OF THUNDER & LIGHTNING 207 



wind, and all nature puts on a mood of 

 tension at the coming of a thunderstorm, 

 throwing it off the moment the storm 

 bursts. The passing of the thunder- 

 clouds seem, particularly if they break 

 in heavy rain, to leave the air clearer and 

 the world refreshed. 



Since human weather-lore is very crude, Weather-lore 

 reason being bestowed, so far as we can 

 judge, at the cost of instinct, we cannot 

 always tell whether an impending thunder- 

 storm will burst over our heads or keep 

 its fury for some other spot. We watch 

 the familiar grey clouds working up 

 against the wind, but the exact locality 

 in which the storm will reach the break- 

 ing-point is matter of conjecture. As a 

 rule, the beasts and birds have keener 

 perception of such developments than 

 ourselves, and even trout are in many 

 districts put down by lightning and still 

 more so by the brewing of the storm. 

 Mr. Hall's interesting account of Norfolk 

 trout, unable to discriminate between 

 actual storms threatening the locality 



