fe and property is risked unnecessarily by every
unforeseen storm? Even animals, birds, and insects have a presaging
instinct, perhaps a bodily feeling, that warns them; but man often
neglects his perceptive and reasoning powers; neither himself
observes, nor attends to the observations of others, unless special
inclination or circumstances stimulate attention to the subject.
Agriculturists, it is true, use weather-glasses: the sportsman knows
their value for indicating a good or bad scenting day; but the
coasting vessel puts to sea, the Shetland fisherman casts his nets,
without the benefit of such a monitor, and perhaps without the
weather wisdom which only a few possess, and cannot transfer to
others.

"Difficult as it is to foretell weather accurately, much useful
foresight may be acquired by combining the indications of
instruments (such as the barometer, thermometer, and hygrometer)
with atmospheric appearances. What is more varying than the aspect
of the sky? Colour, tint of clouds, their soft or hard look, their
outline, size, height, direction, all vary rapidly, yet each is
significant. There is a peculiar aspect of the clouds before and
during westerly winds which differs from that which they have
previous to and during easterly winds, which is one only of the many
curious facts connected with the differing natures of easterly and
westerly currents of air throughout the world, which remain
unchanged, whether they blow from sea to land, or the reverse.[2]

"Perhaps some of those who make much use of instruments rather
undervalue popular knowledge, and are reluctant to admit that a
'wise saw' may be valuable as well as a 'modern instance;' while
less informed persons who use weather-glasses unskilfully too often
draw from them erroneous conclusions, and then blame the barometer.

"Not only are reliable weather-glasses required at the smaller
outlying ports and fishing places, but plain, easily intelligible
directions for using them should be accessible to the seafaring
population, so that the masters of small vessels, and fishermen,
might be forewarned of coming changes in time to prepare for them,
and thus become instrumental in saving much property and many
lives."

_June 1858._

HOW TO FORETELL WEATHER.

Familiar as the practical use of weather-glasses is,