CB4Ee 
Indications of Weather, as shown by Animals, Insects, and 
Plants. By M. W. B. THoMAS of Cincinnati, Ohio. 
The possibility of foretelling weather has occupied the 
attention of observers of natural facts from the earliest 
period of our records. The certainty with which anything 
is arrived at on this subject, like all other parts of natural 
science, depends upon the knowledge acquired of those 
things with which nature has most intimately connected it. 
Without indulging in any comment, I will state a few par- 
ticulars in regard to the different indicators with which 
~ nature has supplied us. 
When a pair of migratory birds have arrived in the spring, 
they immediately prepare to build their nest, making a care- 
ful reconnoisance of the place, and observing the character 
of the season that is coming. If it be a windy one, they 
thatch the straw and leaves on the inside of the nest, 
between the twigs and the lining; and if it be very windy, 
they get pliant twigs and bind the nest firmly to the limb, 
securing all the small twigs with their saliva. If they fear 
the approach of a rainy season, they build their nests so as 
to be sheltered from the weather; but if a pleasant one, 
they build in the fair open place, without taking any of those 
extra precautions. In recording these facts, we have kept 
duly registered the name of the bird, the time of arrival in 
spring, the commencement of nesting, the materials of nest, 
and its position; the commencement of laying, number of 
eggs in each nest, commencement of incubation, appearances 
of young, departure in autumn. 
But it is our insects and smaller animals which furnish us 
with the best means of determining the weather. 
_ We will now take the Snails, and show the various phe- 
nomena they present. These animals do not drink, but im- 
bibe moisture in their bodies during a rain. At regular 
periods after the rain, they exude this moisture from their. 
bodies. We will take, for example, the Helix ulternata. 
The first fluid exuded is the pure liquid. When this is ex- 
hausted, it then changes to light red, then deep red, then 
