wind and rain; cloudy, and the clouds decrease, certain fair weather; rising dim, drizzly. If the Sun's rays breaking through the clouds are visible in the air, it is a proof that the air is sensibly filled with vapours, which reflect the rays to the sight, and these vapours will soon produce rain. When there is a haziness aloft in the air, so that the Sun's light fades by degrees, and his Orb looks whitish and ill defined, it is one of the most certain signs of rain.

Sun setting foul, rain; red, wind or rain; blue, rain; dusky, streaked with red, storm; purple, fine; bright, fine when the Sun appears white at setting, or goes down into a dusky bank of clouds, it portends the approach and continuance of bad weather.

MOON and STARS.-When the moon and stars grow dim in the night, with a haziness in the air, and a ring or circle appears round the Moon, rain is at hand.

If the Moon looks red, it is a sign of wind; if pale and dim, of rain; if white, and of her natural colour, with the sky clear, of fair weather.

Should the Moon be rainy throughout her course, it will clear up at the ensuing change, and rain will probably fall in a few days after, and continue: if, on the contrary, the Moon has been fair, and at the change it rains, fine weather will, in all likelihood, be restored about the fourth or fifth day of the Moon, and be of some duration. When the Moon is bright, with sharp tips, fair; new Moon not appearing until the fourth day, rainy month; the lower horn of the new Moon sullied, foul weather before the full; the

middle, storms about the full; the upper horn, foul about the Wane. Saturday's Moon, rainy month.

But four nights old, (for that's the surest sign,)
With sharpened horns, if glorious then she shine,
Next day, not only that, but all the Moon,
"Till her revolving race be wholly run,
Are void of Tempests.

DRYDEN. Virg. Georg. i. 432.

ATMOSPHERE.-Cold after rain, rain; cold in Summer, rain; warm in Winter, rain; sultry in Summer, thunder; heavy, fair; light, rain; moist, rain; dry, fair.

RAIN. Sudden, seldom lasts long; coming on gradually, and when the air grows thick by degrees, and the sun, moon or stars, shine more and more dim, it is likely to continue six hours. Beginning with a high southerly wind, and the wind subsides, rain for twelve hours or more, and sometimes continues until a strong north wind clears the air; beginning before sun-rise, will end before noon; a shower before sunrise, a fine day usually succeeds; beginning an hour or two after sun-rise, a rainy day; setting in wet between eleven and twelve o'clock, a rainy afternoon; clearing up about that time, the afternoon fine; cold wind after rain, more rain; a squall of rain or hail, settled fair; a rainy Friday, the same weather on Sunday; and a wet Sabbath, a dagly Week.

SOUNDS, such as bells, noise of water, beasts, birds, heard distinctly from a great distance, portend rain. If the Earth, or any fenny places, yield any extraor dinary Scents, or any disagreeable smells arise from

drains, rain. A white frost, rain within three days; the more than usual sinking of rivers, presages rain. The speedy drying of the surface of the earth denotes a northerly wind and fair weather*, and its becoming moist, southerly wind, and rain; for the air sucks all the moisture on the surface, even though the Sky be overcast, and that is a sure sign of fine weather but if the Earth continue damp, and water stand in shallow places, no trust should be put in the clearest Sky, for in this case it is deceitful.

up

ANIMALS.-If Cattle or Sheep feed greedily and [faster than ordinary when it rains, it is a sign of the rain's continuance; and when Sheep skip and play wantonly, Rain is at no great distance. In the mountainous part of Derbyshire, called the Peak, the inhabitants observe, that if the Sheep wind up the hills in the morning to their pasture, and feed near the tops, the weather, although cloudy and drizzling, will clear away by degrees, and terminate in a fine day; but if they feed in the bottoms, the Rain will continue and increase. Geese and Ducks more noisy, and washing and diving more than usual, rain; Cock crowing in the middle of the day, and Peacock squalling much, rain; Kites hovering high in the air, fine

* It has, however, been observed, that the Earth, after very long and abundant Rain, is sometimes seen to be almost dry, and the Roads free from Dirt. This is a sign that the Rain has not altogether finished, and denotes a continual Efflux of Electric Matter, which being renewed, carries with it, in the form of Vapour, all the Moisture that falls on the Earth; and there is sometimes a great deal of Dirt after a moderate rain: this is a sign of fine weather, because it indicates that Evaporation has ceased.

weather; Owls screaming frequently in the evening when foul, fair and frosty; Larks rising high* and singing long, fine; Redbreasts singing loud in the open air, fine; faintly under cover, rain; when the Moor game and other birds quit the mountains, and betake themselves to the lower lands, rain; Crows are more earnest after their prey before rain. PLINY remarks, that "it is a sign of rain when the land fowl, especially Crows, are clamorous near waters, and wash themselves." HORACE likewise describes this bird as prophetic of impending Showers. When they and Ravens stand gaping towards the Sun, it foretels extreme Heat. Stoallows skimming the surface of water, rain; so long as they keep aloft after their prey the Sky is serene; but when they descend

BLOOMFIELD has, with several strokes of minute Originality, thus described this Soaring of the Lark, in his FARMER'S BOY.

When Music waking speaks the Sky-lark nigh:

Just starting from the Corn she cheerly sings,
And trusts, with conscious pride, her downy wings;
Still louder breathes, and in the face of day
Mounts up, and calls on Giles to mark her way.
Close to his Eyes his hat he instant bends,
And forms a friendly Telescope, that lends
Just aid enough to dull the glaring light,
And place the wand'ring Bird before his sight:
Yet oft beneath a cloud she sweeps along,
Lost for a while, yet pours her varied song;
He views the spot, and as the cloud moves by,
Again she stretches up the clear blue sky :
Her form, her motion, undistinguish'd quite,
Save when she wheels direct from Shade to Light,
The flutt'ring Songstress a mere Speck became.

and flit along the surface of the earth or water, rain is not far off, and the remark will for the most part be correct. A drought of three months duration broke up at the Summer Solstice, in 1775. The day previous to the rains falling the Swallows flew very near the Ground, which they had never done during the whole period of the dry weather. Sparrows chirping much in a fine morning, rain; and the Chaffinch being loud in his call or note, is a pretty certain signal that wet is fast approaching.

Dogs are said by some to be particularly sleepy, and to eat grass, before rain; but Grass is a natural vomit, which Nature prompts them to take at all times when their stomachs require such an Evacuation; of course it is no proof that the approach of rain alone drives them to seek this remedy: the dryness of the dog's nose is presage of wet weather. Earth than usual, and its their appearance sometimes above ground, rain; Worms creeping in numbers out of the ground, rain; and from the same principle that they, as well as Moles, are sensible of the access of something new in the Atmosphere, and to the surface of the Earth. Frogs appearing of a golden hue, fine; dusky colour, rainy; and Toads in an Evening crawl over the road or beaten path, where they seldom are seen but when restless, from the expectation of approaching rain. Fishes are supposed to be affected, since it is allowed that they cease to bite freely when rain is depending. All sorts of insects are more stirring than ordinary against rain. Bees are in fullest em

stated to be a much surer Moles throwing up more being small and dry, and

VOL. II.

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