A YEAR IN THE FIELDS 



are on the crest of the wave, and the de- 

 pression follows quickly. It often happens 

 that clouds are not so indicative of a storm 

 as the total absence of clouds. In this state 

 of the atmosphere the stars are unusually 

 numerous and bright at night, which is also 

 a bad omen. 



I find this observation confirmed by 

 Humboldt. "It appears," he says, "that 

 the transparency of the air is prodigiously 

 increased when a certain quantity of water 

 is uniformly diffused through it." Again, 

 he says that the mountaineers of the Alps 

 " predict a change of weather when, the air 

 being calm, the Alps covered with perpetual 

 snow seem on a sudden to be nearer the 

 observer, and their outlines are marked 

 with great distinctness on the azure sky." 

 He further observes that the same condition 

 of the atmosphere renders distant sounds 

 more audible. 



There is one redness in the east in the 

 morning that means storm, another that 

 means wind. The former is broad, deep, 

 and angry ; the clouds look like a huge bed 

 of burning coals just raked open ; the latter 

 is softer, more vapory, and more widely ex- 

 tended. Just at the point where the sun is 

 184 



