Winter Time
If the latter End of October and Beginning of November
be for the most Part warm and rainy, then January and
February are like to be frosty and cold, except after a
very dry Summer.
IT is very evident, supposing this Observation to be true, as I am
pretty confident it is, that the Reason of it is to be sought in that
Balance of the Weather which Providence has established. There is
only a Time to sow, and a Time to reap, but there is a Time also for
dry and a Time for wet Weather, and if these do not happen at proper
Seasons, they will certainly happen at other Seasons; for not only the
Wisdom of Philosophers hath discerned, but their Experiments and
Observations have put it out of doubt, that there is a certain Rule or
Proportion observed between wet Weather and dry in every Country, so
that it is nearly the same in every annual Revolution, neither is wet
and dry Weather only, but hot and cold, open and frost, that are thus
regulated, from whence we see, that when the Scripture represents to us
God's settling Things by Weight and Measure, it speaks not only
elegantly, but exactly. For we do not mean by Providence any
extraordinary or supernatural Interposition of almighty Power, but the
constant and settled Order established by the Will of that almighty
Being which we commonly call Nature.
THERE is nothing easier than for vulgar Understandings to mistake the
Meaning of Words, and by a Superstition natural to weak Minds convert,
what they imperfectly understand into Notions that perplex and confound
them. Hence it proceeds that in common Conversation one hears People
speak of Nature as of a Being, or a Kind of subordinate Deity, whereas
in Reality the true Meaning of Nature is, that Order or Law which God
has established in the Universe, and the Knowledge of Nature is no more
than the Light we acquire by Study into the Connexion of those Laws. In
this Sense Experience is a Kind of Revelation, that is to say, it is a
Sort of Knowledge that comes to us from without, and is infallible in
itself, we may indeed go on wrong and deceive ourselves in the
Arguments we raise from it, but the Knowledge grounded upon Experiments
never varies.
THIS is sufficient to shew us how much wiser a Thing it is to trust
this Sort of experimental Knowledge, then to put any Faith in that Kind
of idle Science which amused our Forefathers, and enabled Almanac
Makers to delude and mislead them. It is true we use the Luminaries as
well as they, but then we use them in a rational Manner, and do not
pretend to impose this or that Sign upon other People, but barely set
down our own Observations, which are to be examined and verified by the
Experience of those to whom they are submitted. The Astrologer on the
other Hand insists on what are not in Nature; the twelve Houses are a
mere Invention, and so are all the Properties ascribed to the celestial
Signs, and to the Planets; mere Dreams and Fictions devised by the
Cunning to cheat and impose upon the Ignorant, and which had been long
ago exploded if People had brought them to the only Test of which they
are capable, I mean that of Experience; with which they never did,
never will, and indeed never can agree: whereas the Rules given by our
Shepherd, are such as we have shewn, suit perfectly well with Remarks
of other studious Persons in all Ages.
More
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When The Wind Turns To North East
When the Wind turns to North East, and it continues two Days without Rain, and does not turn South the third Day, nor Rain the third Day, it is likely to continue North East for eight or nine Days, all fair; and then to come to the South again. I... Clouds In Summer Or Harvent
In Summer or Harvest, when the Wind has been South two or three Days, and it grows very hot, and you see Clouds rise with great white Tops like Towers, as if one were upon the Top of another, and joined together with ... Clouds Large Like Rocks Great Showers
IN the old Almanacks we have this Sign of the Weather thus expressed. When Clouds appear like Rocks and Towers, The Earth's refresh'd by frequent Showers. THE Reason of this seems to be, that the watery Vapours are then condensed, or co... Clouds: Small And Round Like A Dappley-grey With A North-wind Fair Weather For 2 Or 3 Days
THIS is differently expressed by other Authors. My Lord Bacon tells us, that if Clouds appear white, and drive to the N. W. it is a Sign of several Days fair Weather. OUR old English Almanacks have a Maxim to this Purpose. If woolly Fleeces... Fair Weather For A Week
Fair Weather for a Week, with a Southern Wind, is like to produce a great Drought, if there has been much Rain out of the South before. The Wind usually turns from North to South, with a quiet Wind without Rain, but returns to the North, with a stro... If Cloudy And It Soon Decrease Certain Fair Weather
I Conceive the Reason of this to be, that the Vapours being then specifically lighter than the Air, are still rising upwards, in which they are assisted by the Heat of the Sun Beams, agreeable to the Notion of Dr. Derham, who observes, that after mu... If In The New Moon Rain In The Old
WHEN Exhalations rise copiously from the Earth into the Region of the Air, and the Air itself is in a proper Disposition, they ascend to a great Height, and continue a long Time before they are condensed, which accounts very clearly and philosophica... If In The Old Rain In The New
BUT as it is observed not only in this Climate, but all the World over, that great Changes of Weather happen near the Change of the Moon, it follows that this is the Season when these Exhalations that ascend so plentifully at Sun-rising are condense... If It Begins To Rain An Hour Or Two Before Sun Rising
If it begins to rain an Hour or two before Sun-rising, it is like to be fair before Noon, and so continue that Day, but if the Rain begin an Hour or two after Sun-rising, it is like to Rain all that Day, except the Rainbow be seen before it rains. ... If It Begins To Rain From The South
If it begin to Rain from the South, with a high Wind for two or three Hours, and the Wind falls, but the Rain continues, it is like to rain twelve Hours or more, and does usually rain till a strong North Wind clears the Air. These long Rains seldom ... If It Return To The South Within A Day Or Two Without Rain
If it return to the South within a Day or two without Rain, and turn Northward with Rain, and return to the South, in one or two Days, as before, two or three Times together after this Sort, then it is like to be in the South, or South West, two or ... If It Turn Out Again Out Of The South
If it turn out again out of the South to the North East with Rain, and continues in the North East two Days without Rain, and neither turns South nor rains the third Day, it is like to continue North East for two or three months. The Wind will fi... If Large Clouds Decrease Fair Weather
THE same kind of Reasoning accounts very clearly for this Prognostick, since it shews, that the Vapours are either exhaled by the Sun's Heat, or are driven off by Winds, and so resolved into smaller Clouds, capable of ascending higher in the Atmosph... If October And November Are Full Of Snow And Frost
If October and November be Snow and Frost, then January and February are like to be open and mild. AS this Observation stands on the same Foundation with the last, we need not dwell upon it particularly, and therefore I shall proceed with my form... If Small Clouds Increase Much Rain
THIS and the following Observation cannot well be understood, without giving some Account of Clouds in general. The Atmosphere is supposed to extend itself about five Miles round this Globe of Earth, and within that Space move all kind of Vapours ex... If The Sun Rise Red And Firey Wind And Rain
THE Reason of this Appearance is, because the Sun shines through a large Mass of Vapours, which occasions that red Colour that has been always esteemed a Sign of Rain, especially if the Face of the Sun appear bigger than it ought, for then in a few ... If Two Such Clouds Arise One On Either Hand It Is Time To Make Haste To Shelter
AS this Observation is of the same Nature with the former, we shall continue our Remarks. The Reason why it seldom thunders in Winter is, because the exterior Parts of the Earth are so contracted by the cold Snow and Ice, that Sulphur cannot perspir... If You See A Cloud Rise Against The Wind Or Side Wind
When that Cloud comes up to you, the Wind will blow the same Way that the Cloud came. And the same Rule holds of a clear Place, when all the Sky is equally thick, except one clear Edge. THIS seems to arise from hence, that Wind being nothing more ... Mists If They Rise To The Hill-tops } Rain In A Day Or Two
WHEN Mists are very, heavy in themselves, and rise only by the Action of that protrusive Force, exerted by the subterranean Fire, they can rise no higher than where the Gravitation becomes superior to that protrusive force, for then they descend aga... Mists A General Mist Before The Sun Rises Near The Full Moon Fair Weather
THIS is a general and a very extensive Observation, which enables us to judge of the Weather for about a Fortnight, and there is very great Reason to believe that it will very rarely deceive us. In order to convince the Reader of this, it will be ne... Mists If They Rise In Low Ground And Soon Vanish } Fair Weather
THIS is a sure Sign and very well expressed, that is, clearly, and, in few Words, which is the Excellency of such Aphorisms. In order to be convinced of its good Sense and Certainty, we must consider a little what Mists are, whence they rise, and wh... S W Winds
After a northerly Wind for the most Part two months or more, and then coming South, there are usually three or four fair Days at first, and then, on the fourth or fifth Day, comes Rain, or else the Wind tu... Spring And Summer
If the last eighteen Days of February and ten Days of March be for the most part rainy, then the Spring and Summer Quarters are like to be so too: and I never knew a great ... Sudden Rains Never Last Long:
But when the Air grows thick by Degrees, and the Sun, Moon, and Stars shine dimmer and dimmer, then it is like to rain six Hours usually. RAIN is, properly speaking, a Multitude of small watery Drops, falling from the upper Air at different Seas... Winds Observe That In Eight Years' As Many Wet Years As Dry
THIS must be allowed a very extraordinary Aphorism from a Country Shepherd, but at the same Time it is very agreeable to the Observations of Dr. Hooke, Dr. Derham, Dr. Grew, and other able Naturalists, who with unwearied Pains and Diligence have cal... Winter Time
If the latter End of October and Beginning of November be for the most Part warm and rainy, then January and February are like to be frosty and cold, except after a very dry Summer. IT is very evident, supposing this Obs...