The minimum temperature of the external air during the night of January 10-11 was 18°·392 F., and that of the glacière 19°·76 F.[[219]] During the preceding night, the minimum in the cave was 22°·442 F., which may throw some light upon the difference between the temperatures at 7.16 P.M. on the 9th, and at 4 P.M. on the 10th.
M. Thury bored a hole, of about 10 inches in depth, in the flooring of ice, and placed a thermometer in it, at 12.25 P.M., closing it up with cotton. At 2.55 P.M., and at 4.7. P.M., the thermometer marked the same temperature, namely, 26°·24 F.
M. Thury's views on glacières in general, based upon the details of the three which he has visited, are much the same as those which I have expressed. He has, however, more belief than I in 'cold currents.'
FOOTNOTES:
In this neighbourhood, the montagne of any commune is represented by the feminine form of the name of the village: thus, L'Arzière is the montagne of Arzier, and La Bassine of Bassin.
This has a curious effect in the case of some villages—such, for instance, as S. Georges—one of the landmarks of the district between the lakes of Joux and Geneva being the Châlet de la S. Georges, a grammatical anomaly which puzzles a stranger descending the southernmost slope of the Jura from the Asile de Marchairuz. This law of formation is not universal; for the montagnes of Rolle and S. Livres are called the Prè de Rolle and the Prè de S. Livres, while the Fruitière de Nyon is the rich upland possession of the town of that name.
Probably a relic of the time when the earlier Barons of Coppet possessed this district. The families of Grandson, Lesdiguières, and Dohna successively held the barony; and in later times the title de Coppet hid a name more widely known, for on the Châlet of Les Biolles, some distance to the east of La Baronne, the name of Auguste de Staël de Holstein de Coppet is carved, after the fashion of Swiss châlets. This was Madame de Staël's son, who built Biolles in 1817; it was afterwards sold to the commune of Nyon, and finally purchased by Arzier two or three years ago.