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kihd *, anti that without any means or difpoFmon 
thereto, more than we, except that their veffeis, fi- 
bres, &c. being in other refpedts in one equable ha- 
bitude, the fame, or a proportionable caufe from with- 
out, has always a like or proportionable efied: on 
them-, that is, their veffeis are regular barometers, 
&c. affefted only from one external principle, viz. 
the difpofition of the atrnofphere ; whereas ours are 
acted on by divers from within, as well as without 
feme of which check, impede, and prevent the a&ion 
of others. 
Animals that live in the open air muft neceffarily be 
fuppofed to have a quicker fenle of it than men that 
live within doors ; 'and especially the airy inhabitants, 
the birds, which live in the freed and cleared air, 
and are more apt, by their flight, and other motions, 
as well as their voices, tq difcover their fenfations of it. 
Therefore thofe who have applied themfelves to the 
obfervations of the figns and prognoftics of good or 
bad Weather, have laid down thele following rules : 
Signs or prognoftications of rainy Weather. 
The Lord Bacon fays, that water fowls, fuch as fea- 
guls, moor-hens, &c. when they flock and fly toge- 
ther from the fea towards the fhore, foretel rain and 
wind. 
And, on the othef hand, when land birds, fuch as 
crows, fwallows, &c. fly from land to the waters, and 
beat the waters with their wings, it betokens rain and 
wind. 
The natural reafon of that feems to be, the pleafure 
that both land and water fowl take in the moiftnefs 
and denfity of the air, and their love to be in motion, 
and upon the wing. 
it is no Arrange thing that water fowls delight in that 
air which is molt like water, their natural element ; 
and that land fowl alio, many of them, delight in 
bathing, and moift air. 
And alfo, for the fame reafon, many birds prune their 
feathers ; geefe gaggle, and the crows call for rain ; 
.all which ieems to be but the pleafure they take in 
the relaxation of the air. 
When crows flock together in large flights, and hold 
their heads upward as they fly, and cry louder than 
they ufuaily do, it is a fign of rain ; and when they 
walk llalking by rivers and ponds, it is the fame. 
When fwallows chatter, and fly low about lakes and 
ponds,(which they do, in order to catch flies-, for the 
air, being clogged with vapours, hinders the flies from 
afeending) it beipeaks rain. 
When peacocks cry much, when birds that ufuaily 
perch upon trees fly to their nefts, when fowls pick 
up their feathers with their bills, when cocks crow be- 
fore their ufual hour, and hens creep in clufters into 
the du ft, they are figns of rainy Weather. 
Not only birds, but beafts, give notice of rain ; as 
when fheep leap mightily, and pufh at one another 
with their heads, it denotes rain. 
When affes bray, or (bake their ears, or are annoyed 
with flies -, when deers fight, when foxes and wolves 
howl mightily, when hogs at play break or fcatter 
their food, and oxen that are tied together, raife their 
heads and lick their fnouts, it is a fign of rain. 
When cattle leave off feeding, and make hafte to 
(belter under bufhes and hedges, &c. when cats rub 
their heads with their fore paws (efpecially that part 
of their heads which is above their ears) and lick their 
bodies with their tongues, it is a fign of rain. 
Beafts generally delight in a moift air, and it caufes 
them to eat their rneat the better; cattle, deer, and 
rabbets, will feed heartily before rain. Heifers will 
put up their nofes, and fnuff in the air againft rain. 
Sheep will rife early in a morning to feed againft 
rain. 
Alfo fifnes, either fea or river fifh, do often, by their 
playing towards the top of the waters, foretel rain. 
For this the Lord Bacon gives this reafon, That when 
the Weather is dry, the fifh love to keep as much as 
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they can from the air, and fw'im lower, and will noc 
come near the air till it is moift. 
Infefts and reptiles alfo give prognoftics of rain. 
Ants quit their labour, and hide themfelves in the 
ground againft rain ; for thefe provident infers, by a 
fecret inftinft in nature, carry their eggs and food to a 
place of drier fecurity, when they find the air changed 
into moiftnefs, and clogged with vapours. 
Bees, when rain is coming on, do not ftir from their 
hives, or at lead not far. ‘ 
Moles will caft up more earth ; and earth-worms 
will creep out of the ground againft rain. 
Even the bodies of men and women give tokens of 
rain or froft, by aches, corns, and wounds, which 
will be more troubleibme againft fuch feafons ; for 
rain makes the humours of the body to abound more, 
and froft makes them fharper. 
Mr. Ozanam fays, That the very body of all animals 
and vegetables is, as it were, a contexture of barome- 
ters, hygrometers, and thermometers ; for the hu- 
mours, with which organized bodies are replenished, 
increafe or decreafe, according to the different diipo- 
fitions of the air. 
Prognoftics of the Weather from vegetables. 
Mr. Pointer tells us, he has obferved, that many, if 
not molt vegetables, expand their flowers and down 
in fun-fhiny Weather, and tov/ards the evening, and, 
againft rain, clofe them again, efpecially at the begin- 
ning of their flowering, when their leaves are young 
and tender. 
This is evident in the down of Dandelion and other 
downs, and evidently in the flowers of Pimpernel, the 
opening and (hutting of which, he fays, are rfie coun- 
tryman’s Weatherwifer. 
And Mr. Gerard fays. If the flowers be clofe lhut, it 
betokens rain and foul Weather ; but if they be fpread 
abroad, fair Weather. 
The Lord Bacon fays. Trefoil fwells in the (talk 
againft rain, and fo (lands more upright ; for by wet, 
(talks do eredt, and leaves bow down ; and Pliny 
fays much to the fame purpofe. 
The former fays likewile, that there is in the (bubble 
fields a fmall red flower, which country people call 
the Wincopipe (which is the Pimpernel) ; which, if it 
opens in the morning, you may be fure of a fair day 
to follow. . 
Mr. Ozanam gives, as a natural reafon for this, that 
plants are a fort of natural hygrometers, which are 
compofed of an infinite number of fibres, trachae, or 
air-veffels, which are like fo many canals or pipes, 
through which the moifture of the air, as well as the 
juice of the earth, is conveyed to all its parts. 
Thefe trachae, or air-veffels are viflble, and appear 
very pretty in the leaf of the Scabious, or the Vine ; 
if you pull afunder feme of its principal ribs, you may 
fee between them the fpiral air-veffels (like threads or 
cobwebs) a little uncoiled. 
In warm dry weather, if the leaves of Cabbages, Cau- 
liflowers, and other broad-leaved plants, are very lax, 
and hang down more than ufual, it is a fure fign of 
rain in a fhort time. 
There are many kinds of vegetables, whofe furface 
of their leaves are altered in their pofition before rain, 
particularly moftof thofe of the pulfe kind, as Vetches, 
Beans, Saintfoin, Clover, &c. the leaves of thefe clofe, 
feme of them turning their upper furface outward, 
and others their inner, and this they conflcantly do to- 
ward the evening at all times, for as the rays of the 
fun become oblique, fo the vapours begin to rife from 
the ground -, therefore thofe furfaces of the leaves 
which imbibe the greateft quantity of moifture, are 
turned outward to receive it. This change of the 
pofition of the leaves of plants in the evening has been 
idly called the deep of plants, but thofe who will be 
at the trouble of confuking Mr. Bonnet’s book on the 
ufe of the leaves of plants, will loon be convinced 
this alteration in the pofition of leaves is defigned for 
a nobler purpofe. 
6 Signs 
