The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER, 21, 1861

the Federal army as well as rowdy soldiers and
rowdy officers, The grievances discussed by the
chaplains were threefold. The first was that their
pay was deducted during sickness, while that of
captains was not ; the second, that they were not
recognised as entitled to transportation for their
baggage ; and last, and worst of all, that they were
insulted by the officers and laughed at by the men,
and that no measures were taken by the command-
ing Generals to enforce the attendance of the
soldiers at prayers. One of the principal speakers,
a " clergyman" from Pennsylvania, discoursed of
these and other hardships in a style which was
enough to prove, irrespective of the first two
grievances, that the third was irremediable, and
that no soldier of any religious feeling would
tolerate compulsory attendance at any prayers
prayers which such a person might offer. "I
lately went," he said, " to see the colonel, and had
the colonel's fist under my nose as an answer to my
complaint. I drew off, as you may believe, and
swore to make guano of the colonel, or any one else
(so help me God) who interrupted me in the per-
formance of my duty. More than that, I let him
know that I had once been a blacksmith, and cau-
tioned him, if he valued his bones, to keep out of
the reach of my sledge hammer." Clearly this
" reverend" person mistook his vocation, and should
either have stuck to his forge or joined the army
as a private soldier. The wonder, however, is that
with such colonels and such chaplains the rank and
file of the army behaves as gallantly as it does,
and that it is not hopelessly demoralised by the
many bad examples which are set before it by those
whose duty it should be to elevate and improve it.
The panic in the stock-market has partially sub-
sided. The small speculators have been ruined .
the larger ones have been crippled and taught wis
dom ; but no failures among the higher order of
bankers and brokers have occurred to strengthen
the existing alarm. The "ring" of great capital-
ists, who by their combinations contrive to keep up
the price of shares in some particular lines, are
again at work to bring these fancy stocks to their
former rates, but as yet with only moderate success.
Gold maintains itself within a slight fraction of i.ts
recent advance, the brokers of Mr. Chase not being
in a position to affect a fall while their chief is in
the market as a borrower of fifty millions of one
sort of paper, to be reimbursed in another. The ge-
neral belief is that there must, of necessity, be a
further fall in stocks and a steadily advancing pre-
mium on gold, and that the panics of the New York
Stock-market are likely to be intermittent until the
grand finale and smash, which may be cleverly post-
poned, but which cannot be prevented by all the
skill of Wall-street and all the prudence of the
Financial Minister.

WEATHER PROGNOSTICS.

(From Creswick's Weather Guide.)

If the cloods in the west are red, with a tinge of purple,
t portends fine weather, the reason being that the air,when
dry, refracts more of the red and heat-making rays than
when moist; and as dry air is not perfectly transparent,
those rays are reflected in the horizon. A coppery or yellow
sunset, on the other hand, foretells rain. A very certain
indication of wet weather is produced by precipitated water.
'1 he observer, though, must not confound the halo with the
corona. The former is a luminous circle seen round the
moon or sun, with a diameter of 20 or more degrees; whilst
the corona is a number of coloured rings formed immedi-
ately about the moon's place. When the rainbow appears
in the morning, it is a sign of wet ; when in the evening, of
fine weather. The reason given by Sir Humphrey Davy for
this is, that as the rainbow can only be seen when the
clouds depositing the rain are opposite to the sun, it follows
that the morning rainbow must be always in the west, and
the evening one in the east. Now, as most of our rain comes
with a west wind, a bow in that quarter would indicate that
the storm was coming towards the observer ; on the other
hand, a bow in the east would indicate that the storm was
passing from him.
Fair weather is betokened by the swallows flying high ;
the insects on which tbese birds feed are always to be found
in the warmest stratum of air, and the swallows conse-
quently follow them. Now as hot air is lighter than that
which is colder, it will always occupy the higher position;
when, therefore, the swallows are seen flying high,we know
that there is no fear of descending currents of colder air ;
but when they fly low, the warmer air will probably be in-
vaded by a colder stratum descending, and a deposition of
water is liable to be the result.
'With regard to what may be learnt from the appearance
of the sky and clouds, the following general directions will
be found useful. As a very good collection of these pheno-
mena, together with the inferences drawn from them, have
been brought together by Rear-Admiral Fitzroy,in the pub-
lications issued by the Board of Trade, we cannot do better
than by quoting the paragraph itself—" If the first indica-
tions of daylight are seen above a bank of clouds, it foretells
wind; if the first streaks of light are low, and come from
or near the horizon fair weather may be anticipated. Soft-
looking and delicate clouds foretell fine weather, with mode-
rate or light breezes ; hard-edged, oily-looking clouds, wind.
A dark gloomy-looking blue sky foretells wind ; but a bright
light blue sky a continuance of fair weather. Generally the
softer clouds look, the less wind may be expected; but the
harder, more ragged and rolled they look, the stronger will
the wind be. Small inky clouds foretell rain; light scud
driving across heavy clouds, wind and rain; but if without
a background of den Fer clouds, windalone. Not unfrequently
clouds, at different elevations, will be observed to be going
in different directions : whilst the lowest stratum of cloud
is moving in the same direction with the wind, the higher
and light clouds may be eying across in altogether another
course; when this is observed to be the case it is usually
a sign that the wind will shortly change to the direction in
which the upper stratum of air is moving. After fine clear
weather the first appearance of a change in the sky are smal
curled or spotty clouds, followed by a gradual cloudingl
in the sky, from an overcasting vapour. The harder
the murky sky appears, the more likely to foretell wind ;
if it looks watery rain may also be expected. The more
distant and higher the clouds are, the more gradual, but
extensive, the coming change will prove. 'When misty
clouds and vapours seem to hang or to be spread out over
heights, it is a sign of wind and rain; if they rise and dis-
perse themselves, the weather will improve."
The foreknowledge to be gleaned from the close and dawn
of day may be briefly stated as follows, as laid down by
Kaemtz :—Since the appearances of twilight depend on the
state of the sky, they may serve to foretell, to a certain ex-
tent, the weather of the following day. When the sky is
blue, and, after sunset, the western region is covered with a
slight purple tint, we may be sure that the weather will be
fine, especially if the horizon seems obscured with a slight
smoke. After rain, isolated clouds, coloured red, and well
illuminated, announce the return of fine weather. A twi-
light of a whitish yellow, especially when it extends to a
distance on the sky, is a sign of bad weather for the mor-
row. Generally, we must expect storms when the sun is
of a brilliant white, and sets in the midst of a white light
which hardly permits us to distinguish it ; the probabili-
ties of bad weather are still more increased when light cirri,
that give the sky a dull appearance, appear deeper near the
horizon, and when the twilight is of a greyish red, in the
midst of which are seen portions of a deep red that pass into
grey, and scarcely permit the sun to be distinguished—in
this case vesicular vapour is very abundant, and we may
calculate on wind and approaching rain.
The signs to be drawn from daybreak are somewhat
different. 'When it is very red we may expect rain, whilst
a grey dawn announces fine weather. 'With regard to the
appearance of the clouds, the following inferences may be
derived. In fair weather the sky is seldom quite clear of
small groups of cirrus. Continued wet weather is attended
with horizontal sheets of this cloud, which subside presently
and pass into cirrostratus. Before storms they appear
lower and denser, and unusually in that quarter from which
the storm arises. Steady high winds are proceeded and at-
tended by streaks running quite across the sky in the direc-
tion they blow in.
We might sum up those sources of information by re-
marking that, generally, natural, easy, and delicate tints
with undefined and woolly clouds, foretell fine weather ;,but
unusual hues, with striking contrasts of colour, and hard,
sharply-marked outlines, usually precede wind and wet
weather. There are some few other sources of foreknow-
ledge which, though not nearly so reliable as the ones
we have just enumerated, yet demand some attention from
the prudent farmer ; we shall therefore give some of them.
Dew is an indication of fine weather, as is also fog. When
smoke from chimneys does not ascend, but takes a crooked
course, it is a sign of a change for the worse. The habits
and cries of animals are also taken to bo a guide ; and, to a
certain extent, they are so. Sheep are observed to jump and
play in an unusual degree before rough and wet weather.
In winter when they lie under a hedge, and seem to be un-

willing to go to pasture, it is a sign of a coming storm
When peacocks cry much it is an indication of bad weather.

If cocks begin to crow while it is raining, it is said to be a
sign that it will soon be fine. The flight of wild geese to-
wards the west, the early appearance of the woodcock and

fieldfares are signs of coming cold.

It has also been asserted that the habits of the spider may
afford some hints as to the weather, If the weather be likely
to become rainy and stormy, the spider fixes the terminating
threads, by which the entire web is suspended, unusually
short, and in this state awaits the impending change; on
the other hand, if these threads be long, the weather will
be proportionately serene. If the spider be completely inac-
tive, rain will follow; but if, during rain, their wonted
activity be resumed, the rain will soon cease and fair wea-
ther will ensue. From vegetable life we may also draw
some conclusions. The down of the dandelion will close in
bad weather, but will expand when it is fine. The pim-
pernel is also a well-known example of a natural weather-
ihdiee,tor ; when the dower dotes its !saws it will be wet;

but, when it opens them in the morning, it is a sign of a
fine day.

After what we have said about the uncertainty and diffi-
culties in the way of prognosticating the weather in our
country, many hours in advance of the change, we need
hardly add that the eye should always be ready to detect
the slightest indication of any change. Let not the farmer
doubt but that careful and constant attention to these points
will prove of infinitely more use to him than all the empiri-
cal predictions extant.