1§06.} 
with much trouble, let a charge be made 
to the eftate. 
I perfeétly agree with your correfpond- 
ent as to his opinion of punctuality in 
claiming debts, as well as paying them, 
in the man of bufinefs. 
ably negligent ; and two or three recent 
inliances of the recovery of dividends, where 
proper information had not been given, 
induced me to trouble you and your’s up- 
on the fubjeét. 
A FREQUENT CREDITOR. 
London, Now. 18, 1805. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
N anfwer to your correfpondent * R. 
Ruffhead,”* who in vol. 20, p. 395, 
of your jultly celebrated mifcellany, de- 
hres a communication on the qualities of 
the “‘ leech,” as a prognofticator- of the 
changes of the weather, I {ubjoin the fol- 
lowing obfervations (probably {:mewhat 
funilay to thofe writtea out by Mr.R.), 
whichfrom aélaal expcrience I bave found 
to be relicd on. 
fe phial of water, containing a -leech- 
worm, | kept on the frame of my lower 
fath-window, fo that when I looked inthe 
morning I could know what would be the 
weather of the following day. 
ift, If the weather proves ferene and 
beautiful, the leech lies motionlefs at the 
bottom of the glais, and rolled together 
in a fpiral form. : 
2d. If it rains either before or after 
noon, it is fownd crept up to the top of 
its lodging, and there it remains till the 
weather is fetiled. 
3d. If we are to have wind, the poor 
prifoner gallops through it: limpid habi-. 
tation with amazing [wiftnefs, aad feldom 
refts till it begins to blow hard. °, 
4th. If a remarkable ftorm of thunder 
and rain is to fucceed, for fome days be- 
fore it lodges almoft continually without 
the water, and difcovers uncommon un- 
eafinefs, in violent throws, and convulfive- 
Jike motions. 
5th. Inthe froft, as in clear fummer- 
weather, it lies conitantly at the bottom. 
And in fnow, as in rainy weather, it 
pitches its dwelling upon the very mouth 
of the phial. 
On the Prognoftics of Leechese 
Tam not remark-. 
219 
What reafon may be affigned for them, 
I mut leave philofophers to determine: 
the one thing is evident to every body, 
that it muft be affected in the fame way 
with that of the mercury and fpirits in 
the barometer, and has, doubdtlefs, avery 
furprifing fenfation, that the change of 
weather, even days before, makes a vifi- 
ble alteration on its manner of living. 
Perhaps it may not be amifs to note, left 
any of the curious fhould try the experi- : 
ment, that the leech was kept ina com. 
mon eight-ounce phia!l glals, and about 
three-fourths filled with water, and cover. 
ed on the mouth with a bit of linen rag. 
In fummer, the water fhould be changed 
Once a week, and in the winter once a. 
fortnight. 5 
Although we have no diftant record of 
the Jeech-worm having been obferved as a 
foreteller of the changes of the weather, 
yet various creatures have been remarked 
for poffefiing that property. 
«cs 
Nunquam imprudentibus imber 
Obfuit: aut illurn furgentem vallibus imis 
Aerize fugere grues: aut bucula celum 
Sufpicices, patulis captavit maribus auras.” 
Following up this fubje®, I would wif 
to call the attention of Mr. Ruffhead te 
a very curious communication in yout 
Magazine f.r September, 1799, vol. 8, 
fi. Soe, On the Ufe of Spiders, as Prog- 
nofticators of the Weather;’’ the re- 
marks in that paper, originally written by 
Mr. Q. D’Usjouval, if found to be cor- 
rect, will go far to difprove Mr. Cow- 
per’s opinion, “* That the leech is, in 
point of the earlieff and moft accurate in- 
telligence, worth ail. the barometers in 
the world;” for Mr, D'Isjouval afferts, 
that “* we may be fure that the weather 
will be fine twelve or fourteen days, when 
the fp:der makes the princtpal threads of 
its webb long.” 
If Mr. Ruffhead, or any other inge- 
nious correfpondent, has Jeifure and in- 
clination to make experiments with that 
infest, fo as to afcertain the faéis given 
out by Mr. D’lsjouval, and will take the 
trouble to communicate the particulars of 
the fame through the medium of the 
Monthly Magazine, it will much oblige, 
Sir, your conftant reader, 
Edinburgh, D. Bripass, fen; 
Fan. 35; 1806. 
Ts 
