646 
Climate  of  the  British  Islands 
sons  know  almost  intuitively  that  vain  will  follow  certain  states  of 
the  air ; and  upon  the  whole  it  will  appear  evident  that  almost  all 
the  rules  that  I have  given,  with  many  more  that  might  be  given, 
depend  for  their  utility  chiefly  upon  the  degree  of  accuracy  with 
which  they  indicate  the  amount  of  moisture  in  the  air  ; and  it 
seems  on  the  whole  better  far  to  so  determine  it,  than  to  infer  it 
by  less  direct  means.  An  hygrometer  made  by  Leslie,  or  even 
the  weather  toy  of  the  man  and  woman  (contrived  so  that  a 
piece  of  catgut  shall  pull  out  the  man  when  contracted  bv 
moisture,  or  allow  the  woman  to  fall  out  by  her  own  weight 
when  not  so  contracted),  will  generally  indicate  the  probabilities 
of  rain  pretty  accurately.  Moisture  existing  to  a great  extent  in 
the  air  prevents  the  escape  of  volatile  bodies  upwards  into  the  air, 
and  hence  causes  flowers  to  smell  more  sweet,  noisome  scents  to 
be  more  insupportable,  fields  of  bay,  beans,  &c.  to  send  forth  a 
more  fragrant  perfume  ; whence  also  horses,  cows,  &c.  snuff  the 
air  in  their  neighbourhood  with  delight.  Moisture  permeates  all 
bodies,  causes  doors,  windows,  boxes,  &c.  to  shut  with  more  diffi- 
culty, spreads  a damp  along  the  brick  floor  of  many  a thrifty 
housewife,  causes  insects  and  worms  to  approach  the  surface  of 
the  ground;  and  who  has  not  heard  of  scores  of  signs  of  rain  that 
have  been  deduced  from  the  above  effects  of  moisture,  in  their 
varying  forms?  I knew  well  a good  old  woman  who  was  deemed 
wreatherwise  in  the  village  where  she  lived,  and  this  character  she 
ow'ed  entirely  to  judging  by  the  dampness  of  her  floor  of  the  state 
of  the  weather. 
In  addition  to  the  results  before  given  respecting  the  quantity 
of  rain,  I may  add,  that  from  the  mean  of  a great  number  of 
results,  the  number  of  rainy  days  on  the  east  coast  during  the  year 
is  135,  and  on  the  west  coast  205,  thus  giving  for  the  British 
Islands  an  average  of  half  the  days  in  the  year  as  those  on  which 
rain  or  snow  falls.  Though  more  rain  falls  in  summer  than  in 
winter,  yet  the  number  of  rainy  days  is  greater  in  the  winter  than 
in  summer.  The  average  number  of  days  on  which  rain  falls  in 
the  midland  counties  is,  in  January  13,  February  12,  March 
11,  April  11,  May  10,  June  9,  July  12,  August  13,  September 
14,  October  15,  November  18,  December  17  : the  greatest  quan- 
tity falling  during  the  night,  and  the  least  from  12  a.m.  to  5 p.m. 
of  any  other  portion  of  the  day. 
8th.  “ Effect  of  elevation  on  temperature  and  lateness  of  har- 
vest, with  the  highest  level  for  the  growth  of  corn  in  different 
latitudes.” 
In  piling  a large  quantity  of  wool,  if  a great  number  of  fleeces 
are  laid  one  upon  another,  and  these  fleeces  of  equal  size, 
it  is  evident  that  the  lower  fleeces,  being  pressed  upon  by  those 
above,  will  occupy  a smaller  space.  As  they  ascend,  they  will 
