The HATURAIIST : 



A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. 96. 



SEPTEMBER 10th, 1881. 



Vol. 2. 



THE WEATHER. 



WHEN General Stanley's younger 

 daughters did not want to appear 

 to be listening to the love passages 

 between their elder sister Mabel ahd 

 her loyer, they said, * let's talk about 

 the weather," and really the weather is 

 the subject of everyone's conversation 

 at present. 



" Lawk what weather," said a visitor 

 at the city of Aberdeen to a native 

 sitting under a rock partaking of his 

 hot coffee, " does it always rain here ? " 

 "Na, na," replied the Aberdonian, "it 

 snaws whiles ! " And with very brief 

 exceptions that has been the state of 

 the weather for a considerable period. 



After a very open winter, severe 

 weather set in about Christmas and con- 

 tinued almost until May. Then we had 

 a summer, at times of almost tropical 

 heat, that brought on vegetation with 

 such wonderful rapidity, that had fine 

 weather continued the harvest would 

 have been the best we have had for 

 some time. But Saint Swithin brought 

 rain, and when the forty days were over, 

 instead of the sky clearing and the sun 

 shining out again, heavier rains set in 

 than even the watery saint had brought 

 upon us. Rivers are swollen ; much 



fair land lies under water, or is so sodden 

 with rain as to be more of a bog than 

 anything else. Crops are rotting in the 

 fields, and farmers are in despair, and 

 still the rains continue. 



But it is not with regard to its effect 

 on the crops and the farmers that we 

 would talk about the weather." We 

 wish more particularly to ask what are 

 its effects on animal life in general, and 

 more particularly, what are its effects 

 on insect life. Insects, from their small 

 size, would seem to be particularly 

 liable to suffer from an inclement season. 

 From the love of so many of them for 

 sunshine when in the perfect state, a 

 dull rainy season seems likely to be 

 very disastrous to them. Opinions 

 differ as to the effect of a severe winter. 

 Some think that hard frost, and especially 

 much snow, will serve to protect young 

 larvae from insectivorous birds and other 

 enemies. Some argue that the severity 

 of the weather itself is likely to destroy 

 as many of these hybernating species 

 as would be destroyed in a milder season 

 by their natural enemies. Unfortunately, 

 our records are so imperfect that we 

 know little or nothing about it. Some 

 of our correspondents write us that the 

 present has been a very bad season, 



