CABINET OF NATURE,

FOR THE YEAR.

JANUARY.

"Stern Winter's icy breath, intensely keen,
Now chills the blood and withers every green ;
Bright shines the azure sky serenely fair ;
Or driving snows obscure the turbid air."

ON the first of this month, we, in common with most civilized nations, date the commencement of the year.

In the month of January, the weather in these islands is commonly, either a clear dry frost, or fog and snow, occasionally intermingled with rain. Nothing can be more wonderful than the effects of frost, which in the space of a few hours, arrests the running stream in its course, and converts the lake, that was curled by every breeze, into a firm plain. Water, when frozen, is expanded ; that is, it takes up more room than before. This property of frost produces a benefi-
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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Schoolbooks were not provided by the schools when this book was printed in 1817. Parents had to purchase books for their children from a list of books approved by their local District School Committee. Because the books were expensive, they were often passed down through the family. Schoolbooks were profitable for printers in New England and New York; the northeast took the lead in the public education movements of the early Republic.

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