WEB 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



WEB 



799 



And when two such clouds rise, one on each hand, it is high 

 time to make haste to shelter. When a cloud is seen to rise 

 against the wind, or the side-wind, it is a sure sign that when 

 the cloud comes up near you, the wind will blow the way 

 in which the cloud came. It is the same, too, with the 

 motion of a clear place in the sky, when all the parts of it 

 are thick, except one edge. At all times when the clouds 

 look black in the west, it is sure to rain ; or if raining, it is 

 sure to continue, whatever quarter the wind may be in : and 

 that, on the contrary, if it should break in the west, it is 

 sure to be fair ; and fair weather for a week with the wind 

 at south, is likely to produce a great drought. The wind 

 usually turns from north to south quietly, but comes back 

 to north strong and with rain. Sudden rain never lasts 

 long; but when the air grows thick by degrees, and the sun 

 or moon and stars shine dimmer, it is likely to rain for some 

 time. When it begins to rain from the south with a high 

 wind for two or three hours, and then the wind falls, but the 

 rain continues, it is likely to rain twelve hours or more, and 

 generally rains until a strong north wind clears the atmo- 

 sphere. When it begins to rain an hour or two before 

 sun-rising, it is likely to be fair before noon, and to continue 

 so all day; but if the rain begin an hour or two after sun- 

 rising, it is likely to rain all day, unless the rainbow be seen 

 before it rains. When mists rise in low ground, and soon 

 disappear, it is a sign that there will be fair weather; but 

 when they rise to the hill-tops, there will be rain in a day 

 or two. A general mist before the sun rises, when near the 

 time of full moon, is a sign of fair weather. When there are 

 mists in the new moon, there will be rain in the old; and if 

 there be mists in the old moon, there will be rain in the new. 

 When the sun rises fiery and red, there will be wind and 

 min ; but when it rises cloudy, and when the clouds soon 

 disappear or lessen, there will be fair weather. With re- 

 spect to the seasons, as spring and summer; when the last 

 eighteen days of February, and the first ten days of the 

 following month, are for the most part rainy, the spring and 

 summer may be concluded likely to be so too; and it is also 

 observed, that all the great droughts have begun about that 

 time. With respect to winter, when the end of October and 

 the beginning of the following month are mostly warm and 

 rainy, the two beginning months of the new year are likely 

 to be frosty and cold, except after a very dry summer: but 

 when October and the following months are snowy and frosty, 

 the two beginning months of the new year will probably prove 

 open and mild. Mr. Kirwan gives, from his own observations, 

 the following probable conjectures of the weather: When 

 there has been no storm before or after the vernal equinox, 

 the ensuing summer is generally dry: when a storm happens 

 from any easterly point, either on the 19th, 20th, or 21st of 

 March, the succeeding summer is generally dry : or when a 

 storm arises in the 25th, 26th, or 27th of March, and not 

 before, in any point, the summer is also generally dry. It' 

 there be a storm at S. W. or W. S. W. on the 19th, 20th, 

 '21st, or 22d of March, the succeeding summer is generally 

 wet. Something may be drawn from the habits, cries, and 

 course of animals, in respect of the weather. In summer, 

 when sheep rise early in the morning, it indicates, as a sure 

 sign, either rain or a very hot day : and in all seasons, when 

 they jump and play much about, it is an indication of rain 

 and wind in summer, and of storms in winter. When the 

 sheep lie under a hedge in winter, and seem loath to go off 

 to pasture, bleating much, it is considered as prognosticating 

 a tempest. When sheep are fed with hay in the winter, 

 and leave it in frosty and snowy weather, it is a certain sign 

 of the frost's departure. When rabbits get out to feed early 

 VOL. n. 132. 



in the morning, it is a sign of rain in the night in summer, 

 and of either rain or snow in winter; and when they get 

 home before dark, it will be a bad night. Hogs appear very 

 uneasy before high winds, and run about squeaking as if 

 they were in great pain. When owls screech, it is a certain 

 sign of rain, generally near at hand ; as is also the cry of 

 peacocks and woodpeckers: hence they are sometimes called 

 rain-fowl. When cocks begin to crow while it rains, it is a 

 sign of fair weather. Before a very wet summer, swans and 

 bitterns build their nests very high, and very low before a 

 dry summer. When a raven is observed early in the morning 

 soaring round and round at a great height in the air, it is a 

 sure sign that the day will be fine, and that the weather is 

 likely to set in fair. In summer the bat foretells a fine day 

 by flitting about late in the preceding evening. When the 

 swallows fly high, it indicates warm and fair weather ; but 

 when low, and dipping the tips of their wings in water, the 

 weather is likely to be rainy ; of which the continued squalling 

 of Guinea-fowl, and the quacking of ducks and geese, are cer 

 tain signs. The missel thrush sings particularly loud before 

 great storms, and continues to do so until the rain begins ; 

 hence it is sometimes called the storm-fowl. In autumn, 

 when flocks of wild geese are seen flying over in a westerly 

 direction, it foreruns hard weather. The early appearance of 

 the woodcock and fieldfare also indicates cold hard winters. 

 When in the time of hay-making the black snails are to be 

 seen stretched along the swathe of the grass, it is a sign of 

 rain ; as it also is when frogs look black instead of a golden 

 yellow colour, and croak hoarsely. In autumn, when the dor- 

 beetle is flying about in the evening, the next day generally 

 turns out fine: but when bees keep in their hives, and do not 

 go out as usual, it is a sign of rain. Conclusions with re- 

 spect to the weather may also be drawn from vegetables : 

 most plants expand their flowers and down in sunshiny wea- 

 ther, and close them up against rain, and toward the even- 

 ing, especially at the commencement of their flowering, when 

 the seeds are delicate and tender. This is exemplified in the 

 down of Dandelion, and especially in the flowers of Pimper- 

 nel, the opening and shutting of which assists the country 

 people to foretell the weather of the following day. The rule 

 is, when the flowers are close shut up, it betokens rain and 

 foul weather, but the contrary when they are expanded. 

 The stalks of most plants swell, and become more upright, 

 against rain, particularly that of the Trefoil, noticed by 

 Lord Bacon. It is by no means difficult to conceive that 

 vegetables should be affected by the same causes as the wea- 

 ther; they may be considered as so many hygrometers and 

 thermometers, consisting of an infinite number of air-vessels, 

 by which they have an immediate communication with the 

 air or atmosphere, and partake of all its changes. Upon this 

 principle it is, that all wood, even the hardest and most solid, 

 swells in moist weather; the humid vapours easily insinuating 

 themselves into its pores, especially in the lighter and drier 

 kinds, which thereby become applicable to many purposes 

 of art, and may tend in some instances to shew the change 

 of the weather; concerning which the attentive farmer should 

 store up in his mind as many rules as possible, as they 

 will greatly assist him in the performance of his various 

 business. 



Webera; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Monogy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth superior, 

 of one leaf, divided half way down into five erect, acute, 

 permanent segments. Corolla: of one petal, funnel-shaped; 

 tube cylindrical, longer than the calix ; limb in five ovate- 

 oblong reflexed segments ; nectary a fleshy ring surrounding 

 the base of the style. Stamina : filamenta five, very shork 

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