The Natural History of Selborne

Gathered in a bushel more of dearlings.  Mrs Chandler returns home from the Harteley inoculation.

Cut 81 cucumbers. On this day Mrs Brown was brought to bed at Stamford of twins, making my nephews & nieces 58 in number.  The night following this poor, dear woman dyed, leaving behind her nine young children.

The innoculated at Hartley sicken.

Mrs Clement, & six of her children, four of which are to inoculated, & Mrs Chandler, & her two children the youngest of which is also to undergo the same operation, are rettired to Harteley great house.  Servants & all, some of which are to be inoculated also, they make 14 in a family.

Lime trees are fragrant: the golden tassels are beautiful. Dr Chandler tells us that in the south of France, an infusion of the blossoms of the lime-tree, tilia, is in much esteem as a remedy for coughs, hoarseness, fevers, &c., & that at Nismes he saw an avenue of limes that was quite ravaged & torn to pieces by people greedily gathering the bloom, which they dryed & kept for their purposes. Upon the strength of this information we made some tea of lime-blossoms, & found it a very soft, well-flavoured, pleasant, saccharine julep, in taste much resembling the juice of liquorice.

Many people are sick.

Some workmen, reapers, are made sick by the heat.  Much wheat bound. Some housed by John Carpenter.

My apples, pears, & potatoes secured in the cellar, & kitchen-closet; my meat in the cellar.  Severe frost, & deep snow.  Several men, that were much abroad, made sick by the cold; their hands, & feet were frozen.  We hung-out two thermometers, one made by Dollond, & one by B: Martin: the latter was graduated only to 4 below ten, or 6 degrees short of zero: so that when the cold became intense, & our remarks interesting, the mercury went all into the ball, & the instrument was of no service.

Many people are tyed-up about the head, on account account of tooth-aches, & face-aches.

The disorder seems rather to abate in these parts.  Some few sufferers have had relapses.