PROVING THE RULE 



at the moment, we may be blessed or 

 cursed. Heat, cold, rain, blue skies or 

 cloudy, are likelier to be followed by their 

 kind than their opposites. The winter 

 that sets in early lasts long, and the cold is 

 severe. When the autumn is warm, and 

 lingers late, you may look for a mild win- 

 ter. A great depth of snow is apt to draw 

 a wet summer in its train. 



Meteorology does not traffic in certain- 

 ties; errors attend day by day predictions, 

 and the chances of mistake increase in high 

 ratio as events become remoter, but this 

 habit of the weather asserts itself with suf- 

 ficient constancy to give rise to expecta- 

 tions of measurable value. Make a test, if 

 you will, by remarking the sequels of 

 recent winters and summers. 



We pay too great compliment to musk- 

 rat and squirrel, if we credit them with a 

 foresight which they turn intelligently to 

 account. An easier hypothesis satisfies the 

 facts. Fur and feather thicken, hoards are 

 gathered, houses strengthened against the 

 frost, precisely when the need arises, and 

 not till then. The hard winter is soon upon 

 us, and its first breath sets all these natural 

 processes a-going; so do they extend over 

 a longer time, with larger results. The 

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