ARTIFICIAL RAINS. 515 



gan to smile ; but we had not walked one mile northward 

 towards our lodgings, (which was nearly two miles north 

 of the clearing,) before it clouded over and began to rain a 

 little, and at nine o'clock that evening, we had a gentle 

 shower, sufficient to extinguish the fire, and then the rain 

 ceased. Respectfully, I remain thy friend, 



SAMUEL WEBB. 



To Professor James P. Espy. 



216. The battle of Dresden, fought on the 26th and 27th 

 of August: " On the 27th, the battle was renewed under 

 torrents of rain, and amid a tempest of wind." [Scott's 

 Napoleon, chap. 27, p. 190. 



The battle of Ligny, fought on the 16th June: " Af- 

 ter the battle the weather was dreadful, as the rain fell 

 in torrents ; but this so far favored the British, by ren- 

 dering the ploughed fields impracticable for horse, so that 

 their march was protected from the attacks of the French 

 cavalry." [Scott's Nap. chap. 47, p. 323. 



The tempest after the battle of Ligny, on the 16th, con- 

 tinued to rage with tropical violence till the morning of the 

 18th, and it continued gusty and stormy all day of 18th. 

 p. 326. 



The battle of Eylau, fought on the 8th February: 

 "The action commenced at daybreak. Two strong col- 

 umns of French advanced for the purpose of turning the 

 right and storming the centre of the Russians. But they 

 were repulsed in great disorder : the Russian infantry stood 

 like stone ramparts and kept back the enemy with a heavy 

 and well sustained fire from their artillery. About mid- 

 day a heavy storm of snow commenced falling, which ad- 

 ded to the obscurity caused by the smoke from the burning 

 village of Serpallen." [Scott's Nap. 



217. Capper, on Monsoons, page 171, says: At Madras, 



