first capital amounting nearly to four degrees; but this difference falls
chiefly upon the winter. The mean temperature of the six winter
months in the two capitals is as follows:
In Stockholm ................ 2 0 *4°
In Petersburg................. 21*9
Difference................ 7'5
Here the difference in favour o f Stockholm is not less than seVen and
half degrees. The summer six months on the other hand give the following
results:
In Stockholm ................ 54*4°
In Petersburg................. 52*4
Difference.. . . . . . . 2
Here the difference amounts only upon the whole to two degrees.
It appears from the table that the mean heat of July and August, the
two warmest summer months, is greater in Petersburg than in Stockholm.
The mean o f these in the two capitals is as follows:
In Stockholm. . . . . . . . 6 l *25°
In Petersburg . 6 3 -05
Here the difference in favour o f Petersburg is 1 *8°.
W e see from the table that there are seven months in the year, from
April to October inclusive, when the thermometer stands at a mean
above the freezing point; and five months when the mean temperature
is below the freezing point. The coldest month in the year is January,
the mean temperature o f which is 24°; the hottest month July, the
mean temperature o f which is 64°.
The winter in Sweden is considered by the inhabitants as peculiarly
pleasant. The country is covered with snow for several months; and
the thermometer never rises ahove the freezing point. The roads are
always diy. And as winter in that climate is not accompanied with
violent winds, travelling is both rapid and agreeable, as the travellers
are able to keep themselves warm by means o f clothing. All persons
without exception, with whom I have conversed on the subject, declare
that they consider the winter in Sweden as much more pleasant
than in Great Britain. Our weather is seldom very cold: indeed the
thermometer, even during winter, is much more frequently above the
freezing point than below it. The consequence of this, and o f the
frequCnt rains which fall, is that the roads and streets are almost
always wet and disagreeable, and much walking exceedingly inconvenient.
The summer in Sweden is in general pleasant. June, July, and
August may be considered as the summer months, and the weather at
that season, as far as the feeling is concerned, is as hot as in Great
Britain. The greatest height to which the thermometer rises in Stockholm
is 8 4%' The month of October must be classed with the summer
months, and April with the winter.
That the temperature of Skonia is higher than that of Stockholm, is
sufficiently obvious from the plants which grow in both places; but I
have never had an opportunity o f drawing an accurate comparison between
them, as I have never seen any register o f the weather kept in
the south o f Sweden. The temperature o f the northern parts o f
Sweden has been sufficiently explained in a preceding chapter.
From the flatness of the country, the smallness o f the rivers, and the
apparent diminution o f the lakes, there is reason to believe that the
quantity o f rain which falls annually in Sweden is not great. This
agrees with the registers which I have seen. The following little table
exhibits the depth of rain in English inches, which falls annually in the
southern, middle, and northern districts o f Sweden:
Rain.
L u n d ........................................ 18-2Q inches.
Upsala..................................... 15*37
Uleaborg.................................. 14*35
From this table it would appear that the mean quantity o f rain which
falls annually in Sweden, amounts only to l6 inches. But the places
selected lie all towards the east coast. It is prohable that on the west