WEATHER PROPHECIES. i 49 



pursuing their prey in the American woods ere Asia and Europe had 

 risen from their baptism under the sea. 



And not zoological only, but may we not read, in this " compre- 

 hensive type," a geological prophecy also, that, in the far-off future, 

 our continent shall again sink into the transforming waters, when His 

 behest cometh, who maketh all things new ? 







WEATHER PROPHECIES. 



THE science of the weather may be said to have sprung up within 

 the last half century, and we must not therefore wonder that, until 

 very recently, meteorological science has rather been concerned with 

 the weather as it has been, than in prophesying what kind of weather 

 may be expected. Indeed, this is almost the case at the present day ; 

 for, were it not for the telegraph, storm-signals would be of little avail. 

 Much was gained when, from the conclusions drawn from a large num- 

 ber of observations, a storm could be telegraphed from any place as 

 coming, instead of as happened. This stage of the science is perhaps 

 as far as can be usually attained in the present day ; in some future 

 time, from the careful study of the laws, it may be possible to predict, 

 with average certainty, the state of the weather from day to day, or 

 even for several days to come. It remains to be seen how far this 

 power has been attained ; and it may not be uninteresting to notice, in 

 passing, the very unstable ground upon which weather predictions 

 were founded before meteorology included this second division. 



Whether we take as type the old dame's faith in the gambols of 

 her cat, the high flight of some birds and the low flight of others, the 

 " camel " in the clouds, or the chirruping of grasshoppers, we have 

 much the same arbitrary system, or, rather, want of system, although 

 these signs may not be without some definite cause, more or less 

 remotely connected with coming changes in the weather. In many 

 country places it is common to hear it remarked that " the rain will 

 soon clear up, for the birds are singing ; " the coming change is per- 

 haps already sensible to their more delicate organization. There is 

 also the appearance of the clouds ; and to this indication even the 

 lamented Sir John Herschel attached somewhat of a reliance, in that 

 " anvil-shaped clouds " portended a gale of wind. But, as a rule, the 

 moon may be considered to hold the first place of influence upon 

 weather predictions. Halos round the moon are the phenomena most 

 commonly observed, and are readily explained by the laws of the re- 

 flection of light from the particles of aqueous vapor suspended in the 

 atmosphere. When these halos are colored, we may infer the presence 

 of watery particles in the higher regions of the atmosphere; when the 



