It was amusing to observe the eager excitement with which every one received the latest intelligence regarding the state of the thermometer, and when it was announced that the "lowest on record" had been registered, there was a general shout of exultation. During the intense cold several experiments were tried by exposing various substances to its influence, and with the following results. Glycerine, on which a temperature of -50° had little effect, became, at -70°, perfectly solid and quite transparent. Rectified spirits of wine became of the consistency of hair-oil. Concentrated rum, 40° over-proof, froze hard when exposed in a shallow vessel like a saucer, but when in a large quantity it resembled honey or molasses in consistency. Whiskey froze hard, and we actually broke off bits and ate it! In consequence of this latter proceeding we have since our return to England been, not without reason, accused of "hard drinking," an accusation we are, of course, unable to refute! Chloroform was the only substance on which the low temperature had no apparent effect. Our temperatures were obtained by taking the mean of ten thermometers that were exposed, to which result was applied the corrections from Kew for each instrument. These had been ascertained when the instruments were tested at the Kew observatory before leaving England. The corrections and errors of the instruments could, of course, only be approximately ascertained after the freezing-point of mercury had been passed, as there was nothing beyond that with which the spirit could be compared. The slightest impurity of the spirit used, or the presence of even the most minute portions of extraneous matter in it, would no doubt seriously affect the accuracy of the observation. As an instance of the range exhibited by these instruments, it may be interesting to know that one thermometer indicated as low a temperature as -82°, while, _at the same time_, another showed only -60°; but by applying the errors deduced at Kew, the result was as nearly as possible the same. I think that the minimum temperature recorded by us was, if not absolutely correct, as nearly so as it was possible to arrive at. Although we never again experienced such a severe burst of cold as we did during the first few days of March, the temperature remained extraordinarily low, and mercury was in a frozen state during nearly the whole of that month. The presence of the sun appeared to have little effect on the temperature, but thermometers exposed to its rays would frequently rise as high as zero, and sometimes above that point. The difference of temperature at the summit and at the base of Cairn Hill, whose height, as has been stated, was four hundred and fifty feet, was 5½°, the thermometer rising as the hill was ascended, and falling again as it was brought down.