372 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



pores opened, are stretched to their utmost to receive the water. 

 Also, for a few days before a rain, a large and deep indention appears 

 in the H. tliyroideus, beginning on the head between the horns, and 

 ending with the jointure at the shell. The Helices solitaria and 

 zaleta, a few days before a rain, crawl to the most exposed hillside, 

 where, if they arrive before the rain descends, they seek some crevice 

 in the rocks, and then close the aperture of the shell with glutinous 

 substance, which, when the rain approaches they dissolve, and are 

 then seen crawling about. In the Helix albolabris, the tubercles 

 begin to arise after a rain, while before they grew smaller, and at the 

 time of the rain, the body of the snail is filled with cavities to receive 

 the moisture. The H. zaleta, thyroideus and albolabris, move along 

 at the rate of a mile in forty-four hours. They inhabit the most dense 

 forests, and we regard it as a sure indication of a rain to observe them 

 moving towards an exposed situation. The Helices appressa, 

 tridentata, falla, and paliata, indicate the weather not only by exuding 

 fluids, but by the color of the animal. After a rain, the animal has a 

 very dark appearance, but it grows of a brighter color as the water is 

 expended ; while just before the rain, it is of a yellowish white color. 

 Also just before a rain, striee are observed to appear from the point of 

 the head to the jointure of the shell. The superior tentacula are 

 striated, and the sides are covered with tubercles. These Helices 

 move at the rate of a mile in 14 days and 16 hours. If they are 

 observed ascending the cliff, it is a sure indication of a rain. They 

 live in the cavities in the side of cliffs. The Helix hirsuta is of a 

 black color after a rain, but before, it is of a brown, tinged with blue 

 around the edges of the animal. The tentacula are marked by a cross 

 striae, and there is also to be seen, a few days before the rain, an 

 indentation which grows deeper as the rain approaches ; this Helix 

 also exudes fluids, but not with the changes of color of those before 

 mentioned. 



We can also foretell a change of weather by the Wasps and other 

 insects. 



The leaves of trees "are even good barometers ; most of them for 

 a short, light rain, will turn up so as to receive their fill of water ; but 

 for a long rain, they are so doubled as to conduct the water away. 



The Rana, Bufo and Hyla, are also sure indicators of rain, for, as they 

 do not drink water, but absorb it into their bodies, they are sure to be 

 found out at the time they expect rain. 



The Locusta and Gryllus are also good indicators of a storm. A 

 few hours before the rain they are to be found under the leaves of 

 trees and in the hollow trunks. We have many times found them 

 thus, but we have never known the instinct of these little fellows to 

 lead them to unnecessary caution. 



MEDICAL METEOROLOGY. 



Our attention has been drawn to a paper in the Association Medical 

 Journal on Medical Meteorology. The object of the paper is, to draw 



