OBSERVATIONS. 305 



aware how much ten days dripping wea- 

 ther will influence the growth of grass or 

 corn after a severe dry season. This pre- 

 sent summer, 1776, yielded a remarkable 

 instance ; for till the 30th of May the fields 

 were burnt up and naked, and the barley 

 not half out of the ground ; but now, June 

 10, there is an agreeable prospect of plenty. 



White. 



AURORA BOREALIS. 



November 1, 1787. The N. aurora 

 made a particular appearance, forming it- 

 self into a broad, red, fiery belt, which 

 extended from E. to W. across the welkin : 

 but the moon rising at about ten o'clock, 

 in unclouded majesty, in the E. put an 

 end to this grand, but awful meteorous 

 phenomenon. White. 



BLACK SPRING, 1771. 



Dr. Johnson says, that '* in 1771 the 

 season was so severe in the island of Sky^ 



VOL. II. X 



