FACTS FOR THE WEATHERWISE.

WEATHER SIGNS.

The sun is bright, the sky is clear,

But grandma says a storm is near;

And when I asked how she could know,

She said the peacock told her so,

When, perching on the old fence rail,

He screamed so loud and dropped his tail;

And the shy cuckoo on the wing

Repeated over the same thing;

And “More wet!” all the bob-whites cried

That in the grassy meadows hide;

The soot that from the chimney fell

Came down, it seems, this news to tell;

The kettle sang the self-same tune

When it boiled dry so very soon;

The grass this morning said so, too,

That hung without a drop of dew;

And the blue swallows, flying low

Across the river, to and fro.

So all these told her very plain

That ere the evening it would rain;

But who told them, and when, and how?

That’s what I want to find out now.

St. Nicholas.

THE SIROCCO OF ITALY.

Italy is visited by a hot wind from the south which is known as the “Sirocco.” This wind will run the temperature in southern Italy up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, and has a most peculiar effect on the human system, causing intense weakness and irritable depression.

The Sirocco is said to be indirectly the cause of more murders, and of quarrels in which blood is shed, than any other phenomenon in nature.

WEATHER PROVERBS.

The absence of dew for three days indicates rain. Heavy dew indicates fair weather. Clouds without dew indicate rain. If there is a heavy dew and it soon dries, expect fine weather; if it lies long on the grass, expect rain in twenty-four hours.

With dew before midnight, the next day will surely be bright. If you wet your feet with the dew in the morning, you may keep them dry for the rest of the day.

If it rains before seven, ’twill clear before eleven. Rains from the south prevent drought, but rains from the west are always best. If it rains before sunrise, expect a fair afternoon. If it rains when the sun shines, it will rain the next day. Rain is likely to commence on the turn of the tide.

Marry the rain to the wind and you have a calm. If rain commences before daylight, it will hold up before 8 A.M.; if it begins about noon, it will continue through the afternoon; if it commences after 9 P.M., it will rain the next day; if the wind is from the northwest or southwest, the storm will be short; if from the northeast, it will be a hard one.

THUNDER IN ENGLAND.

An early English author writes:

“Thunders in the morning signifie wynde: about noone, rayne; in the evening great tempest.

“Somme wryte (their ground I see not) that Sondayes thundre should brynge the death of learned men, judges, and others; Mondayes thundre, the death of women; Tuesdayes thundre, pleantie of graine; Wednesdayes thundre, much blodshede; Thursdayes thundre, pleantie of shepe and corne; Fridayes thundre, the slaughter of a great man and other horrible murders; and Saturdayes thundre, a generall pestilent plague and great deathe.”

HOW TO USE A BAROMETER.

The following rules are those which are used by the Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht Club in their very successful attempts to forecast the weather with the aid of the barometer.

A Rising Barometer.—A rapid rise indicates unsettled weather. A gradual rise indicates settled weather. A rise with dry air and cold air increasing in summer indicates wind from the northward; and if rain has fallen, better weather may be expected. A rise with moist air and a low temperature indicates wind and rain from the northward. A rise with southerly winds indicates fine weather.

A Steady Barometer.—With dry air and seasonable temperature indicates a continuance of very fine weather.

A Falling Barometer.—A rapid fall indicates stormy weather. A rapid fall with westerly wind indicates stormy weather from the northward. A fall with a northerly wind indicates storm, with rain and hail in summer, and snow in winter. A fall with increased moisture in the air and heat increasing indicates wind and rain from the southward. A fall with dry air and cold increasing in winter indicates snow. A fall after very calm and warm weather indicates rain with squally weather.

The barometer rises for northerly winds, including from northwest by north to the eastward for dry or less wet weather, for less wind, or for more than one of these changes, except on a few occasions, when rain, hail, or snow comes from the northward with strong wind.

The barometer falls for southerly wind, including from southeast by south to the westward, for wet weather, for stronger wind, or for more than one of these changes, except on a few occasions, moderate wind, with rain or snow, comes from the northward.

COWS TELL RAIN.

A sign of coming rain or strong wind is evident when a herd of cows gather together at one end of a pasture, with their tails to windward. Again, when cows are unusually frisky—so that sedate old grandmother cows caper about the field and butt imaginary objects with their horns, while they fling up their heels—often storms are in the air.

Cows are sometimes thus playful in the witching hours of twilight, to the terror of nervous ladies who must cross their pastures.

But when in twilight cows follow one another along a field path unpleasantly close and gambol unpleasantly around one, fear of a storm need not necessarily add terror to the situation. For cows are very inquisitive, and in the dusk of twilight like to make careful investigation of strangers, without meaning any offense.

Cows show a sign of heat and its accompaniment, annoying insects, when they thus collect together, rubbing themselves against each other, and one might read in this a sign of fair weather ahead.

FIRE AS A BAROMETER.

Willsford, in his “Nature’s Secrets” (1658), tells us:

“When our common fires do burn with a pale flame, they presage foul weather. If the fire do make a huzzing noise, it is a sign of tempests near at hand. When the fire sparkleth. very much, it is a sign of rain. If the ashes on the hearth do dodder together of themselves, it is a sign of rain. When pots are newly taken off the fire, if they sparkle (the soot upon them being incensed), it presages rain.

“When the fire scorcheth, and burneth more vehemently than it useth to do, it is a sign of frosty weather; but if the living coals do shine brighter than commonly at other times, expect then rain. If wood or any other fuel do crackle more than ordinary, it is an evident sign of some tempestuous weather neer at hand; the much and suddain falling of soot presages rain.”

GOOSE-BONES AND PROPHECIES.

The goose-bone predictions are perhaps more closely watched in Kentucky than anywhere else, and it may be called the Kentucky weather prophet.

We must take the breastbone of a last spring’s goose—none other will do, for the prophecy does not extend beyond the year in which the goose is hatched. It must be divided into three different parts, which represent the three divisions of winter.

The breastbone of a goose is translucent, but at places has cloudlike blots upon it. These blots denote cold weather, and the prophecy is made according to their density and position.

ORIGIN OF COLD WAVES OF AIR.

Dr. Klein, in reference to the use of daily weather reports, states that in Europe, as in America, in all cases, the reports of the weather westward of a given station are of the greatest importance, while reports from stations to the east are, on the average, of minor importance in making weather predictions.

A southerly wind in the region of Ireland, Scotland, or Norway indicates the approaching side of an area of low barometer. It is therefore a sign of a coming change in the weather.

A northerly wind in those regions indicates, for Germany, that the pressure of the air from the ocean is high, and can be considered as a sign of steady pleasant weather.

The region of high barometer is generally separated from oceans and from equatorial regions by lofty chains of mountains. The coldest and densest stratum of air can therefore not flow away toward the sea.

The area of greatest cold on this continent is not prevented by any range of mountains from extending southward and eastward, but is only hemmed in on the west by the Rocky Mountains. Thus while the Pacific Coast is protected from an overflow of very cold air, the whole eastern portion of America becomes peculiarly subject to it.