WEATHER. 



WEATHER. 



agitated, and express its feelings in violent 

 convulsive starts at the top of the glass. It is 

 remarkable, that however fine and serene the 

 weather may be, and to our senses no indica- 

 tion of a coming change, either from the sky, 

 the barometer,-or any olher cause, yet, if the 

 leech shifts its position, or moves about slug- 

 gishly, the coincident results will undoubtedly 

 occur within 26 hours. 



Signs of Rain. Although we have incident- 

 ally glanced already at some of these indica- 

 tions, it may be well to sum them up in a body, 

 as being more easy of reference. 



A white mist in the evening over a meadow 

 or a river dispersed by the sun next morning, 

 indicates that the day will be bright. Five or 

 six fogs, successively, portend rain. Where 

 there are high hills, and the mist which hangs 

 over the lower land draws toward the hills in 

 the morning, and rolls up to the top, it will be 

 fair; but if the mist hangs upon the hills, and 

 drags along the woods, there will be rain soon. 

 A general mist before the sun rises is a sign 

 of fair weather. 



Against much rain, the clouds grow bigger 

 and increase very fast, especially before thun- 

 der. When the clouds are formed like fleeces, 

 but dense in the middle, bright towards the 

 edge, with the sky bright, they are signs of a 

 frost, with hail, snow, or rain. If clouds breed 

 high in the air, in the white train like locks of 

 wool, they portend wind, and probably rain. 

 When a general cloudiness covers the sky, 

 and small black fragments of clouds fly un- 

 derneath, they are sure signs of rain, and pro- 

 bably it will be lasting. Two currents of 

 clouds generally .portend rain, and in summer 

 thunder. 



If the dew lies plentifully on the grass after 

 a fair day, it is a sign of another fine day. If 

 not, and there is no wind, rain will follow. A 

 red evening portends fair weather; but if 

 spread too far upward from the horizon in the 

 evening, and especially morning, it foretells 

 wind or rain, or both. When the sky in rainy 

 weather is.tinged with sea-green, the rain-will 

 increase; if deep blue, it will be showery. 



If there be a haziness in the air, which fades 

 the sun's light, and makes, the orb appear 

 whitish or ill-defined; oral night, if the moon 

 and stars grow dim, and a ring encircles the 

 former, rain must follow. If the sun appears 

 white at setting, or goes down into a bank of 

 clouds in the -horizon, bad weather is expected. 

 If the moon looks pale and dim, we expect 

 rain ; if red, wind ; and if the natural. colour, 

 with a clear sky, fair weather. If the setting 

 sun appears yellower gold colour, and parti- 

 cularly if accompanied with purple streaks, 

 the following day will be fine. 



If the wind veers about much, rain is pretty 

 sure. If, in changing, it follows the course of 

 the sun, it brings fair weather; the contrary, 

 foul. Whistling or howling of the wind is 'a 

 sure sign of rain. 



The aurora borealis, after warm days, is 

 generally succeeded by cooler air. Shooting 

 stars are supposed to indicate wind. ' 



Before rain, swallows fly low; dogs grow 

 sleepy and eat grass ; waterfowls dive much; 

 fish will not bite ; flies are more troublesome ; 



toads crawl about; moles, ants, bees, and many 

 insects, are very busy; birds fly low for insects ; 

 swine, sheep, and cattle are uneasy, and even 

 the human body. 



" The air, when dry, I believe, refracts more 

 red or heat-making rays ; and as dry air is not 

 perfectly transparent, they are again reflected 

 in the horizon. I have generally observed a 

 coppery or yellow sunset to foretell rain ; but, 

 as an indication of wet weather approaching, 

 nothing is more certain than a halo round the 

 moon, which is produced by the precipitated 

 water; and the larger the circle, the nearer the 

 clouds, and consequently the more ready to 

 fall." (Sir H. Davy.) 



To turn now to the atmosphere: the bulk 

 of our most valuable meteorological observa- 

 tions are, of course, deducible from its electri- 

 cal condition, and the precise kind of electricity 

 present ; from the power of evaporation exer- 

 cised, from the state and direction of the wind, 

 from a careful examination of the clouds; in, 

 fact, the phenomena of the atmosphere are 

 wellnigh endless. But, though endless in the 

 variety of their forms and consequences, and 

 for the most part uncertain in the time of their 

 occurrence, yet they are successively the same 

 in their nature to parts and properties, and are 

 all the production of simple causes. The 

 principal agents in producing these phenomena 

 have already been noticed under the head ME- 

 TKOHOLOGT. I need not enlarge further upon 

 the advantages to science in general derivable 

 from the accurate and careful investigation of 

 meteorological researches, aided by the excel- 

 lent instruments that are now attainable, and 

 at a moderate expehse. From the accumula- 

 tion of a multitude of such facts can we alone 

 hope at some future. time to derive that accu- 

 rate; knowledge and insight into the secret 

 springs that would appear to be the movers of 

 these phenomena. This may not be too much 

 to effect from the analogies of'the seasons and 

 the results of experience; and this, we may 

 venture to predict, will be the crowning reward 

 of meteorological research. (Trans, of Met. Soc. 

 vol. i. 1839.) See Moox, Influence of. 



Clouds. The following definition of the de- 

 scriptive terms now employed by 'meteorolo- 

 gists to define various clouds, may prove useful 

 to those in the habit of consulting meteorolo- 

 gical registers, which are occasionally .pub- 

 lished in newspapers and scientific journals. 

 It is taken from Ore's Chemical and Miner. Diet., 

 article Cloud," p. 338. 



A cloud is a mass of vapour, more or less 

 opaque, formed and sustained at considerable 

 heights in the at.mosphere, probably by the 

 joint agencies of heat and electricity! The 

 first successful attempt to arrange the diversi- 

 fied forms of clouds, under a few general mo- 

 difications, was made by Luke Howard, Esq. 

 We shall here give a brief account of his in- 

 genious classification. 



The simple modifications are thus named and 

 defined 1. Cirrus; parallel, flexuous, or di- 

 verging fibres, extensible in any or in all direc- 

 tions. 2. Cumulus; convex or conical heaps, 

 ncreasing upwards from a horizontal base* 

 . Stratus ; a widely extended, continuous hori- 

 zontal sheet, increasing from below. 



1103 



