102 Star anb TOUeatbet Gossip 



with the hail. Soon, this turned to a yet worse ad- 

 mixture of snow and rain, then to rain only. As the 

 morning wore on, the downpour dwindled to a drizzle 

 and ended in fog. The wind continued to fall with 

 these graduated specimens of precipitation, until by 

 the time the fog stage was reached a dead calm pre- 

 vailed, in addition to a Spring-like mildness. 



Was a similar moon-ring seen in the North Country, 

 I wonder ? Or in Scotland ? The papers recorded a 

 fierce gale on Boxing Day on the Scottish coast, when 

 two lifeboatmen were drowned at the entrance to 

 Peterhead Harbour while rescuing the crew of a Hull 

 vessel. And I have it on unimpeachable authority 

 that the water at Brighton on Boxing Day was 

 " grand," a description which my young informant 

 amplified by stating that " there were white waves 

 as far as you could see." 



Among the most recent communications which I 

 have received on this subject from correspondents is 

 that of Mr. H. Janney, of Grainthorpe, Lincolnshire. 

 He is convinced, as I myself am, of the lunar halo's 

 significance as "a precursor of stormy and almost 

 invariably wet weather." His diary shows that on 

 three occasions between February 23rd and March 

 4th, 1912, a very conspicuous moon-ring appeared 

 and was followed by " most unsettled and stormy 

 weather." Between November 20th and 25th, 1912, 

 three similar appearances became visible, and again 

 was the weather " foul, windy and extremely wet." 

 During the first ten months of 1914 Mr. Janney 



