1870.] Rainfall in England. 475 



tion ; and the reservoir may be dismissed with the remark that it is 

 a bottle of stone or glass, 9*7 inches high. The Keceiver is a 

 copper circular runnel, 5 inches in diameter, 4 ' 8 inches deep, and 

 terminating in a tube 8*5 inches long and '3 inch in internal 

 diameter. Outside this, and soldered to the bottom of the funnel, 

 is a cylindrical phlange, 2 • 25 inches deep, and having between it 

 and the tube a space for the reception of the head of the reservoir, 

 which it exactly fits, so that when united a horizontal section 

 through the phlange would disclose three tightly-fitting concentric 

 tubes. The phlange keeps the receiver steady, prevents the rain 

 which falls on the outside of the funnel from leaking into the 

 bottle, and reduces to a minimum the evaporation of the contents 

 of the reservoir. When fitted together the height of the instrument 

 is 14 • 1 inches ; but when in use it is placed firmly in the ground, 

 and should have its top 9 inches above the surface. 



Supposed Influence of the Moon on the Rainfall. — That the 

 moon is very influential in, or at least closely connected with, all 

 changes of the weather, is a belief at once widely spread and deeply 

 rooted. Our satellite can neither be full, nor new, nor " fill her 

 horns," without, as is popularly believed, causing or indicating some 

 alteration in the state of the weather. If she is caught " lying on 

 her back," or, in other words, if, when she is less than a semicircle, 

 her cusps are pointed upwards so that the straight line joining them 

 is more or less approximately parallel to the horizontal plane, the 

 fact is supposed to be an indication if not the cause of rain. If she 

 submits to be " towed by one star and chased by another," that is, if 

 she is between and near two conspicuous stars, so that the three bodies 

 are at least nearly in a straight line, the fishermen expect a storm. 



Though meteorologists show no favour to these and many 

 similar beliefs, some of them admit that it is neither unphilosophical 

 nor contrary to fact to regard the moon as a meteorological agent. 

 Thus, Sir John Herschel, from his own observations, regards it as 

 a meteorological fact that the clouds have a tendency to disappear 

 under the full moon, and adds that a slight preponderance in 

 respect of quantity of rain near the new moon over that which falls 

 near the full, would be a natural and necessary consequence of a 

 preponderance of a cloudless sky about the full.* M. Arago, who 

 concurs in this opinion, states that the expression " the moon eats 

 the clouds" is common in France among country people, and espe- 

 cially among sailors.t The latter philosopher adds that the results 

 obtained from meteorological observations in Germany and in Paris, 

 were that the maximum number of rainy days occurred between the 

 first quarter and full moon, and the minimum between the last 



* ' Outlines of Astronomy,' par. 432, and note, p. 285. 5th edit. 1858. 

 t 'Popular Astronomy,' Smyth's Translation, vol. ii., ch. xxiii., pp. 311-313. 

 1858. 



VOL. VII. 2 K 



