CHAPTER XI.

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 all Decreed 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 gulf Dash the swell'd waves; the mighty mountains pour A harsh, dull murmur; far along the beach Rolls the deep rushing roar; the whispering grove Betrays 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 coot Sports on the sand; the hern her marshy haunts Deserting, soars the lofty clouds above; And oft, when gales impend, the gliding star Nightly 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 East And 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, bears Her eggs--a cherished treasure--o'er the sand, Along the narrow track her steps have worn. High vaults the thirsty bow; in wide array The clamorous rooks from every pasture rise With serried wings. The varied sea-fowl tribes, And those that in Caeyster'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 rain A lonesome wanderer on the thirsty sand. Maidens that nightly toil the tangled fleece, Divine the coming tempest; in the lamp Crackles 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 behold Warm suns, and cloudless heavens, around thee smile. Brightly the stars shine forth; Cynthia no more Glimmers obnoxious to her brother's rays; Nor fleecy clouds float lightly through the sky. The chosen birds of Thetis, halcyons, now Spread 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, Her fugitive 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 again Their tiny offspring, and their dulcet homes. Yet deem I not, that heaven on them bestows Foresight, 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 North Rolls 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 night Will 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 Phoebe still Glows 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 vows To Glaucus, Inoeus, 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 rays Through 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 tint Is Eurus's herald; if the ruddy blaze Be dimm'd with spots, then all will wildly rage With squalls and driving showers: on that fell night, None shall persuade me on the deep to urge My 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 eye What vesper's hour shall bring; what clearing wind Shall waft the clouds slow floating--what the South Broods in his humid breast. Who dare belie The 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 a country excursion.

"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 rise And nimbly catch the incautious flies; The sheep were seen, at early light, Cropping the meads with eager bite. Though June, 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 risen Quite to the summit of his prison. The whirling wind the dust obey And 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 different periods 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 deg., was very unhealthy, and so continued during the early part of the next, over the hemisphere, embracing the cholera seasons. The spots upon the sun were much less numerous than usual, during the latter half of the third decade. Thus the spots from

1826 to 1830, inclusive, were 873 1836 to 1840 " " 1201 1846 to 1850 " " 1168

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. Periodicity is 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 very easy," 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 the prevailing classes of storms give a character to the seasons. 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, that coincidence 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 his periods, would be constant in his influence. 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 the observable spots 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 latitudinal diversities and contrasts, to which allusion has been made. The sun can not be supposed to exert a less influence 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 in the opposite hemispheres. That other disturbing cause is volcanic 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 understand better, 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."

We have seen that there was an apparent connection between the remarkable volcanic action, exerted beneath the western continents during the second decade 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 began early--it was evidently rapid; 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 was excessive, 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. 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 periodic changes. 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.

Irregular seasons 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 winter Makes 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 March dust Is 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 to be 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 see His wife on her bier, As that Candlemas-day Should 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 the three first days of 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.

These Almanac 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 hay Should be remaining on Candlemas-day."

The months, too, have a character which must be remembered and regarded.

January is 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.:

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | Lat. | Jan. | Feb. |March.|April.| May. |June. | |-------------------|-------|------|------|------|------|------|------| |Quebec, Canada E. |46 deg. 49'| 9.9 | 12.8 | 24.4 | 38.7 | 52.9 | 63.7 | |New York, N. Y. |40 deg. 42'| 30.2 | 30.8 | 38.5 | 49.1 | 59.6 | 69.1 | |Albany, N. Y. |42 deg. 39'| 24.5 | 24.3 | 34.8 | 47.7 | 59.8 | 68.0 | |Rochester, N. Y. |42 deg. 45'| 26.1 | 25.8 | 33.0 | 45.8 | 56.2 | 64.5 | |Baltimore, Md. |39 deg. 17'| 33.1 | 34.3 | 42.4 | 53.0 | 63.2 | 71.6 | |Savannah, Ga. |32 deg. 05'| 52.6 | 54.7 | 60.0 | 68.4 | 74.8 | 79.4 | |Key West, Fla. |24 deg. 33'| 70.0 | 70.7 | 73.8 | 76.3 | 80.2 | 82.1 | |Mobile, Ala. |30 deg. 40'| 51.3 | 53.7 | 59.4 | 67.1 | 74.1 | 77.8 | |New Orleans, La. |30 deg. 00'| 54.8 | 54.5 | 61.5 | 67.6 | 74.0 | 78.6 | |Marietta, Ohio |39 deg. 25'| 32.2 | 34.1 | 42.6 | 53.0 | 61.8 | 69.2 | |San Antonio, Tex. |29 deg. 25'| 52.7 | 57.9 | 65.5 | 69.7 | 76.4 | 80.5 | |San Francisco, Cal.|37 deg. 48'| 50.1 | 51.0 | 53.8 | 57.7 | 55.9 | 58.8 | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------+ |July. | Aug. | Sept.| Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | |------|------|------|------|------|------| | 66.8 | 65.5 | 56.2 | 44.1 | 31.5 | 17.3 | | 74.9 | 73.3 | 65.9 | 54.3 | 43.5 | 33.9 | | 72.2 | 70.3 | 61.4 | 49.2 | 39.4 | 28.3 | | 69.7 | 67.8 | 60.1 | 47.7 | 38.2 | 28.8 | | 76.6 | 74.5 | 67.7 | 55.8 | 45.0 | 37.8 | | 81.3 | 80.6 | 76.9 | 67.2 | 58.3 | 52.2 | | 83.3 | 83.5 | 82.5 | 79.1 | 75.6 | 72.8 | | 79.8 | 79.4 | 76.1 | 65.7 | 57.0 | 52.8 | | 80.4 | 79.6 | 77.1 | 69.1 | 57.5 | 56.2 | | 72.7 | 70.9 | 63.5 | 51.8 | 42.6 | 34.7 | | 82.3 | 83.3 | 79.9 | 72.2 | 62.2 | 52.1 | | 57.9 | 62.2 | 61.6 | 61.9 | 56.2 | 50.0 | +-----------------------------------------+

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's table) 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 deg. 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 over the whole 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 with great 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-"like spell, 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 deg. 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, trade rains--"April showers"--which, in the absence of great magnetic irritability, that current drops upon us. There is great mean magnetic activity, but it is not so irregularly excessive as 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 deg.. 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 all mere 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 occur during 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 deg., 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 become habitual, 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 catarrhs to 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 has intelligence, but he lacks instinct. He has time for the changes of dress which fashion may require, but none for those which atmospherical changes demand. Fashion has attention in advance; death none till at 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 the atmosphere 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 went pale to bed, The moon in halos hid 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 blaze Be dimm'd with spots, then all will wildly rage With squalls and driving showers: on that fell night None shall persuade me on the deep to urge My 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 eye What vesper's hour shall bring; what clearing wind Shall waft the clouds slow floating--what the South Broods in his humid breast. Who dare belie The 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 of storm condensation, 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 in the 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--

"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 night Will ne'er beguile thee with insidious calm."

All early condensation and indications derived from it, must be looked for in the west. From that quarter all storms come. These indications at nightfall are of a varied character. They may consist of primary condensation in the trade, or of secondary condensation, scud running north toward a storm, the condensation of which has not yet visibly reached us, but which will extend south and pass over us. It may be a heavy bank, or consist of narrow cirrus bands. Cirro-stratus cloud banks, in the S. W., in the fall and winter, of a foggy and uniform character, are indicative of snow. The body of the storm will pass south of us, and a portion over us, the wind be north of east, and the snow will not be likely to turn to rain before it reaches the earth, by reason of a southern middle current.

Banks in the N. W. indicate rain at all seasons. The storm is north of us, working southerly, and such storms rain on the southern border--in winter even--because they have the wind on that border from south of east. It may, indeed, snow, but if so, probably in large flakes, soon turning to rain. There are other appearances at nightfall which deserve consideration. A red sun, with smoky air, is indicative of continued dry weather, a frequent appearance in dry terms, lasting three or four days, at least, from the commencement. So is a red appearance of the sky, when there are no clouds, indicative of a fair day following. On this subject we have an allusion to the weather, by our Saviour while on earth, which, like all such allusions found in the Bible, is of remarkable philosophical accuracy. It is found in Matthew, chapter xvi., verses 2 and 3: "He answered and said unto them, When it is evening ye say, It will be fair weather, for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day, for the sky is red and lowering. O, ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky," etc.

Another allusion to the weather, though not applicable to this point, I will refer to in passing. It is found in Luke, chapter xii., verses 54 and 55: "And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass."

This is all very true, and might have been cited to show the universality of the phenomena. But to return.

We have an old English proverb alluding to the same phenomena, of great value and truth, viz.:

"An evening red and a morning gray Are sure signs of a fair day; Be the evening gray and the morning red, Put on your hat or you'll wet your head."

The sky is red if there be no condensation at the west to obscure the rays of the sun; if there be, it is gray, or there is a bank or cloud, and it is obscured. So if there be no condensation over, or to the east of us, in the morning, to reflect the rays of the sun, the sky is gray; if there be such condensation, the sun is reflected from it, and the sky is red. Such morning condensation is indicative of foul weather. It is, as we have said, the eastern edge of an approaching storm, on, or under which, the sun shines and illumines it. Thus, at night, it shines through a portion at the west, which is situate between the sun and us, making the sky gray: but shines on, or under, a portion in the morning, east of us, but not far enough east to obscure the horizon, and the rays of the rising sun are reflected from it. In either case the red or gray appearance results from the relative situation of the sun and the eastern edge of an approaching storm.

The following couplet of Darwin is an apt description of the morning appearance:

"In fiery red the sun doth rise, Then wades through clouds to mount the skies."

The sun is often reflected in vivid colors, from the under surface of clouds, at sunset. This is an indication of fair weather. It is evident the sun shines through a clear atmosphere beyond the cloud, or his rays would not reach and illume the lower surface of the cirro-stratus with such distinctness. He "sets clear," as is said; the clouds are passing off, and there are none beyond. It is this appearance, in different forms, when there happen to be patches of broken, melting cirro-stratus above the horizon, which makes the beautiful sunsets that attract attention. So the sun is reflected, in beautiful colors sometimes, from the cumulus clouds which have passed over to the east. The most beautiful and variegated I have ever seen, were reflected from that imperfect cumulus condensation which takes place occasionally during long drouths--doubtless resembling that which is seen over Peru, hereinbefore alluded to, as described by Stewart.

It is not, then, the presence of cloud condensation at the west, at nightfall, which alone indicates foul weather; but such condensation, whatever its form, as evinces that it is not the dissolving cloud of the day, but the eastern, approaching portion of a still denser portion beyond, through, or under which, the sun can not shine clearly, but which wholly or partially obscures it. Remembering this philosophy of the matter, the observer will soon be able to detect the various forms of condensation which originate or exhibit themselves at nightfall, and whether they indicate an approaching storm or not, without a more explicit specification of them. It is an important hour for observation; "Let not the sun go down" without attention.

When the condensation is obvious, but thin, at nightfall, it may not, as I have said, be discernible in the evening. But there are methods by which the incipient storm condensation may be detected. The number of the stars visible, and the distinctness with which they may be seen, indicate the absence or presence of condensation and its density. Virgil, alluding to the indications of fair weather, says:

"Brightly the stars shine forth; Cynthia no more Glimmers obnoxious to her brother's rays; Nor fleecy clouds float lightly through the sky."

The brightness of the stars and the clear appearance of the moon show the absence of condensation and the dissolution of the fleecy clouds at the close of the day is, as we have seen, always a fair-weather indication.

There is much true philosophy in the allusions of Virgil to the moon. Thus--

"When Luna first her scatter'd fires recalls, If with blunt horns she holds the dusky air, Seamen and swains predict th' abundant shower."

The horns, or angles of the moon will, of course, appear distinct and sharp or indistinct and blunt, in proportion to the amount of condensation in the atmosphere which impedes the passage of the light. For the same reason, when the moon is new, her entire disk is visible when the atmosphere is very clear, by reason, as is supposed, of light reflected from the earth to the moon and back to us. This double reflection can only take place when the atmosphere is very clear. Hence, Virgil alludes to it, and correctly, as an indication of continued fair weather:

"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."

Probably Virgil alluded to a month of the summer trade-wind drouth which reaches up on Southern Italy. But that appearance of the moon is occasionally seen here, and the indication is, in degree, philosophically true.

It is somewhat more difficult to determine what will be the result of the condensation seen at the west in the morning, and which is not so far east, or of such a character, as to reflect the rays of the sun; for, although always suspicious, it is sometimes of a foggy character, and disappears between eight and nine o'clock. If it increases in density after ten o'clock, or is of a dense cirro-stratus character, rain may generally be expected. If of a decided cirro-cumulus character, it is certain to disappear. Cirro-cumulus is seen in small patches, with small, distinct, and rounded masses, in summer, in the morning, and sometime, during the day, after high fog has disappeared, and at other times, and is always, when of that distinct character, a fair weather indication. I have seen it thus when the wind was blowing from the N. E., and the scud running toward a storm passing near, but to the south of us, when those who relied upon the existence of the wind and scud as evidences that we were to have the desired rain, were deceived. Thus, the couplet from an old almanac:

"If woolly fleeces strew the heavenly way, Be sure no rain disturb the summer day."

When this morning condensation is not high fog, and is dense and passing east with a wavy appearance, it is very certain to rain. Jenner says:

"The boding shepherd heaves a sigh, For see, a rainbow spans the sky."

An old almanac had the following verse:

"A rainbow in the morning Is the shepherd's warning; A rainbow at night Is the shepherd's delight."

So the proverb was originally made; but as our ancestors were not shepherds, and had a horror of ocean storms, it was commonly quoted, in this country, in the following form:

"A rainbow in the morning, The sailors take warning," etc.

Rainbows are not reflected from clouds, but falling rain, and a morning rainbow at the west is, of course, evidence that it is actually raining there, and will, in all probability, pass over us. "Thunder in the morning, rain before night," is a common saying, and a true one. There is a belt of showers, or showery period approaching, of unusual intensity--for thunder showers in the morning are rare. The afternoon is their most common period, and they are very apt to appear then, when the morning is showery.

Of the different forms of cirrus and cirro-stratus, which appear during the day, and indicate approaching storms, or of cumulus indicative of showers, it is difficult to give an intelligible description without very many illustrations. I have many daguerreotype views, taken at different seasons of the year, and at a time when different forms of cirrus and cirro-stratus condensation, indicative of storms, exhibited themselves. They differ, as I have said, and it must be remembered, very much at different seasons of the year, and in different years, and their delicate shades are taken with difficulty by the artist, and reproduced with difficulty, and only at considerable expense, by the engraver; and I have omitted them. The time will come when a knowledge of their language will be sought for and read--when the "countenance of the sky" will be an object of intelligent interest to all whose business may be affected by the weather, or who love to learn of nature. But it is not yet. This is the age of theory and speculation. The time of actual, practical, connected observation and prognostication, which may justify expensive illustration, is yet to arrive.

The reader will find in the general plates representations of several kinds of cirri. They are delicate, always white, more or less fibrous, and form in the upper part of the trade or the adjoining atmosphere above it. Their character and elevation should be studied, and the observer should be careful to distinguish which is the most elevated. Not unfrequently it may seem, to a hasty observer, that the cirrus is below the cirro-stratus or forming stratus. But the genuine cirrus never is. It forms near, and above, the point of congelation, and is often composed of crystals of ice or snow. If they fall, they melt and evaporate, when there is no storm, before reaching the earth. Aeronauts have met with them and their crystals when there was no fall of moisture at the surface of the earth; and the angles of reflection exhibited by halos and other optical phenomena which form in them, enable us to detect their crystallization and the form of it.

They are produced by electric changes which condense the vapor, and the coldness of the air at that elevation freezes it at the instant of its condensation.

Congelation is crystallization, and all crystallization is electric, or magneto-electric. The snow-flakes differ in form and size according to the suddenness of the condensation, the amount of moisture condensed, the polarity of the strata through which they pass, and their consequent attraction and adhesion to each other.

The connection of electricity with these formations of cirri has frequently been admitted, and it is perfectly obvious that the long fibrous bands, shooting from horizon to horizon, could not be formed by commingling of currents any more than the perfectly isolated, distinct, enlarging-outward cumulus hail-storm, could be so formed. Cirri form at the line of meeting, between the trade and the upper atmosphere, and in one or the other, or both, very much according to the season, and the suddenness with which storms are produced. These often induce a layer of cirro-stratus or stratus at the lower line of the counter-trade, and in the surface-atmosphere, which precipitates; and this operation is clearly discernible, and very frequently, before gentle rains. Condensation in the whole body of the trade is usually in the form of turbidness or mistiness, a bank or incipient stratus, without cirri.

It seems matter of astonishment that water should float so far condensed, in strata where the air is so much lighter, without being precipitated. But electric attraction and repulsion between the different strata and the vesicles, explain it.

In mid-winter, the cirrus forms are prevalent and most distinct. After severe cold weather, when a storm approaches, the cirri form in long, narrow threads, parallel to each other, extending from about W. S. W. to E. N. E., gradually thickening and forming, or inducing, cirro-stratus and stratus, and dropping snow. This form is called the linear-cirrus. The tufted, and other fibrous forms, are seen in patches also, in great distinctness, during these mid-winter days, when the wind gets around to the southward, and the weather is pleasant. Such days are called "weather-breeders," and their offspring the patches of cirrus, which are to extend and compose, or induce the storm, and indeed are an advance part of it, are then never absent. A clear, moderate day, in a normal winter, with wind from any southern point, however light, between the 1st of January and the middle of February, without these patches of cirrus, is very uncommon. Watch and see whether they tend to cirro-stratus, or whether the wind gets around to the N. W. at nightfall, and they disappear. If the former, a storm may be expected; if the latter, fair weather.

Thus there are three peculiarities attending the forming cirrus of mid-winter (1st of January to 10th of February): long, fibrous, parallel bands in the morning (linear cirrus), gradually coalescing as the day advances, after severe cold; the comoid, curled, or tufted cirrus, in curling bunches, called "mares'-tails," and the transverse, when the fibers are in bands or threads, which are not parallel, but cross each other at angles, more or less acute. The two former varieties are represented on Figure 5, page 26, indicated by one bird, but the last form is a very prevalent one in our atmosphere.

Various names have been given to different forms of cirro-stratus. Those represented in Figure 5, page 26, are the "cymoid" on the right, the "mottled" on the left, below the cirro-cumulus; and the "linear" below that. The form known as the "mackerel sky" is not represented there. It consists of regular forms, resembling the waves on the surface of the water when the wind blows a gentle breeze. But the wavy form, and of all sizes, is very frequently assumed by cirro-stratus, which is rapidly condensing, and turning to stratus. In the "mackerel sky," strictly so called, the waves are small, parallel, nearly distinct and equi-distant, and resembling the appearance of a school of mackerel, swimming in the same direction, one above another. All wavy forms of cirro-stratus indicate a disposition to increased condensation and rain. When the waves are very large and dense, and cross obliquely, or unite at one end, rain is very certain to fall soon, if the line of progress of the condensation is over the observer, and the clouds are seen in the western or N. W. quarter of the sky.

But there are few forms which are not occasionally seen when no rain or snow falls. The intensity of the electric action which produces them may not be sufficient to effect precipitation, or they may be the attendant, attenuated lateral condensation, which frequently "thins out" a considerable distance from the dense, precipitating portions of the storm.

If that denser portion is north of us, the probabilities of rain are greater, for there is always a probability that the storm may be of the character which is extended south, by a polar wave. The observer must watch the formation of cirri, and the different forms of cirro-stratus and stratus, and become familiar with their appearance. It is not a difficult task. With the aid of a few general directions he will soon be familiar with them:

1. Get a correct idea of the different characters of the primary clouds. The true fibrous cirrus--the different forms of cirro-stratus--the smooth, uniform stratus--the cirro-cumulus, which is nothing but a cirro-stratus, separated into distinct masses by the repulsion of static electricity--and the cumulus, too distinct ever to be mistaken. There is no difficulty, except with the varied forms of cirro-stratus. It is useless to attempt to give, or the observer to rely on, names for these numerous forms, without as numerous illustrations. Those in use are rarely applied correctly. I have never met with ten persons who applied even the term "mackerel sky" to the same precise form of cirro-stratus. In relation to all of them it is to be observed that polar belts of condensation, and local appearances of considerable extent, are often too feeble in action to precipitate, even when the mackerel form is present; and all may be the lateral attendants of passing storms. Therefore,

2. Satisfy yourself whether the cirrus or cirro-stratus increases in density and tends to the formation, or induction, of stratus; and whether it is isolated, or an extension of the condensation of a storm, and if the latter, where that storm is. The time will come when an intelligent use of the telegraph will do this for you.

3. Look also to the character of the wind, if there be any. On this subject I have perhaps said all that is necessary in the preceding pages. Next to condensation, the direction and character of the wind is the most valuable prognostic. Indeed it often tells us that a storm is approaching, and the quarter from which it will come, and its character, before the condensation is visible.

4. See if there is any secondary condensation or scud. These are sometimes seen running toward a storm, when there are not distinct clouds visible in the western horizon, at nightfall, or in the evening, as in the instance stated in the introduction, and sometimes from the north-east, as in cases heretofore so often stated. But the easterly scud do not often form in winter, until after the cirrus has passed into the form of cirro-stratus, or has induced the latter forms in the inferior portion of the trade, or the surface atmosphere.

The inductive effect of the primary condensation, therefore, is not always, and especially in winter, sufficient to create the easterly current and scud, and it is often the case that the easterly wind is not felt, or the scud seen, in snow-storms, until the snow has begun to fall, and the first snow will fall with a S. W. air, as I have heretofore stated. But when the condensation has so far advanced toward stratus that the easterly wind and scud are obvious, there is little or no doubt that rain or snow will fall speedily. The occasional occurrence of easterly wind and scud, without rain, however--dry north-easters, as I have termed them--in connection with storms passing south of us, or condensation too feeble to precipitate, should be remembered. The long, dry, north-easterly winds of spring have been attributed to the icebergs, but they are overlaid by feeble stratus or cirro-stratus condensation, or are the result of attraction, by a more southern precipitation. The observer must be careful to distinguish between the various forms of N. W. scud and cirro-stratus, which they sometimes resemble. This he may do from the direction in which they move. Cirro-stratus always moves from some point between S. S. W. and W. S. W. to some point between N. N. E. and E. N. E. The various forms of N. W. scud move to the S. E. The March, foggy scud, from between W. and N. W., rarely have any cirro-stratus above them, but rather a peculiar turbid condensation.

The character of the primary condensation, the direction and force of the wind, and the direction of the secondary condensation or scud, must be the main reliance of the observer. But I must reiterate that they all differ in different kinds of storms, in different seasons of the same year, and the same seasons of different years; and the observer must be careful to make due allowance for those differences.

There are, however, divers other secondary signs, which, although not alone to be relied upon, will aid the observer, if carefully studied, when the character of the clouds, and the pressure of easterly or southerly wind and scud, are not decisive. Of these, a large class are electrical.

The smoke descends the adjoining chimney-flues, or outside of the chimney, toward the ground.

Thus, Darwin, as quoted by Hone:

"The smoke from chimneys right ascends, Then, spreading, back to earth it bends."

Smoke is electrified positively, by the act of combustion; the earth and the adjacent atmosphere, when storms are gathering or approaching, is negative. Hence the smoke spreads, and is attracted downward by an opposite electricity. On the other hand, it is interesting to see, at other times, and when the difference in temperature is not material, but the whole atmosphere is positive, with what rapidity and compactness the smoke will ascend in a straight and elevated column from the chimney, repelled by a similar electricity. I am aware it is generally supposed the smoke descends because the air is lighter. But it is a mistake. I have seen it descend when the barometer was at 30 deg..60, or .60 above the mean.

There is, too, a draught downward in chimneys, in such cases when there is no smoke or fire in any of its flues. Thus Jenner says: "The soot falls down;" whether he meant by this that there was an actual fall of soot other than what is occasioned by the rain falling in through the chimney top, and disturbing the soot, as sometimes happens, I do not know. It occurs rarely, and is of very little practical importance. But every housewife knows that chimneys, which have been used in winter, and are full of soot, smell before storms. The odor results from a downward draught and the dampness of the air. So the smoke from one flue will descend another, into some unused room, on such occasions. Another class of these electrical signs are felt by those who are suffering from chronic diseases, which have affected the nerves and made them sensitive. Thus Jenner:

"Old Betty's joints are on the rack."

And Hone adds:

"Her corns with shooting pains torment her, And to her bed untimely send her."

But Old Betty's rheumatism or corns are not alone in this. Those whose bones have been broken feel it. All invalids feel it. And, indeed, all observing healthy persons may, and do, although all are not distinctly conscious of it. It is common for such to say, I feel sleepy, or I feel dull, or, It feels like snow, or feels like rain, and thus from their own feelings to be able to predict, not only falling weather, but its character, whether snow or rain, at a time when either may occur consistently with appearances.

This change is a change from the positive electricity which is so congenial to the active--"bracing" is the usual term--to negative and damp--for this change is accompanied by condensation, as I believe all changes from positive to negative are. Certain it is, if the atmosphere is highly charged with negative electricity, condensation takes place; if with positive, evaporation. Perhaps it is a change of the associated electricity which accompanies magnetism, and not of the free atmospheric electricity alone. Hence another phenomenon alluded to by Jenner:

"The walls are damp, the ditches smell."

There are localities where this dampness is very obvious. The celebrated William Cobbett, many years since, when a farmer on Long Island, observed and published the fact that the stones grew damp before a storm. I know of flagging stones that usually grow damp two or three hours before rain, especially in spring and fall, and every step taken upon them is made visible by a corresponding increase of condensation.

The reverse of this takes place just before the close of storms. Flagging stones, and walls under cover, will frequently become dry before the rain ceases. The negative electricity becomes less as the positive prevails, although the clouds above are still dropping rain.

In the comparatively moist, showery climate of England, these changes from positive to negative alternate rapidly between successive showers; but observations of electric phenomena, or of clouds, in that climate, are not, without qualification, safe guides for us.

So "the ditches smell," particularly in the evening before a rain, when the immediate surface-atmosphere is charged with negative electricity, and the condensing moisture prevents the diffusion of the odors. For the same reason the candle will not relight, and there is crackling in the ashes or lamp. Thus, again, Virgil:

"Maidens that nightly toil the tangled fleece Divine the coming tempest; in the lamp Crackles the oil, the gathering wick grows dim."

Virgil did not live in our cold climate, and knew nothing of the crackling in the fire, or in the ashes or coals which remain after the wood is consumed. The lamp exhibits it on a smaller scale, and perhaps he had noticed it when in company with the maidens. But it is sometimes noticeable even in the lamp or candle with us. A small particle of moisture will produce it, in a marked degree, at any time.

In winter, when the air is highly positive and cold, the candle can be blown out, and by another puff of the breath relighted, with ease. But when the electricity before a storm becomes negative, and partial condensation takes place, this can not be done. This partial condensation before storms and showers shows itself upon vessels containing cold-water, in summer. It seems to be the received opinion, that the condensation is evidence of a greater quantity of moisture in the atmosphere. But this, too, is a mistake, and hence the little reliance to be placed on hygrometers.

This partial condensation is sometimes visible. When the sun shines clearly, at the east or west, through a small opening in the clouds, the condensing vapor is shown by the streaks of sunlight, just as the fine particles of dust are seen in a dark room, when a few rays of sunlight are admitted through a small aperture. This phenomenon is often observed, and it is said of it--"It's a going to rain; the sun is drawing water."

Virgil alludes to this as seen in the east in the morning, thus:

"But when beneath the dawn red-fingered rays Through the dense band of clouds diverging break,

* * * * *

Ill does the leaf defend the mellowing grape; Leaps on the noisy roof the plenteous hail, Fearfully crackling."

It is well ascertained that storm-clouds of great intensity have polarity in the different portions, and that in the less intense magneto-electrical climate of England isolated showers are often of this character--the polarity existing in rings. Showers are doubtless thus found with us. Mr. Wise got into one of them; see his description (Theory and Practice of Aeronautics page 240).

I have, in another place, alluded to the upward attraction of the dust beneath the advance condensation of a shower. Jenner alludes to it in the following lines:

"The whirling winds the dust obeys, And in the rapid eddy plays."

So Virgil:

"Light chaff and leaflets, flitting, fill the air, And sportive feathers circle on the lake."

All these are electrical.

In England, where the action of such isolated clouds is less intense, the different electricities in different portions of the cloud, whose opposite and changing action produce all the phenomena, the condensation, the cold and congelation, the currents, etc., have been accurately ascertained. We can not get into the situation occupied by Mr. Wise. But every man may observe these intestine motions occasionally, in the advance condensation of an isolated thunder-shower, in front of, but near the smooth line of falling rain. They are more lateral than upward or downward, and are often exceedingly rapid in movement.

I have said that hail has often been found to fall from particular and well-defined portions of a cloud, and rain from the other portions, the hail being positive, and rain negative. An instance of very striking character may be found in Espy's Philosophy of Storms (Introduction, page xx.) Doubtless in all cases thunder-showers, which are isolated and distinct, have opposite electricity in different portions, to whose active agency all the phenomena are owing. And the return of electricity to the earth in the rain explains the greater fertilizing effect of the latter compared With all artificial watering. He was a true philosopher who attempted to stimulate vegetation by electricity.

Sounds may sometimes aid the observer in doubtful cases in foretelling the weather. The roar of the surf, or breaking of the waves on the shore, when great bodies of water are disturbed by a precedent storm-wind, often heard before the wind is perceived on the land, I have already alluded to. And thus Virgil:

"When storms are brooding--in the leeward gulf Dash the swelled waves; the mighty mountains pour A harsh, dull murmur; far along the beach Rolls the deep rushing roar."

The moaning or whistling of the wind all have noticed. It is not uncommon to hear the expression, "The wind sounds like rain." Jenner says:

"The hollow winds begin to blow."

And Virgil:

"The whispering grove Betrays the gathering elemental strife."

This whispering is the motion of the leaves; and they are often stirred by a peculiar motion which is not that of wind. Sometimes every leaf upon a tree may be seen vibrating with an upward and downward motion, when there is not wind enough to stir a twig. This interesting phenomenon is electrical. Trees, and all vegetables, confessedly discharge electricity, and such discharges move the leaves, when very active.

With us, sounds can be heard more distinctly from the east or south, before storms, according to the character of the coming wind. Howard mentions an instance when he heard carriages five miles off. Steamboat paddles, rail-road cars, and other sounds, are often heard a great distance. The distance at which the now common steam-whistle is heard, and the direction, is not an unimportant auxiliary indication of the weather. Howard attributes these peculiar phenomena to the "sounding board," made by the stratum of cloud; but sounds may be heard from the north-west, when there is no condensation, and the wind is from that quarter, and also from the east when it is not cloudy; and in a level country the village bells often tell the direction of the current of air just over our heads when we do not feel it at the surface. The wind is undoubtedly moving in a rapid, and perhaps invisible current, not far above us. If from the east or south, it betokens rain; if from the western quarter, fair weather.

The conduct of the different animals furnish a considerable portion of the signs alluded to by Virgil and Jenner, and are never unimportant auxiliary evidence of the approaching changes, whether from dry to wet, or wet to dry.

The observer will find, in the conduct of our birds and animals, especially those which are not domestic, ample evidence of the truth of the descriptions of Virgil. He denies the animals and birds foresight, but he does not seem to have observed that the swallow leaves for the south as soon as the autumnal change begins to be felt, and in August; nor the evident sagacity of other migratory birds. They do not act from the "varying impulse" produced by an actual state of things, but a knowledge or apprehension of those which are to come. This is nothing more or less than foresight. So foresight tends to prudence and skill, and they exercise both, and with reference to the future. The goldfinch does not build her nest in the hole of the tree, or in the crotch of the limb; but hangs it with exquisite skill on the slender waving, outward branch, where no animal, or larger bird, or any depredator, can be sustained. She is not more timid than others; why does she invariably thus build? What makes her "impulses" differ from those of other birds, and always in the same manner?

Jenner, too, has grouped, in admirably descriptive language, many of the peculiarities exhibited by animals and birds before approaching storms, some of which exhibit foresight, and others not.

Perhaps the rooster, who keeps ceaseless watch over his harem, is the most reliable weather-watcher we have. In my earlier days, when it was the practice to keep valuable birds of the kind much longer than it now is, and they had opportunity to become experienced, it was interesting to observe how closely they watched the weather. I well remember a venerable chanticleer, who, perched on the tree among his hens, would always foretell the coming storm of the morrow, by sounding forth in the evening, and often, his defiant note. Such note in the evening was invariable evidence of foul weather. And during the night, their earlier and more frequent crowing is often indicative of it. It is, however, in the earlier part of the day, in doubtful cases, that no inconsiderable reliance may be placed on their sagacity. Often, when a storm is gathering in the forenoon, they will announce it by an almost incessant crowing. The habits of an experienced, old-fashioned bird, of this kind, will well repay attention; but I can not answer for the Shanghai and other fancy breeds.

Jenner says:

"The leech disturbed, is newly risen Quite to the summit of his prison."

Few have had, or will have, opportunities to observe this, but it is strikingly true. It is difficult to conceive how mere condensation, from an increase of vapor in the atmosphere, should be foreseen by the leech in his watery prison. It is obvious, I think, there is an electric change which reaches him, as it does the whole animal creation, the once broken bones, and the joints of Aunt Betty. Thus much of the philosophy of signs.

The barometer is a useful instrument, in connection with observations of the other phenomena. It is especially useful to the sailor, as its indications relative to the winds are much the most certain. But it is not, alone, to be relied upon. This is well settled, although the reasons for it have not been understood. Why it should rise sometimes before storms, in opposition to the general rule--or fall at others without rain--or rise occasionally during the heaviest gales, has been a mystery, and impaired the confidence in its accuracy and usefulness even of the class of philosophers of whom Sir George Harvey spoke, in the sentence quoted in the introduction. But, as I have already intimated, it is all very intelligible.

I have said that the barometer has no fair weather standard--the mean of 30 inches at the level of the sea being an average of the fair weather elevations and the foul weather depressions. Its fair weather position, it would seem, must be above the mean, therefore, and as much above as its foul weather depressions are below. But this is not precisely true. Its extreme fair weather range is 31 inches, and it rarely reaches that; while its lowest storm range is down to 28, and is the most often reached of the two. My barometer stands about 40 feet above ordinary high-water mark. It is not a "wheel," but an open, "scale" barometer, and a perfectly good one. Its most reliable fair weather standard is about 30-30/100 inches. It is its most common summer, set fair position, but that position is often at other and different elevations, at other periods of the year, during fair weather. The reader must observe for his own locality, and satisfy himself what the most common set fair position for the barometer is, at the different periods of the year, where he resides. When he has ascertained this, he may apply the following principles to illustrate its exceptional action, and in judging of the future of the weather:

1st. As to its rise before storms.--Supposing it to have been stationary, at or about a set fair position, for the period, and for one or two or more days, a very gradual and moderate rise is an indication of continued fair weather; and a sudden and considerable rise is indicative of a storm. If the sudden and considerable rise occurs in the latter part of spring, summer, or early autumn, it indicates a storm of the first or third classes described in Chapter X., if in winter, a storm of the first class only. If the elevation is very sudden and considerable, the storm will probably be severe. The philosophy of this, according to my present apprehension of it, is, that these storms present an extended easterly front--settle very near the earth--and have a rapid progress--thus accumulating the atmosphere somewhat, in advance of them.

2d. As to its fall before storms without previous rise.--This is always very regular before the second class of storms, or polar belts of showers and storms. It is very fairly exemplified in the table from Reid, on page 329. The barometer, so far as I have opportunity to observe, does not rise from a stationary position on the approach of this class of storms. At the commencement of heated, summer, dry terms, my barometer has most frequently ranged at about 30.30, and gradually, but slowly, fallen below 30 inches before the belt of showers arrived, and the term closed. The fourth rule of Dalton (Meteorology, page 183) indicates a similar law in England. It is as follows:

"In summer, after a long continuance of fair weather, with the barometer high, it generally falls gradually, and for one, two, or more days, before there is much appearance of rain. If the fall be sudden and great for the season, it will probably be followed by thunder."

3d. It falls frequently and considerably without rain.--This is owing to the fact that all regular, periodic efforts at condensation do not result in rain. The second, third, and fourth classes of storms described, may not (as we have said) be sufficiently active to precipitate, although the series of phenomena (including the fall of the barometer) may be, in other respects, perfect. Such an instance may be found in Reid's table, on page 329, and on the 11th of the month. But the fall in such cases is not as great, unless the wind be violent.

4th. It rises during considerable gales.--But these are of the kind so often alluded to--viz., the N. W., in the northern hemisphere, and the S. W., in the southern; and the philosophy of it has been explained, and is observable.

With these explanations, the reader will be able to understand, and practically apply, the barometric changes, in connection with the other phenomena, in forming an opinion of the weather.

The thermometer is also an auxiliary. It rises, during the winter half of the year, in the advance portion of the storm, and falls when it passes off again; and the reverse is true, as we have seen, when its range is very high in summer. It is, therefore, to some extent, a useful auxiliary, although of minor importance.

The hygrometer is of less importance still. It is not in general use as a practical guide to the changes of the weather, and does not deserve to be.

A question, which has been much mooted, deserves a passing notice in this connection--viz., whether our climate has gradually become ameliorated and milder on the eastern part of our continent, since its settlement. I have not space left for its discussion. Humboldt (Aspects of Nature, page 103) is of opinion that there has been no material change. He says:

"The statements so frequently advanced, although unsupported by measurements, that since the first European settlements in New England, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, the destruction of many forests on both sides of the Alleghanys, has rendered the climate more equable--making the winters milder and the summers cooler--are now generally discredited. No series of thermometric observations worthy of confidence extend further back, in the United States, than seventy-eight years. We find, from the Philadelphia observations, that from 1771 to 1824, the mean annual heat has hardly risen 2 deg..7 Fahrenheit--an increase that may fairly be ascribed to the extension of the town, its greater population, and to the numerous steam-engines. This annual increase of temperature may also be owing to accident, for in the same period I find that there was an increase of the mean winter temperature of 2 deg. Fahrenheit; but, with this exception, the seasons had all become somewhat warmer. Thirty-three years' observation, at Salem, in Massachusetts, show scarcely any difference, the mean of each one oscillating within 1 deg. of Fahrenheit, about the mean of the whole number; and the winters of Salem, instead of having been rendered more mild, as conjectured, from the eradication of the forests, have become colder, by 4 deg. Fahrenheit, during the last thirty-three years."

The facts hereinbefore stated show that there is nothing like a regular amelioration; that the seasons differ during the same decade, and different decades. The cold decade, from 1811 to 1820, has not been reproduced. But it may be, and we know not how soon. Since that period there has certainly been a change--for even the cold period from 1835 to 1840 did not equal that from 1815 to 1820, nor indeed those of 1775 to 1780 or 1795 to 1800. But as these variations, so far as we are enabled to judge, depend upon the varying influence of the sun's rays, and of volcanic action, it is impossible to say that equally cold periods will not return, during the latter half of this century.

If the influence of the sun was constant, and volcanic action regular, two causes would tend to modify the seasons:

1st. The exposure of the surface to a more effective action of the solar rays, by a removal of the forests, and by drainage. That such action would be more effective upon a surface thus uncovered and drained, can not be doubted.

2d. The movement of the area of magnetic intensity, and the magnetic pole, to the west.--There is such a movement, and its progress can be measured by the increase of declination on the east of it, and its decrease on the west. And the effect of it on climate is unquestionable. In all probability it has had an influence upon ours; and a removal of that area and pole still further west--60 deg. or 80 deg.--would change the location of the concentrated trade, and the Gulf Stream, and restore to Greenland the fertility she once had, and which the Faroe Islands now enjoy. And, on the other hand, its removal as far east of its present position would again depopulate Greenland, and render it again inaccessible. But I can not pursue this subject.

Finally, assistance may be derived from the occasional, although imperfect, accounts of the state of the weather elsewhere, which the newspapers afford. I have been much indebted to the Associated Press of New York for intelligence contained in their telegraphic reports. Occasionally they have been very full and instructive.

On this point, however, there is less of reality in the present than of hope in the future. The time must come when the collection and dissemination of meteorological truth, will be deemed an object of national importance, and national duty. Population is increasing, by immigration and propagation, in a rapidly progressive ratio. There has been great danger that it would outrun agricultural production. A short crop this year would have been disastrous to our prosperity--and the danger was imminent. Every description of business, and every financial circle, felt that fever of anxiety it was so well calculated to induce. The importance of extended agricultural production, and the dependence of all classes upon its success, are now in a greater measure appreciated; and none can fail to see the value of a correct understanding of the weather to the agriculturist, how short-sighted soever they may be, in relation to its direct influence upon their own prosperity and happiness.

Our country is, physically, a most favored one. The facts disclosed or alluded to in this volume show that it is without a parallel on the face of the globe; and our facilities for meteorological observation, and the ascertainment and practical application of meteorological truth, are equally pre-eminent. The great extent and unbroken surface of the eastern portion of the continent; its excessive supply of magnetism and atmospheric currents, and the consequent marked character of the phenomena; the existence and prospective increase of telegraph lines over most of its surface; the homogeneous and energetic character of a population united, upon so large a surface, under one government; the freedom of that government from debt, and the excess of its revenue; the possession of a National Observatory, with a competent philosopher at its head; and a national institution, liberally endowed, and adapted to the collection and diffusion of practical and scientific intelligence, give us an opportunity and a capacity for connected observation and investigation, and an ability to profit by it, that no other nation can boast.

We have, too, a just national pride. Our exploring ships have penetrated and made discoveries in both hemispheres, and our travelers have visited successfully every clime; and thus our national interests, and obligations, and pride, demand an organization, practical and permanent, in relation to this subject, and the time will come when we shall have it.

When that time comes--when the present limited horizon of each of us is practically extended over the entire country--and when the actual state of the weather over every part of it is known, at the same time, to the inhabitants of every other, and every where read in the light of a correct philosophy, prognostication will be comparatively simple and certain; and A PROGRESS will have been made, productive of an amount of pecuniary, intellectual, and social benefit to the people, which can not be overestimated. May it come before the shadows of the night of death have gathered around us, that we may have a more perfect view of that atmospheric machinery which distinguishes our planet from others, and is, with such infinite wisdom, adapted to make it a fit habitation for man!

THE END.

APPENDIX.

Since this work was completed I have received a very valuable publication, entitled, the "Army Meteorological Register." It is a compilation of the observations made by the officers of the medical department of the army, at the military Posts of the United States, from 1843 to 1854 inclusive, prepared under the supervision of the Surgeon-general, and published by direction of the Secretary of War. To this, there is appended a report or general review of the prominent features of American climatology, so far as the basis afforded by the published observation of the army medical Bureau would warrant positive deduction, by Mr. Lorin Blodget, a distinguished meteorologist, accompanied by temperature and rain charts, for each of the four seasons;--exhibiting the various local differences and peculiarities relative to temperature and precipitation in each.

These local differences and peculiarities and contrasts are deduced and delineated by Mr. Blodget with much ability. He was fettered, however, by the prevailing calorific theories, and the unfortunate practice of grouping the phenomena into means for the seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, which grouping is arbitrary, and comparatively uninstructive. Hence, he failed to discover what the tables and summaries most clearly disclose--the principles and system unfolded in the foregoing work.

But the summaries of this register contain observations made at posts in Western and Southwestern Texas, in Kansas and Nebraska, and in New Mexico and California, where there has been a dearth of such observations hitherto, and enable me to demonstrate, more conclusively, and I think so that none can fail to understand it, the truth of the philosophy I have endeavored to exhibit.

To do this, I will take a year,--divide it into two seasons, the periods of northern and southern transit, the only natural and correct division--and note the phenomena in each, as each progresses.

And I will take the year 1854, because that is the last year for which the record of observation is complete; because it had marked peculiarities which are remembered; and because I have alluded to those peculiarities, and those allusions should be confirmed or disproved by the record. Unless I mistake exceedingly, the confirmation will be found signal and convincing.

I have assumed, pp. 187, 351, that the transits were greater in some seasons than others; that the drought of 1854 was owing to an extreme northern transit, or to an extension west of the concentrated counter-trade, or both, leaving us less supplied with moisture than usual.

In point of fact, it appears from these observations that it resulted from both causes, operating connectedly; and the annals of Science rarely furnish a more striking instance of analogical inference proved true by subsequent investigation.

Commencing then with the commencement of the northern transit about the 1st of February, we are enabled to trace the then location of our concentrated trade, and its subsequent progress to the north till August, and its influence upon temperature and precipitation. And we can also trace the situation during the same period, of the intervening drought, and the inter-tropical belt of rains, and the extension of the latter north over Florida and the cotton-planting States.

On the 1st of February, 1854, our counter-trade was somewhat more concentrated on its extreme winter curve, over the Southern States, than usual. Its line of excess reached up from Fort Brooke, on the peninsula of Florida, to the northwest, a little east of Pensacola on the gulf, cutting Mount Vernon Arsenal north of Pensacola, and extending thence north-westwardly on to Eastern Louisiana, and curving thence and passing N. E. or E. N. E., to the Atlantic, about the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. It thinned out to the west over New Orleans and Baton Rouge, supplying them moderately, but did not extend to the forts of Texas on the west, nor the posts in the Indian Territory at the N. W. It was east of Fort Towson, which is the south-eastern one. It did not reach St. Louis on the north, nor extend north of the Ohio River, as will appear from the tables hereinafter given. The following cut shows substantially its situation on the 1st of February.

Now, during the month of January, we find the following state of things. Under this concentrated trade, the temperature was above the mean, even if Forts Monroe and McHenry on the Atlantic are included; but Mr. Blodget discredits their returns, and some others which do not conform to general results. On the west and north of its curving line, both precipitation and temperature were below the mean.

Under the counter trade, we have the following stations, with their actual and mean temperature. I have inserted the temperature for several subsequent months, to show a depression in April.

TABLE I.

------------------------------------------------------------------------- | LAT. | LON. | JAN. | FEB. | MAR. | APRIL.| MAY. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| Fort Moultrie | 32.45 | 79.51 | 50.83 | 53.09 | 62.72 | 62.76 | 73.35 | Mean of 28 yrs.| | | 50.36 | 52.41 | 58.68 | 65.44 | 73.42 | Fort Pierce | 27.30 | 80.20 | 67.91 | 67.33 | 73.01 | 71.10 | 78.41 | Mean of 5 yrs. | | | 62.75 | 64.42 | 69.77 | 73.63 | 76.92 | Fort Meade | 28.01 | 82.00 | 63.75 | 63.33 | 70.64 | 68.10 | 76.31 | Mean of 3 yrs. | | | 58.40 | 63.23 | 69.02 | 69.89 | 76.69 | Fort Brooke | 28.00 | 82.28 | 62.94 | 62.36 | 70.06 | 70.07 | 77.49 | Mean of 25 yrs.| | | 61.53 | 63.54 | 67.72 | 71.82 | 76.64 | Fort Myers | 26.38 | 82.00 | 67.56 | 67.39 | 73.74 | 71.07 | 79.13 | Mean of 4 yrs. | | | 63.39 | 67.98 | 72.19 | 73.86 | 80.13 | Key West | 24.32 | 81.48 | 71.75 | 71.95 | 76.56 | 73.89 | 80.84 | Mean of 14 yrs.| | | 66.68 | 68.88 | 72.88 | 75.38 | 79.10 | Fort Barrancas | 30.18 | 87.27 | 54.71 | 54.56 | 64.98 | 62.93 | 75.40 | Mean of 17 yrs.| | | 53.61 | 55.58 | 61.80 | 68.51 | 75.45 | Mt. Vernon Ars'l| 31.12 | 88.02 | 51.52 | 53.18 | 65.24 | 62.30 | 74.64 | Mean of 14 yrs.| | | 50.44 | 53.69 | 60.26 | 66.87 | 73.92 | Baton Rouge | 30.26 | 91.18 | 53.43 | 56.48 | 66.24 | 64.63 | 75.10 | Mean of 24 yrs.| | | 53.47 | 55.02 | 61.93 | 69.30 | 75.60 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------- JUNE. | JULY. ------------- 78.55 | 82.06 79.01 | 81.72 82.09 | 84.16 79.02 | 82.50 79.10 | 80.17 78.24 | 79.76 80.51 | 81.08 79.46 | 80.72 82.35 | 81.91 81.25 | 82.87 83.34 | 83.30 81.63 | 83.00 81.00 | 84.55 80.80 | 82.26 79.17 | 78.90 78.03 | 78.62 80.61 | 80.09 80.56 | 81.81 -------------

It will be seen that the temperature was above the mean in January at every post except Baton Rouge, and there it was at the mean. We shall see hereafter that Baton Rouge was near its western line.

Under this trade during this month, and at the same posts, the fall of rain was as follows, compared with the mean:--

TABLE II.

-------------------------------------------------------------- | JANUARY. | FEBR'Y. | MARCH. | -------------------------------------------------------------- | 1854. | Mean.| 1854. | Mean.| 1854.| Mean.| -------------------------------------------------------------- Key West. | 1.77 | 2.86 | 2.55 | 1.38 | 0.51 | 4.21 | Fort Myers. | 1.15 | 3.90 | 4.70 | 2.16 | 0.20 | 4.60 | " Brooke. | 3.88 | 2.20 | 6.89 | 3.01 | 2.44 | 3.37 | " Mead. | 1.30 | 1.07 | 2.21 | 1.01 | 1.85 | 1.64 | " Pierce. | 3.55 | 4.45 | 3.40 | 2.72 | 1.05 | 3.01 | " Barrancas. | 3.45 | 3.87 | 5.55 | 4.95 | 7.21 | 5.87 | Mt. Vernon Ars'l | 11.01 | 6.80 | 12.83 | 6.04 | 6.22 | 4.59 | Baton Rouge. | 2.85 | 5.26 | 5.50 | 4.91 | 6.15 | 4.68 | Fort Moultrie. | 3.80 | 2.39 | 2.84 | 2.33 | 0.25 | 4.06 | --------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------- | APRIL. | MAY. | JUNE.| JULY. | 1854.| Mean.| 1854. | Mean.| | ------------------------------------------- | 2.99 | 1.55 | 3.14 | 2.58 | 4.54 | 3.45 | 2.75 | 3.14 | 5.65 | 3.33 | 6.75 | 9.70 | 8.82 | 1.95 | 6.21 | 3.24 | 9.44 | 15.53 | 3.19 | 1.78 | 10.51 | 5.34 | 7.24 | 8.55 | 7.00 | 3.85 | 5.70 | 4.27 | 6.63 | 4.97 | 0.50 | 2.94 | 3.47 | 4.05 | 3.39 | 5.43 | 1.96 | 4.21 | 4.45 | 4.62 | 6.72 | 6.13 | 3.58 | 5.22 | 8.05 | 5.18 | 4.00 | 6.55 | 2.20 | 1.75 | 3.70 | 4.08 | 4.20 | 5.69 -------------------------------------------

It will be observed that in February the counter-trade and extra-tropical belt had moved up from Key West, and a drought, which sometimes intervenes between the concentrated counter-trade and the inter-tropical belt, appeared there in February and March. In April, the inter-tropical belt appeared at that point, and went on increasing till September. As the counter-trade commenced moving north in February, an increased precipitation above the mean commenced at all the more southern stations under the concentrated-trade--an earnest of that irregularity which followed, and marked the season as the most excessive of the century.

In March, the intervening drought appeared at the other posts on the peninsula, and also at Fort Moultrie, followed much more closely than usual, by the inter-tropical belt of rains. In April, the drought appeared at Fort Barrancas and Mount Vernon Arsenal (the wave of precipitation having moved to the west), and slightly in comparison at Baton Rouge.

If now we look at the condition of things, west and north of the curving line of concentrated trade, from Fort Brown, at the mouth of the Rio Grande, in South-western Texas, through that State, the Indian Territory, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, and Northern Pennsylvania, to the Atlantic, we find the thermometer every where in January below the mean. The following table will show this, and the precipitation for that month and February:--

TABLE III.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ | JANUARY. | FEBRUARY. | MARCH. | |-----------------------------------------------| | 1854. | Mean. | 1854. | Mean. | 1854. | Mean. | -----------------------------------------------------------------------| Western Texas. | | | | | | | Fort Brown | 59.34 | 60.41 | 62.45 | 63.63 | 71.87 | 68.95 | " Ewell | 50.47 | 52.92 | 58.12 | 57.61 | 70.34 | 67.00 | " Inge | 47.24 | 49.46 | 56.04 | 55.39 | 67.54 | 62.63 | | | | | | | | Indian Territory. | | | | | | | Fort Towson. | 36.32 | 43.14 | 49.29 | 45.97 | 59.55 | 53.40 | Forts Gibson, Washita, | | | | | | | and Arbuckle, in much| | | | | | | the same proportions.| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Arkansas. | | | | | | | Fort Smith. | 33.92 | 40.18 | 47.01 | 43.89 | 57.01 | 51.58 | | | | | | | | Missouri. | | | | | | | St. Louis Arsenal. | 25.47 | 31.44 | 36.66 | 33.43 | 46.10 | 42.30 | | | | | | | | Kentucky. | | | | | | | Newport Barracks. | 31.75 | 34.04 | 39.60 | 36.94 | 46.74 | 45.46 | | | | | | | | Pennsylvania. | | | | | | | Allegheny Arsenal. | 29.08 | 29.25 | 33.49 | 31.16 | 40.36 | 39.02 | | | | | | | | Delaware. | | | | | | | Fort Delaware | 32.38 | 33.67 | 34.56 | 35.84 | 43.18 | 42.90 | | | | | | | | New York Harbor. | | | | | | | Fort Columbus. | 28.71 | 30.18 | 28.17 | 30.44 | 36.17 | 38.28 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------- | Rain in January. | Rain in February. -------------------------------------- | 0.45 | 1.50 | 0.22 | 2.86 | 0.20 | 2.15 | | | 1.01 | 2.00 | | | 1.37 | 2.05 | | | 0.65 | 2.40 | | | 3.20 | 5.30 | | | 2.23 | 2.33 | | | 2.30 | 5.45 | | | 2.60 | 4.00 --------------------------------------

We find, also, from this and table first, that every where, except at Fort Brown, and upon the Atlantic coast, the temperature had risen above the mean in February.

The situation of the belt which supplied the western coast in winter, and its excess of precipitation, are also represented upon the cut. The intervening area was not without counter-trade and precipitation--the latter, of course, greatest over the area of intensity--but they were comparatively less, as the tables will show.

The following cut and table show the situation of the concentrated counter-trade in March.

TABLE IV.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ | JAN.|FEBR.| MAR.| APR.| MAY.|JUNE.|JULY. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fort Barrancas, Pensacola Bay| 3.45| 5.55| 7.21| 0.50| 3.47| 3.39| 5.43 Mean. | 3.87| 4.95| 5.87| 2.94| 4.05| 4.66| 6.80 Baton Rouge, Louisiana | 2.85| 5.50| 6.15| 3.58| 8.05| 4.00| 6.55 Mean. | 5.26| 4.91| 4.68| 5.22| 5.18| 5.52| 7.42 Fort Towson, Indian Territory| 1.01| 2.00| 5.10| 2.22|Recr'd stops here. Mean. | 3.13| 2.97| 4.38| 5.33| | | Fort Gibson, Indian Territory| 0.30| 1.43| 7.83| 3.16| 7.67| 2.80| 0.21 Mean. | 1.33| 2.26| 2.54| 4.19| 4.65| 4.30| 2.75 Fort Smith, Arkansas | 1.37| 2.05| 7.05| 6.55| 6.25| 2.26| 1.02 Mean. | 1.96| 2.17| 2.92| 5.10| 4.46| 4.74| 3.82 St. Louis Arsenal | 0.65| 2.40| 7.10| 4.30| 4.65| 2.20| 1.70 Mean. | 1.93| 3.37| 3.82| 4.16| 4.88| 6.94| 0.04 Newport Barracks, Kentucky | 3.20| 5.30| 8.10| 2.10| | | (No Mean given.) | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------

We see from this table that its focus had extended west in Florida over Fort Barrancas, and over Baton Rouge in Louisiana; N. W. to Forts Towson and Gibson in the Indian Territory, and Smith in Arkansas; north to St. Louis Arsenal at St. Louis, and to Newport barracks in Kentucky; but it was spread over a larger surface east of the mountains. Its greatest progress for the month, was a west and north-west progress.

In April, we find it had progressed rapidly west and north-west, and its position is shown by the following cut and table.

TABLE V.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ | JAN.|FEBR.| MAR.| APR.| MAY.|JUNE.|JULY. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fort Riley, Kansas. | 0.00| 0.94| 1.86| 4.55| 4.35| 1.10| 0.00 Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. | 0.04| 1.78| 1.33| 3.35| 5.55| 4.50| 0.18 Mean | 0.72| 1.01| 1.61| 2.74| 3.62| 5.80| 3.15 Alleghany Arsenal, Pittsburgh | 2.23| 2.33| 2.82| 4.21| 2.24| 2.06| 1.45 Mean | 2.18| 2.17| 2.70| 3.10| 3.58| 3.56| 2.97 Fort Columbus, New York Harbor| 2.60| 4.00| 0.70| 8.80| 7.70| 2.20| 1.90 Mean | 2.78| 2.92| 3.44| 3.33| 4.78| 3.46| 3.17 Fort Independence, Boston | 2.50| 3.36| 2.55| 5.40| 4.28| 2.00| West Point. | 3.52| 5.04| 2.81|10.53| 2.00| 1.62| Mean | 3.50| 3.44| 3.71| 4.55| 6.18| 4.79| ----------------------------------------------------------------------

We see, too, that both east and west of the mountains, its focus of precipitation was one month in advance of the mean. At all the stations where the greatest fall was in March, it should have been in April, and the fall at those points was greatly in excess of the usual quantity. And the same was true of stations reached in April. The concentrated trade, instead of spreading out, and precipitating over the whole south-eastern portion of the continent (its normal condition), was gathered into a wave of greater volume, resulting in greater precipitation, and was rapidly hastening its curve to the west over Texas, and to the north-west over the Indian Territory, and northward on its usual curve to the north and east of them.

The observations for April disclose another singular and instructive condition. The temperature, that had every where been above the mean in March, fell below it in April under the concentrated trade. And snow fell on three days in some localities, and four in others.

Along the Ohio River, it fell to the depth of 8 to 10 inches on the 17th, and east of the mountains to a greater depth on the 18th, one day later. It fell to the depth of 4 inches at Marietta on the 29th also. Dr. Hilldreth, American Journal of Science for March, 1855, says:--

"It is a singular fact that the deepest snow, 8 inches, fell on the 17th of April, and at the head waters about Pittsburg over a foot. Also, on the 29th of the month, at Marietta, 4 inches, a very rare occurrence." This depression of the temperature was quite general, but the fall of snow was local. The latter was north of a line drawn from Fort Laramie, at the base of the Rocky Mountains, in an E. S. E. direction--north of Forts Kearney and Leavenworth, and of St. Louis, but south of Newport barracks in Kentucky, and from thence to the Atlantic. Snow fell at every station north of this line, at no station south of it. The depression of temperature, however, was experienced over the continent, east of the Rocky Mountains, under, and south of, the belt of precipitation. Now what occasioned this general depression of temperature, and local fall of snow? It will not do to say, as perhaps some calorific theorist may be inclined to say, because the concentrated trade had been carried up where it was cold, a month too soon; or that the sun had heated the land in advance of it, and drawn it up.

For, 1st, it might be asked how, if it was warm enough to draw it up, could it be cold enough to make it snow; or, 2d, how happened it to start, when, as we have seen, it was warmer than the mean under it, and colder than the mean to the north and west of it, when it commenced its journey?

But again, it snowed at posts north of the line, while the thermometer remained above the mean; and the thermometer fell below the mean down to Fort Brown in south-western Texas, and at Key West in the southern part of Florida; and what is more remarkable still, at Key West, Fort Barrancas, and every other south-eastern station, except Forts Brooke and Moultrie, it not only fell below the mean of the month, but below the actual temperature of March. (See Table I.) At Forts Brooke and Moultrie it did not rise above that temperature. West of the Rocky Mountains the depression was not felt; nor at stations north, or north-west of the belt of precipitation.

It is obvious, the calorific theory can furnish no rational explanation of this matter; for the reason that, whatever the cause, it operated not only under, but south, and far south of the belt of precipitation. It could not have been spots upon the sun, or other general cause, for then it would have operated in New Mexico and California, and at the north-western stations. It operated most intensely in Florida and the South-Eastern States, which approach most nearly the volcanic areas of South America and the West Indies. I believe it to have been occasioned by volcanic action affecting the local magnetism of our intense area; but it is a most important development, and should be thoroughly investigated. We may find in it the key to the mysterious, but unquestionable, influence of volcanic upon magnetic action; and I hope the distinguished surgeon-general will cause the records of that month to be published "in extenso."

In May and June, the trade became more concentrated, a perfectly developed belt from the Rio Grande to the Lakes and British possessions, and doubtless to the Atlantic, with every where a central focus of excessive precipitation, gathering to itself in one vast wave the current that should have been spread out over the whole country; and leaving every where on its eastern and southern borders, down to the northern edge of the inter-tropical belt of rains--(which extended up to lines drawn from Baton Rouge to Charleston)--a perfectly well developed and defined drought. That drought will long be remembered. The following cuts show, approximately, the location of the belt of precipitation and drought for those months, and the table which follows will show their correctness.

The tables also show that this wave was occasionally a double, or divided one--evinced by an intervening partial precipitation. Tables IV., V., and VI., also show the commencement of the drought at the several stations, as the wave moved to the west and north.

TABLE VI.

JAN. FEBR. MAR. APR. MAY. JUNE. JULY. AUG. SEPT. Fort Brown 0.45 1.50 1.15 0.05 4.10 7.65 4.25 5.00 11.31 Mean 1.61 2.25 1.20 0.56 2.21 4.55 1.95 2.76 6.73 Ringgold Barracks 0.70 1.69 0.22 0.00 2.83 10.98 4.06 1.58 3.02 Mean 1.24 1.18 0.72 1.08 2.09 3.47 3.18 1.50 3.22 Fort Merrill 0.11 1.99 0.05 1.16 7.66 4.70 5.44 3.13 5.01 Mean 0.23 2.09 0.09 1.62 3.43 4.10 6.13 3.40 4.60 Fort Duncan 0.05 0.69 1.50 0.00 2.53 6.83 0.83 0.90 4.81 Mean 0.26 1.27 1.34 0.71 1.50 5.63 3.35 0.93 3.28 Fort Inge 0.20 2.15 3.00 0.75 3.88 2.09 0.97 1.67 4.80 Mean 0.64 2.21 1.79 1.26 3.01 5.38 3.66 2.02 2.21 Fort McKavet 0.01 0.77 2.10 0.28 3.72 0.15 2.91 0.04 3.86 " Belknap 0.11 1.10 1.42 1.75 4.97 8.33 0.00 0.75 1.53 " Massachusetts, Northern New Mexico 3.93 0.24 2.14 2.61 1.53 Fort Kearney 0.23 1.33 1.87 2.56 4.15 5.40 3.51 1.18 4.60 Mean 0.50 0.48 1.55 2.68 6.57 4.36 5.07 2.62 1.83 Fort Laramie 0.18 0.40 0.80 3.98 4.46 3.67 3.26 1.27 1.60 Mean 0.27 0.71 1.37 1.93 5.39 2.95 1.83 0.92 1.33 Fort Ridgley 1.20 0.01 1.18 2.83 6.84 2.70 2.49 2.28 2.58 " Snelling 0.72 0.03 1.03 2.51 4.30 3.31 3.92 1.75 6.55 Mean 0.73 0.52 1.30 2.14 3.17 3.63 4.11 3.18 3.32 Fort Ripley 0.67 0.03 0.79 0.97 4.34 3.68 0.62 1.69 4.40 Mean 0.86 0.37 1.80 1.42 3.09 5.15 5.20 2.27 4.92 Fort Mackinac 2.59 1.23 1.56 1.04 2.65 6.35 5.67 4.26 3.22 Mean 1.25 0.82 1.14 1.21 2.32 2.81 3.20 2.87 2.97 Fort Brady 2.49 1.18 1.34 2.14 3.61 1.23 3.21 3.86 3.18 Mean 1.84 1.13 1.37 1.83 2.24 2.83 3.73 3.39 4.33 Fort Niagara 1.63 2.52 1.87 2.25 3.90 1.71 4.08 1.52 2.61 Mean 2.25 1.89 2.12 2.20 2.55 3.28 3.49 3.04 3.95

But the belt of trade continued its progress to the west and north, and during the months of July and August the drought extended in both directions, reaching, in August, from Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, to the Lakes, and from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic. Its position is shown by the following cut, and the position of the belt of precipitation by the following table.

TABLE VII.

Situation of the focus of Precipitation in July and August.

----------------------------------------------------------- | JUNE.| JULY.| AUG. | SEPT.| OCT. ----------------------------------------------------------- New Mexico. | | | | | | | | | | Fort Thorne | 0.08 | 2.23 | 6.01 | 3.50 | 0.00 Albuquerque | 0.28 | 2.50 | 1.19 | 2.67 | 1.37 Santa Fe | 0.32 | 4.11 | 3.86 | 4.06 | 2.50 Fort Defiance | 1.24 | 3.94 | 5.24 | 3.47 | 0.62 " Yuma | 0.00 | 0.01 | 2.37 | 0.17 | 0.30 San Diego | 0.02 | 0.07 | 1.35 | 0.13 | 0.01 Fort Snelling, Minnesota | 3.31 | 3.92 | 1.75 | 6.35 | 1.23 " Brady | 1.23 | 3.21 | 3.86 | 3.18 | 3.40 " Mackinac | 6.35 | 5.67 | 4.26 | 3.22 | 2.28 -----------------------------------------------------------

I have not space for all the comment which this exposition is calculated to induce. The reader will not only find in it an explanation of the extraordinary character of the summer of 1854, but will see from the means, that it was but an excessive development of an ANNUAL PHENOMENON,--THE PROGRESS OF A CONCENTRATED COUNTER-TRADE.

It is not necessary to follow with particularity the return transit. It required no great degree of sagacity to predict, at the time, that the drought would continue in the vicinity of New York till about the 10th of September. The return of the belt to that latitude, was not to be expected before that time, and the drought continued, in fact, until the 9th of September.

Its return progress was slow, and it was every where behind time. The autumn was warm, and so, indeed, were December and January, west of the area of magnetic intensity, although upon, and east of it, there was a depression in December. The retreating but lingering edge of counter-trade, with its excess of snow for the season, caught the Iron Horse, with its train and passengers, upon the prairies of the west, and laid its embargoing hands upon them. Few, if any, can have forgotten the thrilling accounts which reached us from that section, of the sufferings endured by those who were thus embargoed for days and nights, far from the comfortable habitations of their fellow men.

But the return transit, though slow, was extreme, and February and March were exceedingly cold for the season. The transit to the north, again, did not commence as early as usual, and the spring was backward, and the summer cool. Both were without irregularity, and the season was productive. The following table exhibits the temperature on a line of posts, running north and south at the west, during the winter months of 1855, and will illustrate what has been said.

TABLE VIII.

--------------------------------------------------- 1855. |JANUARY |FEBRUARY.| MARCH.| APRIL. --------------------------------------------------- Key West | 67.18 | 65.94 | 70.28 | 75.09 Mean | 66.58 | 68.88 | 72.88 | 75.38 Fort Snelling | 17.09 | 12.62 | 25.30 | 49.86 Mean | 13.76 | 17.57 | 31.41 | 46.34 Fort Kearney | 23.55 | 25.69 | 32.86 | 54.39 Mean | 21.14 | 26.11 | 34.50 | 47.13 Fort Laramie | 35.85 | 29.01 | 36.41 | 52.94 Mean | 31.03 | 32.60 | 36.81 | 47.60 Fort Arbuckle | 41.94 | 39.86 | 49.09 | 67.43 Mean | 39.10 | 43.69 | 53.22 | 61.85 Fort Belknap | 45.92 | 44.49 | 53.09 | 70.00 Mean | 42.80 | 47.47 | 56.90 | 65.79 Fort Chadbourne | 48.89 | 45.87 | 56.68 | 68.51 Mean | 44.29 | 46.75 | 58.01 | 65.52 Fort McKavitt | 46.74 | 44.51 | 53.66 | 67.05 Mean | 44.75 | 46.87 | 57.39 | 66.25 Fort Merrill | 54.51 | 54.65 | 61.82 | 74.50 Mean | 54.82 | 57.20 | 68.66 | 73.27 Fort Brown | 60.23 | 61.60 | 66.24 | 74.98 Mean | 60.41 | 63.63 | 68.95 | 75.05 Fort Inge | 52.21 | 50.63 | 61.22 | 74.48 Mean | 49.46 | 55.39 | 62.63 | 68.02 ---------------------------------------------------

The return transit to the south for this winter, 1855-6, has been an extreme one. It is too early yet (Feb. 18th) to write its history, but the extreme southern transit is as obvious as the unusual severity of the cold. The rains which usually fall upon the Southern States are precipitated further south upon the West Indies, and threaten a deterioration of their sugar crop. The snow, and cold winds, and ice, of the middle latitudes, are felt even in Florida. Our sheet of counter-trade has been exceedingly thin, and the barometer has ranged, in fair weather, much below the mean. Occasional, and for a part of the time, weekly periods of an increase of its volume, with a corresponding elevation of the barometer, and a consequent moderation of the intense cold, and a storm, have occurred. But those periods have been few and brief. No regular thaw has yet occurred. From the 26th of December to this date, at Norwalk, there have been but two periods when the wind has blown from the south-west with sufficient force to stir the limbs of the trees. There has been no wind from south of that point, or east of north-east; and even our storm-winds, with one exception, have been north of north-east--owing to the situation of the focus of precipitation far to the south of us--and there is reason to fear that a cold summer like those of 1816 and 1836 may follow. If this extreme transit is owing to defect in the influence of the sun, from spots, or other causes, such will probably be the result. If from volcanic action at the south, the influence of that action may cease, and a rapid return transit, and an ordinary season, may follow. Believing in the laws of periodicity in relation to the weather and disease, I planted an early kind of corn (the Dutton), in 1836, and had a crop when few around me succeeded. We must watch this return transit, with hope, indeed, but not without fear, and be wise in time.

There is a mass of other evidence in these summaries which shows the truth of what I have written. There is not a deduction of Mr. Blodget which it will not explain. The ascent of the summer lines of temperature to the west is explained by the diminution of magnetic intensity. Their descent in winter by the location and attractions of the concentrated trade. The excess of precipitation in Alabama and Mississippi by the succession of summer and winter belts. That of the interior of the Atlantic slope in summer, by the showers which fall upon the elevations; and of the coast, by the easterly storms and their attraction of the surface atmosphere of the ocean, at other seasons. But I cannot further particularize. Even the influence of the spots is clearly demonstrated by the observations at interior stations, which were unaffected by contiguous oceans or elevations. At Forts Washita, Gibson, Scott, Smith, and others, the years 1847 and 1848 were below the mean. All that evidence, and those deductions, however, I must pass by for want of space, and take leave of the subject.

Footnotes:

See the diagram for summer at page 55.

Law of Storms, p. 42.

Kearakakua Bay (called Cavrico above), is on the S. W. side of the island, and the trade was reversed during the day by the cloud condensation inland.

Lieutenant Wilkes spent twenty days upon the top of this or an adjoining mountain, and his observations there will be alluded to in another connection.

All attempts to produce this result by the sudden exhaustion of air about the chickens in receivers, or shooting them from cannons, have failed, and no patent for a chicken-picker has been applied for.

A meter is 1 yard, and .0936 of a yard.

See his map, accompanying the Geography of the Sea.

See Am. Jour. of Science, New Series, Vol. 18. p. 187.

Their estimate was 100 to 120 miles.

Since the text was in type, and, as might have been anticipated, we have intelligence confirmatory of this, from the Cape De Verde Islands. The inter-tropical belt of rains has not moved as far north as the northern islands--they have had no rain--and the people are in a starving condition.

Transcriber's Notes:

Passages in italics are indicated by italics.

Punctuation has been corrected without note.

The following misprints have been corrected: "appearnces" corrected to "appearances" (page 44) "Faroday's" corrected to "Faraday's" (page 84) "gentleman" corrected to "gentlemen" (page 96) "two" corrected to "too" (page 105) "surise" corrected to "sunrise" (page 111) "acion" corrected to "action" (page 164) "Stanta corrected to "Santa" (page 167) "Augugst" corrected to "August" (page 167) "baloon's" corrected to "balloon's" (page 192) "mannner" corrected to "manner" (page 214) "1198" corrected to "1798" (page 221) "sevententh" corrected to "seventeenth" (page 240) "maner" corrected to "manner" (page 254) "particulary" corrected to "particularly" (page 256) "are are" corrected to "are" (page 288) "iso-theral" corrected to "iso-thermal" (page 299) "the the" corrected to "the" (page 360) "phenonema" corrected to "phenomena" (page 403) "calorifice" corrected to "calorific" (page 409)

Other than the corrections listed above, inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from the original.

Tables throughout this text version have been adjusted for readability.