PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 217 



generally in proportion to the rapidity of the rise in the barometer. If the 

 rise be sudden the wind will not continue long; neither will it be cold. If 

 it should rise very slowly, or fall some after the wind changes, as it some- 

 times does, it will be of long continuance. 



" From the above remarks it will appear that an extreme light atmos- 

 phere is an indication of fair and colder weather, for it denotes north- 

 wardly winds. On the other hand, a very heavy atmosphere denotes 

 warmer and dull weatlier, because southwardly winds follow. I have 

 known the barometer to rise very high with a northeast wind, and to fall 

 very low sometimes, the wind blowing from the same quarter. The latter 

 is generally stormy, and is followed by northwest winds; and the former 

 by southwardly winds. If the air is very dry when the barometer ranges 

 high, or begins to fall, it may continue to fall very low and remain clear. 

 An instance of this kind happened one year ago, the latter part of last win- 

 ter. I was called on by a man who had lately purchased a barometer. He 

 said, according to the rules laid down, it should be raining, and it is now 

 fair. It was the lowest he had ever seen it — 29.50, He was not a farmer. 

 I told him to place no reliance on the rules laid down — they were not to be 

 depended on. We would soon have a very hard northwest wind, and so it 

 proved. I have known many other instances when the barometer has fallen 

 low without rain, and sometimes without clouds, and northwest winds 

 mostly follow very dry. 



" If the air becomes humid or heavily charged with moisture while the 

 barometer is high, which is sometimes the case, it indicates a spell of wet 

 weather, because the air is too heavy for a northwest wind to blow, and 

 too humid for any other wind to clear it — so it remains wet until the air 

 grows lighter. If the above views are correct, and I believe they are, rain 

 depends more on the humidity of the atmosphere than on a fall of the 

 barometer. 



" One of your body condemned the barometer as a weather denoter, 

 because it rained when the barometer rose. I do not consider that fact 

 alone, without some other evidence, any proof against the usefulness of 

 barometers. If the thermometer and barometer rise at the same time, it is 

 a pretty sure indication of fair weather. If they both fall, it is a sure indi- 

 cation of foul weather; but if the thermometer falls while the barometer 

 rises, and that brings rain, it is no evidence against a barometer, because 

 a fall in the temperature will cause water to condense and fall, even if the 

 barometer does rise. Beside that, a fall in the temperature of 20 deg. or 

 25 deg., which is not uncommon when a gust rises, will of itself cause a rise 

 in the barometer. This may be easily proved by taking a barometer from 

 a stove room and placing it out of doors in cold weather. When I told a 

 barometer maker of this fact, he was incredulous, and looked on me with 

 astonislnnent. 



" A very light atmosphere, in very warm, sultry weather, accompanied 

 with clouds, is a pretty sure indication or forerunner of hail-storms; and 

 why ? but because a light atmosphere denotes wind, and wind and heat 

 cause the moisture to revolve into the upper regions, where perpetual con- 

 gelation exists, if I may use the term; the water becomes frozen and falls 

 in the form of hail. I have been witness to the effect of these tornadoes. 



