Go 
unn 
Cincinnati Heading 1 Koonv^ept. 20, 1819. 
Messrs. Powers & Hopkins .—Many 
persons have asked me whaj benefit can 
result to the community from my geolo¬ 
gical and astronomical disc--.crie*; ^ c 
if fully vorifiad. I l>ave generally answer¬ 
ed, that the advantages are unknown anc. 
yet to be developed. 
If we can obtain a foreknowldge oi sea¬ 
sons, we can then better know when aa^ 
how to plant and sow. . 
I herewith add a venture of mine 1 
first essay at foretelling the seasons by 
means of observations of astronomical or 
celestial phenomena. The application o< 
the phenomena originated in my own 
mind several years since, although lately! 
enlarged upon. I have recently found in 
the Bush Thwacker, a philosophical cri- 
jticism, published by Mr. Uri Brooks, in 
1818, a similar idea; though he thought 
an assemblage of the superior planets 
probably produced heat by friction. 
The following lines are a true transcript; 
from the journal kept on the desk of; 
Messrs. Burk and Langdob’s Reading,-. 
| Room ast winter, (which grew to 47 pa¬ 
ges before June; it contains expositions 
1 of my theories by myself, and answers and 
i remarks by other visitors of the Reading- 
1 Room ;) those words in italic are since ab¬ 
ided as elucidations,—-the original pages 
remain on the desk of the Reading-Room. 
Although I may prove in error with 
relation to that part of the prognostication 
yet to be tested, the seasons up to this 
time, it must be admitted, have .turned out 
almost precisely as I stated they should, | 
in case the rule I proposed was a good- 
one. The continued mildness of the win¬ 
ter, the lack of heat or backwardness of 
the two first months of the spring, and the 
excessu e warmth of this summer, corres¬ 
pond w .th my position. j 
Respectfully, 
JNO. CLEVES SYMMES. 
