesterday morning,
eleven were for being found drunk on the previous night;
eight were discharged with an admonition, and three were
fined ss. One gentleman gave ss. more to be put into
the poor-box, as he had some valuable property about
him when he was found by the policeman.
Brutes far surpass man in both the ordinary re-
newal of the integuments and appendages, and in the ex-
traordinary restoration of decayed organs. The horse pe- 1
riodically sheds its hair, the bird its feathers, the stag its
horns, the serpent its cuticle, the lobster its shell and
the teeth which are in its stomach. The fall of the leaves
of trees is an analagous circumstance. Insects not only
change their coats frequently, but undergo complete me-
tamorphoses ; are first worms, then grubs, end finally
winged beings. The crystalline lens extracted from a
healthy eye is speedily reproduced in cats, dogs, and rab-
bits, and probably in other brutes. Tho extraordinary
reproductive power of sonic brutes is almost incredible.
A lobster can reproduce a claw ; a water newt an extre-
mity. Blumenbach actually observed the reproduction of
the whole head with its four horns in a snail, and the corn.
plete eye—cornea, iris, crystalline lens, &c.—in a water-
newt. Besides greater powers of reproduction than. man,
brutes generally possess greater also of reparatioa—will
survive injuries which would prove fatal to us, perhaps
dnuer any circumstances, or at least without great 'tare.—
Elliotson's Human Physiology.