“A brief abstract from a journal of the weather for one sidereal period of the moon, in 1853.“June21st. Fine clear morning (S. fresh): noon very warm 88°; 4P.M., plumouscirri in south; ends clear.“22d. Hazy morning (S. very fresh) arch of cirrus in west; 2P.M., black in W. N. W.; 3P.M., overcast and rainy; 4P.M., a heavy gust from south; 4.30P.M., blowing furiously (S. by W.); 5P.M., tremendous squall, uprooting trees and scattering chimneys; 6P.M., more moderate (W.).“23d. Clearing up (N. W.); 8A.M., quite clear; 11A.M., bands of mottled cirri pointing N. E. and S. W., ends cold (W. N. W.); the cirri seem to rotate from left to right, or with the sun.“24th. Fine clear, cool day, begins and ends (N. W.).“25th. Clear morning (N. W. light); 2P.M.(E.), calm; tufts of tangled cirri in north, intermixed with radiating streaks, all passing eastward; ends clear.“26th. Hazy morning (S. E.), cloudy; noon, a heavy, windy-looking bank in north (S. fresh), with dense cirrus fringe above, on its upper edge; clear in S.“27th. Clear, warm (W.); bank in north; noon bank covered all the northern sky, and fresh breeze; 10P.M., a few flashes to the northward.“28th. Uniform dense cirro-stratus (S. fresh); noon showers all round; 2P.M., a heavy squall of wind, with thunder and rain (S. W. to N. W.); 8P.M., a line of heavy cumuli in south; 8.30P.M., a very bright and high cumulus in S. W., protruding through a layer of dark stratus; 8.50P.M., the cloud bearing E. by S., with three rays of electric light.“29th. A stationary stratus over all (S. W. light); clear at night, but distant lightning in S.“30th. Stratus clouds (N. E. almost calm); 8A.M., raining gently; 3P.M., stratus passing off to S.; 8P.M., clear, pleasant.“July1st. Fine and clear; 8A.M., cirrus in sheets, curls, wisps, and gauzy wreaths, with patches beneath of darker shade, all nearly motionless; close and warm (N. E.); a long, low bank of haze in S., with one large cumulus in S. W., but very distant.“2d. At 5A.M., overcast generally, with hazy clouds and fog of prismatic shades, chiefly greenish-yellow; 7A.M.(S. S. E. freshening), thick in W.; 8A.M.(S. fresh), much cirrus, thick and gloomy; 9A.M., a clap of thunder, and clouds hurrying to N.; a reddish haze all around; at noon the margin of a line of yellowish-red cumuli just visible above a gloomy-looking bank of haze in N. N. W. (S. very fresh); warm, 86°; more cumuli in N. W.; the whole line ofcumuli N. are separated from the clouds south by a clearer space. These clouds are borne rapidly past the zenith, but never get into the clear space—they seem to melt or to be turned off N. E. The cumuli in N. and N. W., slowly spreading E. and S.; 3P.M., the bank hidden by small cumuli; 4P.M., very thick in north, magnificent cumuli visible sometimes through the breaks, and beyond them a dark, watery back-ground (S. strong); 4.30P.M., wind round to N. W. in a severe squall; 5P.M., heavy rain, with thunder, etc.—all this time there is a bright sky in the south visible through the rain 15° high; 7P.M., clearing (S. W. mod.).“3d. Very fine and clear (N. W.); noon, a line of large cumuli in N., and dark lines of stratus below, the cumuli moving eastward; 6P.M., their altitude 2° 40′. Velocity, 1° per minute; 9P.M., much lightning in the bank north.“4th. 6A.M., a line of small cumulo-stratus, extending east and west, with a clear horizon north and south 10° high. This band seems to have been thrown off by the central yesterday, as it moves slowly south, preserving its parallelism, although the clouds composing it move eastward. Fine and cool all day (N. W. mod.)—lightning in N.“5th. Cloudy (N. almost calm), thick in E., clear in W.; same all day.“6th. Fine and clear (E. light); small cumuli at noon; clear night.“7th. Warm (S. E. light); cirrus bank N. W.; noon (S.) thickening in N.; 6P.M., hazy but fine; 8P.M., lightning in N.; 10P.M., the lightning shows a heavy line of cumuli along the northern horizon; calm and very dark, and incessant lightning in N.“8th. Last night after midnight commencing raining, slowly and steadily, but leaving a line of lighter sky south; much lightning all night, but little thunder.“8th. 6A.M., very low scud (500 feet high) driving south, still calm below (N. light); 10A.M., clearing a little; a bank north, with cirrus spreading south; same all day; 9P.M., wind freshening (N. stormy); heavy cumuli visible in S.; 10.30P.M., quite clear, but a dense watery haze obscuring the stars; 12P.M., again overcast; much lightning in S. and N. W.“9th. Last night (2A.M.of 9th) squall from N. W. very black; 4A.M., still raining and blowing hard, the sky a perfect blaze, but very few flashes reach the ground; 7A.M., raining hard; 8A.M.(N. W. strong); a constant roll of thunder; noon (N. E.); 2P.M.(N.); 4P.M., clearing; 8P.M., a line of heavy cumuli in S., but clear in N. W., N., and N. E.“10th. 3A.M., Overcast, and much lightning in south (N. mod.);7A.M., clear except in south; 6P.M.(E.); 10P.M., lightning south; 11P.M., auroral rays long, but faint, converging to a point between Epsilon Virginis and Denebola, in west; low down in west, thick with haze; on the north the rays converged to a point still lower; lightning still visible in south. This is an aurora in the west.“11th. Fine, clear morning (N. E.); same all day; no lightning visible to-night, but a bank of clouds low down in south, 2° high, and streaks of dark stratus below the upper margin.“12th. Fine and clear (N. E.); noon, a well-defined arch in S. W., rising slowly; the bank yellowish, with prismatic shades of greenish-yellow on its borders. This is the O. A. At 6P.M., the bank spreading to the northward. At 9P.M., thick bank of haze in north, with bright auroral margin; one heavy pyramid of light passed through Cassiopeia, travelingwestward1½° per minute. This moves to the other side of the pole, but not more inclined toward it than is due to prospective, if the shaft is very long; 11.10P.M., saw a mass of light more diffuse due east, reaching toMarkab, then on the prime vertical. It appears evident this is seen in profile, as it inclines downward at an angle of 10° or 12° from the perpendicular. It does not seem very distant. 12P.M., the aurora still bright, but the brightest part is now west of the pole, before it was east.“13th. 6A.M., clear, east and north; bank of cirrus in N. W.,i. e., from N. N. E. to W. by S.; irregular branches of cirrus clouds, reaching almost to south-eastern horizon; wind changed (S. E. fresh); 8A.M., the sky a perfect picture; heavy regular shafts of dense cirrus radiating all around, and diverging from a thick nucleus in north-west, the spaces between being of clear, blue sky. The shafts are rotating from north to south, the nucleus advancing eastward.“At noon (same day), getting thicker (S. E. very fresh); 6P.M., moon on meridian, a prismatic gloom in south, and very thick stratus of all shades; 9P.M., very gloomy; wind stronger (S. E.); 10P.M., very black in south, and overcast generally.“14th. Last night, above 12P.M., commenced raining; 3A.M., rained steadily; 7A.M., same weather; 8.20A.M., a line of low storm-cloud, or scud, showing very sharp and white on the dark back-ground all along the southern sky. This line continues until noon, about 10° at the highest, showing the northern boundary of the storm to the southward; 8P.M., same bank visible, although in rapid motion eastward; same time clear overhead, with cirrus fringe pointing north from the bank; much lightning in south (W. fresh); so ends.“15th. Last night a black squall from N. W. passed south without rain; at 3A.M., clear above but, very black in south (calm below all the time); 9A.M., the bank in south again throwing off rays of cirri in a well-defined arch, whose vortex is south; these pass east, butcontinue to form and preserve their linear direction to the north; no lightning in south to-night.“16th. Clear all day, without a stain, and calm.“17th. Fine and clear (N. E. light); 6P.M., calm.“18th. Fair and cloudy (N. E. light); 6P.M., calm.“19th. Fine and clear (N. fresh); I. V. visible in S. W.“20th. 8A.M., bank in N. W., with beautiful cirrus radiations; 10A.M., getting thick, with dense plates of cream-colored cirrus visible through the breaks; gloomy looking all day (N. E. light).”
“A brief abstract from a journal of the weather for one sidereal period of the moon, in 1853.
“June21st. Fine clear morning (S. fresh): noon very warm 88°; 4P.M., plumouscirri in south; ends clear.
“22d. Hazy morning (S. very fresh) arch of cirrus in west; 2P.M., black in W. N. W.; 3P.M., overcast and rainy; 4P.M., a heavy gust from south; 4.30P.M., blowing furiously (S. by W.); 5P.M., tremendous squall, uprooting trees and scattering chimneys; 6P.M., more moderate (W.).
“23d. Clearing up (N. W.); 8A.M., quite clear; 11A.M., bands of mottled cirri pointing N. E. and S. W., ends cold (W. N. W.); the cirri seem to rotate from left to right, or with the sun.
“24th. Fine clear, cool day, begins and ends (N. W.).
“25th. Clear morning (N. W. light); 2P.M.(E.), calm; tufts of tangled cirri in north, intermixed with radiating streaks, all passing eastward; ends clear.
“26th. Hazy morning (S. E.), cloudy; noon, a heavy, windy-looking bank in north (S. fresh), with dense cirrus fringe above, on its upper edge; clear in S.
“27th. Clear, warm (W.); bank in north; noon bank covered all the northern sky, and fresh breeze; 10P.M., a few flashes to the northward.
“28th. Uniform dense cirro-stratus (S. fresh); noon showers all round; 2P.M., a heavy squall of wind, with thunder and rain (S. W. to N. W.); 8P.M., a line of heavy cumuli in south; 8.30P.M., a very bright and high cumulus in S. W., protruding through a layer of dark stratus; 8.50P.M., the cloud bearing E. by S., with three rays of electric light.
“29th. A stationary stratus over all (S. W. light); clear at night, but distant lightning in S.
“30th. Stratus clouds (N. E. almost calm); 8A.M., raining gently; 3P.M., stratus passing off to S.; 8P.M., clear, pleasant.
“July1st. Fine and clear; 8A.M., cirrus in sheets, curls, wisps, and gauzy wreaths, with patches beneath of darker shade, all nearly motionless; close and warm (N. E.); a long, low bank of haze in S., with one large cumulus in S. W., but very distant.
“2d. At 5A.M., overcast generally, with hazy clouds and fog of prismatic shades, chiefly greenish-yellow; 7A.M.(S. S. E. freshening), thick in W.; 8A.M.(S. fresh), much cirrus, thick and gloomy; 9A.M., a clap of thunder, and clouds hurrying to N.; a reddish haze all around; at noon the margin of a line of yellowish-red cumuli just visible above a gloomy-looking bank of haze in N. N. W. (S. very fresh); warm, 86°; more cumuli in N. W.; the whole line ofcumuli N. are separated from the clouds south by a clearer space. These clouds are borne rapidly past the zenith, but never get into the clear space—they seem to melt or to be turned off N. E. The cumuli in N. and N. W., slowly spreading E. and S.; 3P.M., the bank hidden by small cumuli; 4P.M., very thick in north, magnificent cumuli visible sometimes through the breaks, and beyond them a dark, watery back-ground (S. strong); 4.30P.M., wind round to N. W. in a severe squall; 5P.M., heavy rain, with thunder, etc.—all this time there is a bright sky in the south visible through the rain 15° high; 7P.M., clearing (S. W. mod.).
“3d. Very fine and clear (N. W.); noon, a line of large cumuli in N., and dark lines of stratus below, the cumuli moving eastward; 6P.M., their altitude 2° 40′. Velocity, 1° per minute; 9P.M., much lightning in the bank north.
“4th. 6A.M., a line of small cumulo-stratus, extending east and west, with a clear horizon north and south 10° high. This band seems to have been thrown off by the central yesterday, as it moves slowly south, preserving its parallelism, although the clouds composing it move eastward. Fine and cool all day (N. W. mod.)—lightning in N.
“5th. Cloudy (N. almost calm), thick in E., clear in W.; same all day.
“6th. Fine and clear (E. light); small cumuli at noon; clear night.
“7th. Warm (S. E. light); cirrus bank N. W.; noon (S.) thickening in N.; 6P.M., hazy but fine; 8P.M., lightning in N.; 10P.M., the lightning shows a heavy line of cumuli along the northern horizon; calm and very dark, and incessant lightning in N.
“8th. Last night after midnight commencing raining, slowly and steadily, but leaving a line of lighter sky south; much lightning all night, but little thunder.
“8th. 6A.M., very low scud (500 feet high) driving south, still calm below (N. light); 10A.M., clearing a little; a bank north, with cirrus spreading south; same all day; 9P.M., wind freshening (N. stormy); heavy cumuli visible in S.; 10.30P.M., quite clear, but a dense watery haze obscuring the stars; 12P.M., again overcast; much lightning in S. and N. W.
“9th. Last night (2A.M.of 9th) squall from N. W. very black; 4A.M., still raining and blowing hard, the sky a perfect blaze, but very few flashes reach the ground; 7A.M., raining hard; 8A.M.(N. W. strong); a constant roll of thunder; noon (N. E.); 2P.M.(N.); 4P.M., clearing; 8P.M., a line of heavy cumuli in S., but clear in N. W., N., and N. E.
“10th. 3A.M., Overcast, and much lightning in south (N. mod.);7A.M., clear except in south; 6P.M.(E.); 10P.M., lightning south; 11P.M., auroral rays long, but faint, converging to a point between Epsilon Virginis and Denebola, in west; low down in west, thick with haze; on the north the rays converged to a point still lower; lightning still visible in south. This is an aurora in the west.
“11th. Fine, clear morning (N. E.); same all day; no lightning visible to-night, but a bank of clouds low down in south, 2° high, and streaks of dark stratus below the upper margin.
“12th. Fine and clear (N. E.); noon, a well-defined arch in S. W., rising slowly; the bank yellowish, with prismatic shades of greenish-yellow on its borders. This is the O. A. At 6P.M., the bank spreading to the northward. At 9P.M., thick bank of haze in north, with bright auroral margin; one heavy pyramid of light passed through Cassiopeia, travelingwestward1½° per minute. This moves to the other side of the pole, but not more inclined toward it than is due to prospective, if the shaft is very long; 11.10P.M., saw a mass of light more diffuse due east, reaching toMarkab, then on the prime vertical. It appears evident this is seen in profile, as it inclines downward at an angle of 10° or 12° from the perpendicular. It does not seem very distant. 12P.M., the aurora still bright, but the brightest part is now west of the pole, before it was east.
“13th. 6A.M., clear, east and north; bank of cirrus in N. W.,i. e., from N. N. E. to W. by S.; irregular branches of cirrus clouds, reaching almost to south-eastern horizon; wind changed (S. E. fresh); 8A.M., the sky a perfect picture; heavy regular shafts of dense cirrus radiating all around, and diverging from a thick nucleus in north-west, the spaces between being of clear, blue sky. The shafts are rotating from north to south, the nucleus advancing eastward.
“At noon (same day), getting thicker (S. E. very fresh); 6P.M., moon on meridian, a prismatic gloom in south, and very thick stratus of all shades; 9P.M., very gloomy; wind stronger (S. E.); 10P.M., very black in south, and overcast generally.
“14th. Last night, above 12P.M., commenced raining; 3A.M., rained steadily; 7A.M., same weather; 8.20A.M., a line of low storm-cloud, or scud, showing very sharp and white on the dark back-ground all along the southern sky. This line continues until noon, about 10° at the highest, showing the northern boundary of the storm to the southward; 8P.M., same bank visible, although in rapid motion eastward; same time clear overhead, with cirrus fringe pointing north from the bank; much lightning in south (W. fresh); so ends.
“15th. Last night a black squall from N. W. passed south without rain; at 3A.M., clear above but, very black in south (calm below all the time); 9A.M., the bank in south again throwing off rays of cirri in a well-defined arch, whose vortex is south; these pass east, butcontinue to form and preserve their linear direction to the north; no lightning in south to-night.
“16th. Clear all day, without a stain, and calm.
“17th. Fine and clear (N. E. light); 6P.M., calm.
“18th. Fair and cloudy (N. E. light); 6P.M., calm.
“19th. Fine and clear (N. fresh); I. V. visible in S. W.
“20th. 8A.M., bank in N. W., with beautiful cirrus radiations; 10A.M., getting thick, with dense plates of cream-colored cirrus visible through the breaks; gloomy looking all day (N. E. light).”
The letters in a parenthesis signify the direction of the wind.
During this month there were three distinctly marked periods of belts of showers, preceded by “fresh” or “strong” south wind, and followed by the N. W. There was a period when a belt of less intense stratus, without much wind, occurred (28th, 29th, and 30th of June). This was followed by a distinct belt of showers andfreshS. wind, on the 2d of July, and by the N. W. wind and clear weather, on the 3d.
During the rest of July it was more irregular, with the exception of the 7th, 8th, and 9th, when another belt and revolution occurred.
Now, these periods, when distinctly marked, exhibit the same succession of phenomena—viz., elevation of temperature, fresh southerly wind, belt of condensation, cumulus or stratus with cirrus running east, but extending south, followed by N. W. wind, and clear, cold air. Can any one believe they were successive rotary gales?
I wish, in this connection, to make a suggestion to Lieutenant Maury and others. The descriptions of M. Bassnett, although not perfect, are very intelligible. He describes things as they were, and as theyshould be described. He distinguishes the clouds, and the scud, and other appearances.
But Colonel Reid’s descriptions are unmeaning and unintelligible. G. M.—Gloomy, misty! Gloomy from what? fog, or stratus, or a stratum of scud, or what? We can not know. Again, C. The table tells us this stands for detached clouds. But of what kind? Cumulus, broken stratus, patches of cirro-cumulus or cirro-stratus, or scud? All these, and indeed every kind of cloud or fog formation, except low fog, may exist in detached portions.
These abbreviations will not answer; they do not describe the weather. The clouds must be studied and described. There is no difficulty in doing it. Sailors will learn them very soon after their teachers have; and those who teach them should see to it that the logs contain terms of description which convey the meaning which may, and ought to be, conveyed. The use of these indefinite terms can not be continued without culpability.
Again, the observations of seamen off our coast are in accordance with the progress of this class of storms on land, and prove that they continue S. E. over the Atlantic, abating in action as they approach the tropics. There is abundant evidence of this in the work of Colonel Reid, and the charts of Lieutenant Maury, but I can not devote further space to them.
The third class form in the counter-trade, over some portion of the country, from excessive volume or action of the counter-trade, or local magnetic activity, without coming from the tropics or being connected with a regular polar wave of magnetic disturbance.
The following diagram exhibits their form, progress, and accompanying induced winds.
Fig. 22.
The gentle rains of spring, particularly April, and the moderate and frequent snow-storms of winter, are often of this character; and so are the heavy rains, which commence at the morning barometric minimum, rain heavily through the forenoon, and light up near mid-day in the south, followed by gentle, warm, S. W. winds. This class are more frequent in some years than others—probably the early years of the decade, while polar storms are, during the later ones. It is this class which haveviolenteasterly windsin front, and on thesouth side, with two or more currents, and which Mr. Redfield has also supposed to be cyclones.
The fourth class are isolated showers, occurring over particular localities, or belts of drought andshowers alternating; sometimes a general disposition to cloudy and showery weather for a longer or shorter interval over the whole country; at others, limited to particular localities in the course of the trade. Such a period occurred during the wheat harvest of 1855. This class I attribute to a general increased magnetic action, but it may be induced by an increased volume, or greater south polar magnetic intensity of the counter-trade, exciting and concentrating the regular currents of the field, and increasing their activity and energy. These also often work off south gradually, and are followed by a cold N. W. air for a day or two; showing a tendency, in the excited magnetism, to pass as a wave toward the tropics.
The following diagram will give some idea of this class:
Fig. 23.
There are sometimes very obvious local tendencies to precipitation over portions adjoining an area affectedwith drought, as there are other magnetic irregularities over particular areas.
All these classes of storms are variant in intensity. Sometimes the general or local cloud-formation is weak, and does not produce precipitation at all; so of that which extends southerly. Probably the tropical storm are always sufficiently dense and active to precipitate. Their action is often violent over particular localities, and hence the more frequent occurrence of the tornado over the more intense area of Ohio, and other portions of the west. All violent local storms are doubtless owing to local magneto-electric activity.
The reader who has attentively perused and considered the facts stated, and the principles deduced, in the preceding pages, and is ready to make a practical application of them by careful observation, will have little difficulty in understanding the varied atmospheric conditions; and will soon be able to form a correct judgment of the immediate future of the weather, so far as his limited horizon will permit.
But there are other facts and considerations, not specifically alluded to, which will materially aid him in his observations; and there is a degree of philosophical truth in the proverbs and signs, which ancient popular observation accumulated, and poetry and tradition have preserved, that meteorologists have been slow to discover or admit, but which will be obvious upon examination, and commend them to his attention.
The classical reader is doubtless familiar with that part of the first Georgic of Virgil, which contains a description of the signs indicative of atmospheric changes. Much of it is beautifully poetic, and, if read in the light of a correct philosophy, is equally truthful.
I copy from a creditable translation, found in the first volume of Howard’s “Climate of London”:
“All that the genial year successive brings,Showers, and the reign of heat, and freezing gales,Appointed signs foreshow; the Sire of allDecreed what signs the southern blast should bring,Decreed the omens of the varying moon:That hinds, observant of the approaching storm,Might tend their herds more near the sheltering stall.”PROGNOSTICS.—1st. Of Wind.“When storms are brooding—in the leeward gulfDash the swell’d waves; the mighty mountains pourA harsh, dull murmur; far along the beachRolls the deep rushing roar; the whispering groveBetrays the gathering elemental strife.Scarce will the billows spare the curved keel;For swift from open sea the cormorants sweep,With clamorous croak; the ocean-dwelling cootSports on the sand; the hern her marshy hauntsDeserting, soars the lofty clouds above;And oft, when gales impend, the gliding starNightly descends athwart the spangled gloom,And leaves its fire-wake glowing white behind.Light chaff and leaflets flitting fill the air,And sportive feathers circle on the lake.”2d. Of Rain.“But when grim Boreas thunders; when the EastAnd black-winged West, roll out the sonorous peal,The teeming dikes o’erflow the wide champaign,And seamen furl their dripping sails. The shower,Forsooth, ne’er took the traveler unawares!The soaring cranes descried it in the vale,And shunn’d its coming; heifers gazed aloft,With nostrils wide, drinking the fragrant gale;Skimm’d the sagacious swallow round the lake,And croaking frogs renew’d their old complaint.Oft, too, the ant, from secret chambers, bearsHer eggs—a cherished treasure—o’er the sand,Along the narrow track her steps have worn.High vaults the thirsty bow; in wide arrayThe clamorous rooks from every pasture riseWith serried wings. The varied sea-fowl tribes,And those that in Cäyster’s meadows seek,Amid the marshy pools, their skulking prey,Fling the cool plenteous shower upon their wings,Crouch to the coming wave, sail on its crest,And idly wash their purity of plume.The audacious crow, with loud voice, hails the rainA lonesome wanderer on the thirsty sand.Maidens that nightly toil the tangled fleece,Divine the coming tempest; in the lampCrackles the oil; the gathering wick grows dim.”3d. Of Fair Weather.“Nor less, by sure prognostics, mayest thou learn(When rain prevails), in prospect to beholdWarm suns, and cloudless heavens, around thee smile.Brightly the stars shine forth; Cynthia no moreGlimmers obnoxious to her brother’s rays;Nor fleecy clouds float lightly through the sky.The chosen birds of Thetis, halcyons, nowSpread not their pinions on the sun-bright shore;Nor swine the bands unloose, and toss the straw.The clouds, descending, settle on the plain;While owls forget to chant their evening song,But watch the sunset from the topmost ridge.The merlin swims the liquid sky, sublime,While for the purple lock the lark atones:Where she, with light wing, cleaves the yielding air,Her shrieking fell pursuer follows fierce—The dreaded merlin; where the merlin soars,Herfugitive swift pinion cleaves the air.And now, from throat compressed, the rook emits,Treble or fourfold, his clear, piercing cry;While oft amid their high and leafy roosts,Bursts the responsive note from all the clan,Thrill’d with unwonted rapture—oh! ’tis sweet,When bright’ning hours allow, to seek againTheir tiny offspring, and their dulcet homes.Yet deem I not, that heaven on them bestowsForesight, or mind above their lowly fate;But rather when the changeful climate veers,Obsequious to the humor of the sky;When the damp South condenses what was rare,The dense relaxing—or the stringent NorthRolls back the genial showers, and rules in turn,The varying impulse fluctuates in their breast:Hence the full concert in the sprightly mead—The bounding flock—the rook’s exulting cry.”4th. The Moon’s Aspects, etc.“Mark with attentive eye, the rapid sun—The varying moon that rolls its monthly round;So shalt thou count, not vainly, on the morn;So the bland aspect of the tranquil nightWill ne’er beguile thee with insidious calm.When Luna first her scatter’d fires recalls,If with blunt horns she holds the dusky air,Seamen and swains predict th’ abundant shower.If rosy blushes tinge her maiden cheek,Wind will arise: the golden Phœbe stillGlows with the wind. If (mark the ominous hour!)The clear fourth night her lucid disk define,That day, and all that thence successive spring,E’en to the finished month, are calm and dry;And grateful mariners redeem their vowsTo Glaucus, Inöus, or the Nereid nymph.”5th. The Sun’s Aspects, etc.“The sun, too, rising, and at that still hour,When sinks his tranquil beauty in the main,Will give thee tokens; certain tokens all,Both those that morning brings, and balmy eve.When cloudy storms deform the rising orb,Or streaks of vapor in the midst bisect,Beware of showers, for then the blasting South(Foe to the groves, to harvests, and the flock),Urges, with turbid pressure, from above.But when, beneath the dawn, red-fingered raysThrough the dense band of clouds diverging, break,When springs Aurora, pale, from saffron couch,Ill does the leaf defend the mellowing grape;Leaps on the noisy roof the plenteous hail,Fearfully crackling. Nor forget to note,When Sol departs, his mighty day-task done,How varied hues oft wander on his brow;Azure betokens rain: the fiery tintIs Eurus’s herald; if the ruddy blazeBe dimm’d with spots, then all will wildly rageWith squalls and driving showers: on that fell night,None shall persuade me on the deep to urgeMy perilous course, or quit the sheltering pier.But if, when day returns, or when retires,Bright is the orb, then fear no coming rain:Clear northern airs will fan the quiv’ring grove.Lastly, the sun will teach th’ observant eyeWhat vesper’s hour shall bring; what clearing windShall waft the clouds slow floating—what the SouthBroods in his humid breast. Who dare belieThe constant sun?”
I copy also the following from Howard:
“Dr. Jenner’s signs of rain—an excuse for not accepting the invitation of a friend to make acountryexcursion.
“Dr. Jenner’s signs of rain—an excuse for not accepting the invitation of a friend to make acountryexcursion.
“The hollow winds begin to blow,The clouds look black, the glass is low,The soot falls down, the spaniels sleep,And spiders from their cobwebs creep.Last night the sun went pale to bed,The moon in halos hid her head,The boding shepherd heaves a sigh,For see! a rainbow spans the sky.The walls are damp, the ditches smell;Closed is the pink-eyed pimpernel.Hark! how the chairs and tables crack;Old Betty’s joints are on the rack.Loud quack the ducks, the peacocks cry;The distant hills are looking nigh.How restless are the snorting swine!—The busy flies disturb the kine.Low o’er the grass the swallow wings;The cricket, too, how loud it sings!Puss, on the hearth, with velvet paws,Sits smoothing o’er her whisker’d jaws.Through the clear stream the fishes riseAnd nimbly catch the incautious flies;The sheep were seen, at early light,Cropping the meads with eager bite.ThoughJune, the air is cold and chill;The mellow blackbird’s voice is still;The glow-worms, numerous and bright,Illumed the dewy dell last night;At dusk the squalid toad was seen,Hopping, crawling, o’er the green.The frog has lost his yellow vest,And in a dingy suit is dress’d.The leech, disturbed, is newly risenQuite to the summit of his prison.The whirling wind the dust obeyAnd in the rapid eddy plays.My dog, so altered in his taste,Quits mutton-bones, on grass to feast;And see yon rooks, how odd their flight!They imitate the gliding kite:Or seem precipitate to fall,As if they felt the piercing ball.’Twill surely rain; I see, with sorrow,Our jaunt must be put off to-morrow.”
Howard attributes the foregoing to Jenner; but Hone, in his “Every-Day Book,” attributes it to Darwin, and gives it, with several couplets, not found in that attributed to Jenner. These I add from Hone, as follows:
“Her corns with shooting pains torment her—And to her bed untimely send her.”
That couplet is included by Hone with what is said of Aunt Betty.
“The smoke from chimneys right ascends,Then spreading back to earth it bends.The wind unsteady veers around;Or, settling in the south is found.”
Those are as philosophically accurate and valuable as any.
“The tender colts on back do lie;Nor heed the traveler passing by.In fiery red the sun doth rise,Then wades through clouds to mount the skies.”
The first of those couplets is untrue. It is doubtless alluded to as one of the acts of the animal creation, indicating sleepiness and inaction, which precede storms; but colts do not lie on the back. The other couplet is both true and important. This collection entire, whether written by Darwin or Jenner, contains most of the signs which have been preserved, and which are of much practical importance in our climate.
It is unquestionably true that “appointed signs foreshow the weather,” to a great extent, every where, but with more certainty in the climate in which Virgil wrote than in our variable and excessive one. “Showers” and “freezing gales” we can, perhaps, as well understand; but the “reign of heat,” by which he probably meant the dry period, when the southern edge of the extra-tropical belt of rains is carried up to the north of them, we do not experience. Something like it we did indeed have, during the excessive northern transit, in the summer of 1854; but it was an exception, not the rule.
Some of the most important of those signs from Virgil and Jenner I propose to allude to in detail; but it is necessary to look; in the first place, to the character of the season and the month.
We have seen that the years differ during differentperiods of the same decade. That they incline to be hot and irregular during the early part of it, and cool, regular, and productive during the latter portion—subject, however, to occasional exceptions. The latter half of the third decade of this century (1826 to 1830, inclusive) was comparatively warm; and, in the latitude of 41°, was very unhealthy, and so continued during the early part of the next, over the hemisphere, embracing thecholera seasons. The spots upon the sun were much less numerous than usual, during the latter half of the third decade. Thus the spots from
and the size of those from 1836 to 1840 exceeded those of the other years.
The attentive observer will very soon be satisfied that the seasons have a character; and those of every year differ in a greater or less degree from those of other years in the same decade, and those of one decade not unfrequently from those of some other.Periodicityis stamped upon all of them, and upon all resulting consequences. Like seasons come round, and, like productiveness or unproductiveness, healthy or epidemic diatheses, attend them. We have seen that, in relation to mean temperature, there are such periodical diversities, but they are more strongly marked in the character of storms, and other successions of phenomena. “All signs fail in a drouth,” for then all attempts at condensation are partial, imperfect, and ineffectual. “It rains veryeasy,” it is said, at other times, and so it seems to do, and with comparatively little condensation. In the one case, no great reliance can be placed upon indications which are entirely reliable in the other. So “all our storms clear off cold,” or, “all our storms clear off warm,” are equally common expressions—as theprevailing classesof storms give acharacterto theseasons. It “rains every Sunday now,” is sometimes said, and is often peculiarly true—the storm waves having just then a weekly or semi-weekly period, and one falls upon Sunday for several successive weeks; and when it is so,thatcoincidence is sure to be noticed and commented upon, and the other perhaps disregarded.
If the seasons depended upon the northward and southward journey of the sun alone, entire regularity might be expected—for we have no reason to believe that magnetism and electricity contain, within themselves, inherently, any tendency to irregularity, or periodicity; and, the sun being constant in hisperiods, would be constant in hisinfluence. But he is inconstant and variable in his influence, and it is apparently traceable to the existence of spots; but I am not quite sure that it is occasioned by theobservablespots alone. Grant that the intensity and power of his rays differ on the same day, in different years, and that difference may be attributable in part to causes which our telescopes can not discover.
But the differences in the seasons do not depend on the variability of the sun’s influence alone. This appears from the frequent meridional and latitudinaldiversities and contrasts, to which allusion has been made. The sun can not be supposed to exert alessinfluence on a middle, than a more northern latitude; nor on one series of meridians, than another. There must, therefore, be another local and powerful disturbing cause, varying the magnetic and electric activity and influence upon the trades, as well in their incipiency as in their circuits, and thus controlling the atmospheric conditions locally and inthe opposite hemispheres. That other disturbing cause isvolcanic action. We can conceive of none other, and we can detect and trace the influence of that to a considerable extent. Unfortunately we know, and can practically know, comparatively little of it. It has been busy with the earth since the creation, and will continue to be so till, possibly, by a collision, it shall burst into asteroids—its molten interior flowing out in seeming combustion—each fragment retaining its magnetic polarities entire, and continuing on in an independent orbit in the heavens, an asteroid, or meteorite.
While, therefore, the agency of magnetism in itself may be regular, and the transit of the sun is regular, and “seed-time and harvest shall not cease,” yet the sun is not regular in his influence, and the magnetic agency is disturbed by another and irregular power. And, although we can trace the influence of both upon the seasons, we can not measure that influence, and from it reliably foretell the weather. The discoveries of Swabe, and future ones, relative to solar irregularities, will assist us, but, till we understandbetter, and to some extent anticipate, the changes of volcanic action, we shall not be able to understand or foresee all the differences in the seasons. That time may come; for progress is yet to be read in the front of meteorology, and simultaneous practical observations made and interchanged at every important point on the globe. Nevertheless, the seasons have a character—often a regular one—one class of storms prevailing over all others—one series of phenomena occurring to the exclusion of others—and we must regard it if we would arrive at intelligent estimates of their future condition.
The most difficult part to understand are the meridional contrasts. Last year we had one of the worst drouths which has occurred since the settlement of the country. But while all the eastern portion of the United States was dry, New Mexico was unusually wet; and the North-western States, on the same curving line of the counter-trade, were not affected by the drouth.
Extract from a letter written by Governor Merriweather, to Mr. Bennett, in answer to a circular, published in the “New York Herald,” and dated
“Santa Fe, New Mexico, Oct. 25th, 1854.“More rain has fallen during the last six months, within this territory, than ever was known to have fallen in the same length of time, in this usually dry climate. Generally, little or no crops have been produced without irrigation; but this season some good crops have been produced without any artificial watering.”
“Santa Fe, New Mexico, Oct. 25th, 1854.
“More rain has fallen during the last six months, within this territory, than ever was known to have fallen in the same length of time, in this usually dry climate. Generally, little or no crops have been produced without irrigation; but this season some good crops have been produced without any artificial watering.”
We have seen that there was an apparent connection between the remarkable volcanic action, exerted beneath the western continents during the seconddecade of this century, and the remarkable coldness of that decade. And it is easy to see that the comparative absence of volcanic action from immediately beneath the Old World, and its presence in great excess beneath the New, may disturb the regular action of terrestrial magnetism above it in the earth’s-crust here, and affect seasons, diatheses, and health unfavorably; while from its absence they may be favorably affected there. I have some general views in relation to this, but they are necessarily speculative, for the data are few, and I reserve them.
I am, however, induced to believe that the transit of the atmospheric machinery is greater over some portions of the northern hemisphere, in some seasons, than others. The most natural explanation of the unusual contrast between the drouth of the Eastern States, and the wet of the Territories, during the last summer, is, that the concentrated counter-trade was carried west, by some irregular magnetic action in the South Atlantic or West Indies. But there was much evidence that the northern extension of the atmospheric machinery was greater than usual. The transit beganearly—it was evidentlyrapid; the rains of May fell in April, and the spring was wet;summer set in earlier—all the appearances then were unusually tropical—the polar belts of condensation descended upon us, but they were feeble, as they doubtless become, when they reach the tropics, and did not precipitate; the summer continued full twenty days later—no rain falling till about the 10th of September. The season throughout wasexcessive, but otherwise regular. Spring came earlier; summer commenced earlier and continued longer; autumn held off later, and cold weather, when it came, was uniform and severe. This season the transit has seemed to be less than for several years.[10]The spring was backward; the summer cool, but exceedingly regular; the autumn thus far without extremes, and the whole year healthy and productive. It is the normal period of the decade, between the irregular heat of the first part, and the irregular cold of the last; and it has been normal in character, and conformed beautifully to its location. If the transit of 1854 was further north than the mean, as it seemed to be over this country, that of itself would convey the showers which follow up in the western portion of the concentrated trade, on the east of the mountains of Mexico, and cause them to precipitate further north, over New Mexico, and thus, rather than from a diverted trade, they may have derived their unusual supply of moisture during the summer of 1854. On this subject I can but conjecture, and leave to future observation a discovery of the truth.
Enough appears, however, to show the importance of taking the location of the year in the decade, and even the character of the decade itself, into the account.
But whatever the remote cause of the difference in the seasons, the character of the seasons is directly influenced by the character of storms, or periodicchanges. Sometimes the tropical storms are most numerous; at others the polar waves; and at others the irregular local storms, or general tendency to showers. The seasons when the polar waves are most prevalent, are the most regular, healthy, and productive. Those where the tropical tendency is greatest, are irregular; and so are those where the other classes predominate. These differences in the character of the storms, are but the varying forms in which magnetic action develops itself. I have said that there was a decided tendency to cirrus without cumulus, in mid-winter, and cumulus without cirro-stratus or stratus, in midsummer, and during the intermediate time an intermediate tendency. But there is a difference between spring and autumn. Dry westerly (not N. W.) gales prevail in March, and N. E. storms in April and May, but violent S. E. gales are not as common. On the other hand, the dry westerly gales of March are comparatively unknown in autumn, and the violent, tropical, south-easters are then common.
Snow-storms occur during the northern transit, not unfrequently in April and May; but they do not occur so near the acme of the northern transit on its return; nor until it approaches very near its southern limit. The quiet, warm, and genial air of April, is reproduced in the Indian summer of autumn, but they present widely different appearances. Those, and many other peculiarities of the seasons, deserve the attentive consideration of every one who would become familiar with the weather and its prognostics.
These irregularities in the character of the seasons have doubtless always existed, and always been the objects of popular observation. There are some very old proverbs which show this. I copy a few of the many, which may be found in Foster’s collection. Mr. Graham Hutchison does not seem to think any of those ancient proverbs worthy of notice. But he misjudges. They are the result of popular observation, and many of them accord with the true philosophy of the weather.
Irregularseasons are unhealthy, and unreliable for productiveness. When the southern transit was late, or limited, and the autumn ran into winter, our ancestors feared the consequences in both particulars, and expressed their fears, and hopes also, in proverbs. Thus,
“A green winterMakes a fat churchyard.”
There is very great truth in this proverb. Again,
“If the grass grows green in Janiveer,It will grow the worse for it all the year.”
This is emphatically true, for the season which commences irregularly will be likely to continue to be irregular in other respects.
Another of the same tenor:
“If Janiveer Calends be summerly gay,It will be winterly weather till Calends of May.”
Janiveer is an alteration of the French name for January, and the proverb is very old.
So March should be normally dry and windy.
This, too, they understood, and hence the strong proverb:
“A bushel of MarchdustIs worth a king’s ransom.”
And another:
“March hack ham,Come in like a lion, go out like a lamb.”
So April and May should be cool and moist. It is their normal condition in regular, healthy, and productive seasons. The grass and grain require such conditions; and the spring rains are needed to supply the excessive summer evaporation. This, too, they well understood. And hence the proverbs:
“A cold April the barn will fill.”“A cool May, and a windy,Makes a full barn and a findy.”
And—
“April and May are the keys of the year.”
This was not very favorable, to be sure, for corn; but their consolation was found, as we find it, in the truth of another proverb:
“Look at your corn in May, and you’ll come sorrowing away;Look again in June, and you’ll come singing in another tune.”
This difference in the character of the seasons occasioned the adoption of a great variety of “Almanac days;” and they are still very much regarded. Candlemas-day (2d of February) was one of them.
Says Hone, in his “Every-Day Book”:
“Bishop Hall, in a sermon, on Candlemas-day, remarks, that ‘it has been (I say not how true) an old note, that hath been wont tobe set on this day, that if it be clear and sunshiny, it portends hard weather to come; if cloudy and lowering, a mild and gentle season ensuing.’”
“Bishop Hall, in a sermon, on Candlemas-day, remarks, that ‘it has been (I say not how true) an old note, that hath been wont tobe set on this day, that if it be clear and sunshiny, it portends hard weather to come; if cloudy and lowering, a mild and gentle season ensuing.’”
To the same effect is one of Ray’s proverbs:
“The hind had as lief seeHis wife on her bier,As that Candlemas-dayShould be pleasant and clear.”
St. Paul’s day, or the 25th of January, was another great “Almanac day,” and so the verse:
“If Saint Paul’s day be fair and clear,It does betide a happy year;But if it chance to snow or rain,Then will be dear all kinds of grain.If clouds or mists do dark the sky,Great store of birds and beasts shall die;And if the winds do fly aloft,Then war shall vex the kingdom oft.”
St. Swithin’s day was another of these “Almanac days.” Gay said truly,
“Let no such vulgar tales debase thy mind;Nor Paul, nor Swithin, rule the clouds or wind.”
Yet “Almanac days” are still in vogue to a considerable extent—such as thethree first daysof the year, old style—the first three of the season—the last of the season—different days of the month—of the lunation, etc., etc. And some still look to the breastbone of a goose, in the fall, to judge, by its whiteness, whether there is to be much snow during the Winter, etc.
TheseAlmanac days should all be abandoned; they have no foundation in philosophy or truth. There is one proverb, however, in relation to Candlemas-day, which the “oldest inhabitant” will remember, and which it may be well to retain. It has a practical application for the farmer, and in relation to the length of the winter:
“Just half of your wood and half of your hayShould be remaining on Candlemas-day.”
The months, too, have a character which must be remembered and regarded.
Januaryis the coldest month of the year, in most localities. The atmospheric machinery reaches its extreme southern transit, for the season, during the month—usually about the middle. It remains stationary a while—usually till after the 10th of February. One or more thaws, resulting from tropical storms, occur during the month, in normal winters, but they are of brief duration. Boreas follows close upon the retreating storm with his icy breath. There is a remarkable uniformity in the progress of the depression of temperature, to the extreme attained in this month, over the entire hemisphere. It differs in degree according to latitude and magnetic intensity; but it progresses to that degree, whatever it may be, with as great uniformity in a southern as northern latitude. The table, copied from Dr. Forrey, discloses the fact, and so does the following one, taken from Mr. Blodget’s valuable paper, published in the Patent Office Report for 1853:
TABLE SHOWING THE MEAN TEMPERATURE FOR EACH MONTH AT SEVERAL PLACES, VIZ.:
Snows during this month are much heavier, and more frequent, in some localities than others. The reasons why this is so have been stated. The mountainous portions of the country receive the heaviest falls. They affect condensation somewhat, and according to their elevation. They intercept the flakes before they melt, and retain them longer without change. The thaws, or tropical storms, also sometimes have a current of cold air, with snow setting under them on their northern and north-western border. Such was the case with that investigated by Professor Loomis. January is without other marked peculiarities. It shows, of course, those extremes of temperature found, to a greater or less degree, in all the months, and differs, as the others differ, in different seasons. Normally, in temperate latitudes, it is a healthy month. The digestive organs have recovered from that tendency to bilious diseases which characterizes the summer extreme northern transit, and the tendency to diseases of the respiratory organs, which characterizes the southern extreme and the commencement of its return, is not often developed till February. February, in its normal condition until after the 10th, and about the middle, is much like January. Often the first ten days of February are the coldest of the season. The average of the month is a trifle higher, in most localities, as the tables show. This results from the increasing warmth of the latter part of the month. There are localities, however, where the entire month is as cold as January. Such (as will appear from Blodget’stable) are Albany and Rochester, in the State of New York, and New Orleans, in Louisiana. At most places the difference is slight, either way. South of the latitude of 40° heavy snows are more likely to occur in the last half of January and first half of February than earlier. About the middle of the month we may expect thaws of more permanence in normal seasons. They are followed, as in January, by N. W. wind and cold weather, but it is not usually as severe. Many years since, an observing old man said to me, “Winter’s back breaks about the middle of February.” And I have observed that there is usually a yielding of the extreme weather about that period. Here, again, it is interesting and instructive to look at the tables, and see how regularly and uniformly the temperature rises in all latitudes, at the same time; as early and as rapidly at Quebec as at New Orleans or San Antonio; and subsequently rises with greatest rapidity where the descent was greatest. The elevation of temperature does not progress northwardly, a wave of heat accompanying the sun, but is a magneto-electric change, commencing about the same time overthewhole country, and indeed over the hemisphere.
March is a peculiar month—the month of what is termed, and aptly termed, “unsettled weather.” It, may “come in like a lion,” or be variable at the outset. The northern transit is fairly started, and is progressing rapidly, and there is great magnetic irritability. A reference to the table of Dr. Lamont will show that the declination has increased withgreat rapidity. Normally, the early part is like the latter part of February, and the latter part approaches the milder but still changeable weather of April. Its distinguishing feature is violent westerly wind. Not the regular N. W. only—although that is prevalent—but a peculiar westerly wind, ranging from W. by N. to N. W. by W., often blowing with hurricane violence. This wind was alluded to on page 130. With the change and active transit to the north, in February and in March, comes the tendency to diseases of the respiratory organs—pneumonias and lung fevers—and this is the most dangerous period of the year for aged people.
April is a milder and more agreeable month. During some period of it, in normal seasons, and at other times in March, there is a warm, quiet, genial, “lamb-”likespell, exceedingly favorable for oat seeding. When it comes, advantage should be taken of it, for long heavy N. E. storms are liable to occur, and frequently with snow. On the latitude of 41° heavy snow-storms are not uncommon in April. Within the last fifteen years two such have occurred after the 10th of the month. April, as we have seen, should be cool and moist. If dry, the early crops are endangered by a spring drouth; if very wet, there is danger of an extreme northern transit, and an early summer drouth. It is emphatically true that
“April and May are the keys of the year.”
Its distinguishing peculiar feature is the gentle,warm,traderains—“April showers”—which, in the absence of great magnetic irritability, that current drops upon us. There is greatmeanmagnetic activity, but it is not soirregularly excessiveas in March.
May, in our climate, should be, and normally is, a wet month, and a cool one, considering the altitude of the sun. The atmospheric machinery which the sun moves is, however, ordinarily about six weeks behind it—the latter reaching the tropic the 20th of June, and the former its farthest northern extension about six weeks later. Hence it is not a cause for alarm if May be wet and cool. The great staples, wheat, grass, and oats, are benefited; and corn, according to the proverb, will not be seriously retarded. The movable belt of excessive magneto-electric action, with its tropical electric rains, so exciting to vegetation, and its periods or terms of excessive heat, is on its way north, and sure to arrive in season, and remain long enough to mature the corn. There have been but two seasons in this century when corn did not mature in the latitude of 41°. One during the cold decade, and the cold part of it, between 1815 and 1820; and the other, during the cold half of the fourth decade, between 1835 and 1840.
The distinguishing feature, if there be one, of May, is its long, and, for the season, cool storms. These have, in different localities, different names. In pastoral sections we hear of the “sheep storms”—those which effect the sheep severely when newly shorn—killing them or reducing them in flesh by their coldness and severity.
In relation to this too early shearing, there is an old English proverb, in “Forster’s Collection,” viz.:
“Shear your sheep in May,And you will shear them all away.”
So there are others called “Quaker storms,” which occur about the time when that estimable sect hold their yearly meeting. And there are other names given in different localities to these long spring storms. But they are allmere coincidences—equinoctial and all.
Notwithstanding the storms, however, the temperature rises at a mean. The declination is often as great as in mid-summer. The earth is growing warmer by the increase of magneto-electric action, whatever the state of the atmosphere. The yellow, sickly blade of corn is extending its roots and preparing to “jump” when the atmosphere becomes hot, as it is sure to do, when the machinery attains a sufficient altitude, how backward soever it may seem to be. The farmer need not mourn over its backwardness, unless the season is a very extraordinary one, like those of 1816 and 1836. The storms ensure his hay, wheat, and oat crops; the warming earth is at work with the roots of his corn, and is filling with water, and preparing for the hot and rapidly-evaporating suns of mid-summer. The earth would grow warmer if every day was cloudy.
By the middle of June the atmospheric machinery approaches its northern acme, the summer sets in, and not unfrequently, as extremely hot days occurduring the latter part of the month, as at any period of the summer. But the heat is not so continuous, or great, at a mean.
From the middle of June to the latter part of August is summer in our climate, and during that period from one to three or four terms of extreme heat occur, continuing from one to five or six days, and possibly more, terminating finally in a belt of showers overlaid with more or less cirro-stratus condensation in the trade, and controlled by the S. E. polar wave of magnetism, and followed by a cool but gentle northerly wind. During these “heated terms,” a general showery disposition sometimes, though rarely, appears, with isolated showers, which bring no mitigation of the heat. Not until a southern extension of them appears, followed by a N. W. air, does the term change, so far as I have observed.
By the 20th of August, in the latitude of 42°, an evident change of transit is observable, by one who watches closely, although the range of the thermometer in the day-time may not disclose it. A greater tendency to cirrus-formation is visible. The nights grow cooler in proportion to the days. The swallows are departing, or have departed; the blackbirds, too, and the boblinks, with their winter jackets on,their plumage all changed to the same colors, are flocking for the same purpose, and hurrying away. The pigeons begin to appear in flocks from the north, and the first of the blue-winged teal and black duck are seen straggling down the rivers. At this season,and nearly coincident with the change, the peculiar annual catarrhs return. These are colds (so called) which at some period of the person’s life were taken about or soon after the period of change, and have returned every year, at, or near the same period. They soon becomehabitual, and no care or precaution will prevent them. I know one gentleman who has had this annual cold in August for twenty-seven years, with entire regularity; and another who has had it nineteen years; and many others for shorter periods. I never knew one which had recurred for two or three years that could be afterward prevented, or broken up.Very instructive are these annual catarrhsto those who think health worth preserving, and in relation to the change of transit.
The change is felt over the entire hemisphere.Between the 20th of August and the 10th of September hurricanes originate in the tropics and pursue their curving and recurving way up over us; or long “north-easters” commence in the interior and pass off to E. N. E. on to the Atlantic, followed now in a more marked degree by the peculiar N. W. wind, so common over the entire Continent in autumn and winter.
By the 10th of September the pigeons may be seen in flocks in the morning, and just prior to the setting in of a brisk N. W. wind, hurrying away southward with a sagacity that we scarcely appreciate, to avoid the anticipated rigors of winter, and to be followed soon by all the migratory feathered tribes that remain.
The nights grow cooler, although the sun shines hot in the day-time, and woe to the person, unless with an iron constitution, who disregards the change, and exposes himself or herself without additional protection, to its influence. Nature has taken care of those who depend upon her, or upon instinct, for protection. The feathers of birds and water-fowl are full; the hair and the fur are grown. Beasts and birds have been preparing for the change, and are ready when it begins. They know that the earth is changing. The shifting machinery is fast carrying south that excess of negative electricity which has so much to do with giving it its summer heat. They feel its absence, even during the day, and the contrast between that and the positively electrified northern atmosphere, which now follows every retreating wave of condensation.
The musk-rat builds, of long grass and weeds, his floating nest in the pond, that he may have a place to retire to, when the rain fills it up and drives him from his burrow in its banks.
But man, with all his intellect, is too heedless of the change. Additional clothing is now as necessary to him as to animals, but it is burdensome to him in the day time, and therefore he will not wear it, how much soever it would add to his comfort and safety during the night. He stands with his thin summer soles upon the changed ground, or sits in a current, or in the night air, less protected than the animals, and dysentery or fever sends him to his long home. He hasintelligence, but he lacksinstinct. He has time forthe changes of dress which fashion may require, but none for those which atmospherical changes demand.Fashionhas attention inadvance;deathnone tillat the door.
Now the southern line of the extra-tropical belt of rains descends upon those who, living between the areas of magnetic intensity, have a dry season; and the focus of precipitation in that belt descends every where. “Winter no come till swamps full,” the Indians told our fathers, and there is truth in the remark; although like other general truths respecting the weather, it is not always so in our climate. Rains fall during the autumnal months, as during the spring months, and while the transit of the machinery is active and the evaporation is less. And the magnetic comparative rest, and the seed time and equable “spell” of April is reproduced in the Indian summer of autumn.
The machinery gradually and irresistibly descends, and with an excess of polar positive electricity, comes snow; Boreas controls, and winter sets in, reaching its maximum of cold in January again.
Remembering, then, the differences in the normal conditions of the seasons and months, and the different characters that the winds, and storms, and clouds, and other phenomena bear in them respectively, let us now look at the signs of foul or fair weather not herein before fully stated, upon which practical reliance may be placed.
In the first place, we must look to the forming condensation. There are many days when theatmosphere is without visible clouds, but few when it is entirely without condensation. Such days are seen during the dry season in the trade-wind region; and with us, in mid-summer drouths, which partake of this tropical character; and when, at any season, but particularly in winter, the N. W. wind in large volume has elevated the trade very high. Condensation is not necessarily in form of visible cloud. It may be of that smoky character which sometimes attends mid-summer drouths, giving the sun a blood-red appearance; or it may be like that change from deep azure to a “lighter hue,” obscuring the vision, which Humboldt describes as preceding the arrival of the inter-tropical belt of rains. Gay-Lussac, and other aeronauts, have seen a thin cloud stratum at the height of 20,000 to 30,000 feet, not visible at the earth, although some degree of mistiness and obscurity were observed. At that elevation the clouds are thin, and always white and positive. Some degree of turbidness is frequent; it may occur, as we have stated, with N. W. wind, but, if it does, the wind soon changes round to the southward.
This turbidness or mistiness, where it exists, and indicates rain, does not disappear toward night, as it should do if but the daily cloudiness which results from ordinary diurnal magnetic activity, but becomes more obvious at nightfall; and, when hardly visible at mid-day, or during the afternoon, may then be observed, obscuring in a degree, the sun’s rays; and, later in the evening, forming a circle round the moon. Thus Jenner—
“Last night the sun wentpale tobed,The moon inhaloshid her head.”
And so, too, Virgil—
“The sun, too, rising, and at that still hour,When sinks his tranquil beauty in the main,Will give thee tokens; certain tokens all,Both those that morning brings, and balmy eve.*******When Sol departs, his mighty day-task done,How varied hues oft wander on his brow.*******If the ruddy blazeBedimm’dwithspots, then all will wildly rageWith squalls and driving showers: on that fell nightNone shall persuade me on the deep to urgeMy perilous course, or quit the sheltering pier.But if, when day returns, or when retires,Brightis the orb, then fear no coming rain:Clear northern airs will fan the quiv’ring grove.Lastly, the sun will teach th’ observant eyeWhat vesper’s hour shall bring; what clearing windShall waft the clouds slow floating—what the SouthBroods in his humid breast. Who dare belieThe constant sun?”
More frequently this kind of condensation is sufficiently dense at night-fall to take shape, and show a bank when the sun shines horizontally through a mass of it. I am now speaking ofstormcondensation, or that which indicates the approach of a storm. Thunder clouds at nightfall, dark, dense, and isolated, are, of course, to be distinguished. Those, every one understands to indicate a shower, and immediate succeeding fair weather.
The halos do not, in cases of incipient storm condensation, always appear. The moon may not be present: though, in her absence, I have seen them inthe light of the primary planets; or she may be in the eastern portion of the heavens. When this is so, and the condensation forms slowly, there may be less appearance of it, after the sun disappears, than before, although a storm is approaching, and sure to be on by the middle of next day, and perhaps with great violence. When the failure of the light no longer reveals the denser condensation in the west, the stars may shine, as did the sun, dimly but visibly, through the partial and invisible condensation; and one who did not notice the bank in the west, at nightfall and before dark, may be deceived by the seeming clearness of the evening. Thus Virgil—