MOON AND WEATHER COMPARED. 



influence of the lunar phases on the quantity of rain and on the 

 clearness of the atmosphere. From observations continued for 

 sixteen years at Augsburg, including 199 lunations, he obtained 

 the following results : 



In this table, by a clear day, is meant suck days as exhibited a 

 cloudless sky at seven in the morning, and at two and nine 

 o'clock in the afternoon ; those that were not clear at these 

 hours, were counted as cloudy days. These results are in 

 accordance with the former. It appears that the number of clear 

 days is more frequent in the last quarter, which is an epoch at 

 which, by the former method of inquiry, the number of rainy 

 days was least ; also the number of cloudy days is greatest at the 

 second octant, which is a period at which the number of rainy 

 days are found to be greatest ; the depth of rain also agrees 

 with this, being the greatest about the second octant, and least 

 at the last quarter. Schiibler extended his inquiries to the 

 influence of the moon's distance on rain ; and he found that, on 

 examining 371 passages of the moon through the positions of her 

 extreme limits of distance, during the seven days nearest to 

 perigee it rained 1,169 times ; and during the seven days nearest 

 apogee it rained 1,096 times. Thus, cceteris paribits, the nearer is 

 the moon to the earth the greater would be the chances for rain. 



From all that has been stated, it can scarcely be denied that 

 there exists some correspondence between the prevalence of rain 

 and the phases of the moon. What that exact correspondence 

 is, remains for more extended and accurate observations to inform 

 us ; but meanwhile it may be safely affirmed that it is not such 

 as to constitute a prognostic in any sense approaching to that in 

 which it has been popularly adopted. That some extremely 

 small excess of rain falls during the four days which precede the 

 day of full moon, and a correspondingly small defect during the 

 four days which precede the day of new moon, seems to be 

 to a certain degree probable. But this pluvial variation is so 

 minute in its amount, even supposing it real and general, as to 

 be utterly imperceptible by any means of popular observation, 

 and therefore practically inapplicable as a prognostic. 



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