STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 407 



UNMISTAKABLE SIGNS. 



As the sky becomes overcast with a light vail of cirrus clouds, with halos 

 and rings about the sun and moon, the barometer begins to fall, slowly 

 but steadily. The atmosphere loses its pleasant freshness and seems very 

 heavy, hot, and moist. Dark red and violet tints are seen at the rising and 

 setting of the sun, deepening in intensity day by day. Soon the cloud 

 bank of the storm appears on the horizon like a distant mountain range, 

 the barometer falls more rapidly, the wind freshens, and the first nimbus 

 and cumulus clouds appear, with light squalls and passing showers. 



GENERAL RULES. 



Watch carefully for the earliest indications of the approaching hur- 

 ricane; constantly and carefully observe and record the barometer, ther- 

 mometers, wind, and weather. When one is evidently approaching, heave- 

 to, carefully make and record your observations every half hour, or even 

 more frequently; make every effort to find the probable bearing of the 

 center, direction in which the storm is moving, and the semicircle you are 

 in. Unless you heave-to when thus observing the fall of the barometer and 

 the shifts of wind, you may be led into serious error; a fast steamer, for 

 instance, may run into the dangerous side of a hurricane and yet get shifts 

 of wind characteristic of the navigable semicircle. Any attempt to cross the 

 storm track is dangerous, but should you decide that it must be attempted, 

 crowd sail and keep the wind well on the starboard quarter, if in the North- 

 ern Hemisphere, or on the port quarter, if in the Southern Hemisphere. If 

 obliged to lie-to, always do so on the coming-up tack; in the dangerous 

 semicircle this will be the starboard tack in northern latitudes, and the 

 port tack in southern latitudes ; the ship will head away from the center, 

 and you should make all the headway you can; in the navigable semicircle 

 it will be the port tack in northern latitudes, and the starboard tack in 

 southern latitudes; the ship will head toward the center, and you should 

 make as little headway as possible. In scudding, always keep the wind 

 on the starboard quarter, if in northern latitudes, but on the port quarter 

 if in southern latitudes, in order to run out of the storm. So long as the 

 barometer continues to fall the center is getting nearer; when it steadies 

 and begins to rise, this marks the nearest point, and here the shifts of wind 

 will be most sudden and violent, and the sea highest and most confused. 

 If when lying-to the wind begins to shift in a direction opposite to what it 

 did at first, it is evident that the storm track is recurving, and that your 

 semicircle has changed. Immediate action must be taken to suit the new 

 conditions. But if your vessel is making any great headway, it may give 

 you a shift of wind contrary to what you would have if lying-to. This must 

 be borne in mind. In West Indian hurricanes cool weather is characteristic 

 of the navigable semicircle, owing to the indraft from the northwestward; 

 warm weather, on the contrary, indicates the dangerous semicircle, where 

 the air is drawn in from the southeastward. 



There are two cyclone currents to be considered — a current moving in a 

 circular direction around the center, caused by the wind, and a current 

 which follows the storm along its track. These vary considerably with 

 different storms, but should always be taken into account when near the 

 coast. 



The rule for the determination of the semicircle is the same for both 

 hemispheres; if the wind~ shifts to the right, that is, from north towards 

 east, from east toward south, and so on, you are in the right semicircle; if 



