l JS() OBSERVATIONS ON THE YVEAfHEll. 



r.'nHs drcfs thsir Birds in general retain in the quill part of their feathers a 

 f fathers agamft q Uan tity of oil, which when they feel an extraordinary degree 

 of moifture in the atinofphere, they exprefs, by means of their 

 bills, and diftribute it over their feathers, lo fecure their bo- 

 dies againftthe effects of an approaching (bower, 

 andfwallows fly Swallows in purfait of the flies and infects, on which they 

 prey, keep near the earth in wet weather ; and in dry wea- 

 ther, from the fame caufe, they fly much higher. 

 Cattle feed haf- Domeftic animals, as cows and (heep, but particularly the 

 ftclter" g ° taUer, on the approach of rain, feed with great avidity in the 

 open field, and retire near the trees and hedges as foon as 

 they are fatisfied. In fine weather they graze and lounge 

 about, eating and refting alternately with apparent indiffe- 

 rence. 

 The pimpernel The pimpernel, commonly called peep-a-day, or fhepherd's 

 muc?affeft"d weathei '-glafs, clofes its leaves before rain ; and the down of 

 by the approach the dandelion is much affected by moifture. 

 of wet weather. All WQod ^ eyen the harde ft and mo fl. fo^ f we U s i n mo ift 



Wo^d work weather. The vapours infinuate themfelves into the pores of 



trees, and alfo into the wood-work of houfes. 

 Infe&s alter Infects and reptiles of all kinds feek or avoid rain accord- 



v ! ar!ous n wa dt s . m in S to their refpecfive habits, by thefe means giving notice of 



every change of weather. 

 The drains emit It is a well known fact, that before rain, particularly in 

 fummer, a ftrong fmell is perceived from drains and common 

 fewers, as well as from every other body emitting a great 

 beca-fe the air quantity of effluvia. During fair weather, even in the fummer, 

 thevapors. tne atmofphere readily abforbs all the vapours and exhalations 



from the earth until it is completely faturated, and confe- 

 On this futjefl fee quently the effluvia from the bodies which emit them, will 

 Fbilos. Journal, ^ e ' n ^ Q con fi ne d anc j a fcend in a narrow compafs, like the 

 fmoke of a chimney in dry weather, almoft perpendicularly ; 

 but when the air is faturated with moifture, and becomes ra- 

 refied and expanded, as it always does before rain, the vo- 

 lume of air containing the effluvia will be extended horizon- 

 tally, and diverge from thefe different bodies as from a centre, 

 and will be fenfibly perceived on all fides, but will of courfe 

 be mod perceptible on that to which the current of air or wind 

 moves. 

 Vapors feen in In winter, when the thermometer is between 34 and 40 

 winter over wa- degree, the air being in a ftate of condenfation, and the 



running 



