By the Rev. A. C. Smith. 69 
farther West he went, he was more and more convinced that the 
wise men came from the East ! ” 
Now let me in conclusion assure the inhabitants of Wiltshire that 
the almanack makers know nothing about it, and that the time is 
not yet come, when . 
‘“‘ Careful observers might foretell the hour 
By sure prognostics when to dread a shower.” 
If they rely on the almanack makers, or the moon, and leave their 
umbrella at home in consequence, they will infallibly be drenched, 
as they deserve to be: whereas if they listen to the experience of 
__ the labourer or the shepherd ; still better, if they use their own eyes 
: and judgments, and observe the sky, and the clouds, and the wind ; 
not forgetting the plain lessons read to them by many branches of 
the animal world, in this particular, they will rarely be led astray. 
~ he signs to be derived from the animal world are very numerous 
and very reliable; and are much observed amongst our people in 
consequence. As examples of the most common in this county they 
é will tell you that seldom indeed will a wet day be found to follow, 
__ when in the morning cows are seen lying down in their pastures ; 
still more seldom when rooks are noticed high in the air, or swallows 
are seen at a great height hawking after flies : but rarest of all when 
three white butterflies are seen together, in the garden or field; the 
latter a sure sign of a fine day which I have hardly ever known to 
fail. They will tell you on the other hand that when the distant 
downs look near ; ' or the Common Plover or Peewit, which frequents 
our downs in such numbers, becomes restless; or the bees hurry 
















_ gulls make their appearance so far inland; or pigs carry straw in 
their mouths; or insects fly low; rain is at hand. 
These are but samples of many similar instances of unfailing in- 
= 
- 1 Darwin, in his “Zoonomia,” thinks the presence of vapour in the air in- 
creases its transparency, on the same principle as saturating a white opaque 
sheet of paper with oil renders it transparent. 
