The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1873-10-17
VOL. XVII.---NO. AZ.
Meteorological Record for September,
FALLsToN, Nd, October 2d 1879

MR. EDITOR: The past month of September
mas not furnished any very interesting meteoro-
logical irregularities at this point of the earth's
| surface. 'A
Maximum temperature on the LIST. 80 deo,s.
minimum, morning of the 10Th, As deg's; mean
temperature of the month, $40 deg's. Rain
fall 3. 73 inches
There was rain upon eight different DAVIS.
inere was but one rain OF an inch or over, and
this occurred on the night of the 18th. and
morning OF the 14th, amounting to 10 inches.
| Inc month seems to have been cool but no frost
has been discovered at this point but reported
| in the immediate vicinity.
Mean temperature of Sept, 1871, 81. 27 dee's
The equinoctial storm has not yet occurred. un.
| less We can put the storms fAugust down to this
| account. 1t Is superstition of long standing
| that great storm impends about the time that
| the "sun crosses the line" l find in Cnsar's
Commentaries, written some fifty years before
the Christian era, this passage: HNe ami tenn
| pore nayigatione excluderetur, quod aqatiaoc-
tam suberat:" He feared he might not get his
| troops over from Britain to the main land be-
| cause the equinoctial was at hand. Also in Pliny
who wrote about 100 years later: "Aestus du-
obs 1quinoctiis maxine tumentes ct autumnali
amplius guam verno" Pliny 2:9799 Observe
mat henotes the autumnal equinoctials to be
| most violent.
There seems no philosopy in this belief The
earth i'll its revolutions gradually approaches q
| certain point in its orbit where the inclination
| OF its axis being exactly sidewise to the sum- the
sun Is precisely overhead on q line which ge.
ographers have imagined rs drawn around the
earth at equal distances from the two poles So
on that day, the edge of the illuminated half of
the Garth is exactly bounded by meridian circle
and the sun shines at both poles making the
days and nights of equal length all over the
earths surtace; but the same relative position
was almost attained on the day BEFORE and less
and less nearly, day by day for many days be-
fore, and what should there be in the earths at
fol mi TO f1,an
imaginary lines and points, that could effect the
weather.! The fact is that as the sun leaves us
and the cold winds in alliance with the length
ening nights begin to overcome his influence, we
must look for storms OF windand rain; the capa-
city OF the air for the moisture it has drunk up
during the summer is reduced, and the super
fuous water is thrown down. Statistics show
that the greater storms actually occur in August
and not in September, in this latitude and on
this coast. In September, 1870, there were
moderate rains without great wind on the 17th
and 18th and on the Both.
In september, 1871 there were very slghtraips
on the 14th and 18th, rain ofess than half inch
On the 25th, and only IN inches in all the month
In september, 1872, there was slight rain on the
18th, 18th and 18th, and no more until the 25th,
and again on the 9th, but no violent storm in
the month. So for four years there has certainly
occurred over this district no autumnaI equinoc-
tial storm.
l also find by my record that no yerpal eoui-
noctial storms occurred here during the three
last years. In March, 1870, great storms on lath
and 10Th.
The supcrstitions in regard to the changes of
the moon seem to be equally unfounded and it is
said that long series ofobservations made at the
French obseVatorics, to establish or disprove
the theory ofthc moons influence on the weather,
resulted in disproving any possible influence.
AS the moon lifts the waters Of the ocean, SO
she must raise proportionaly greater aerial
tides, but these tides diminish gradually, from
new and full day by day, to quadrature; and SO
from quadraturc to full increase; and there seems
no reason why great changes should be looked
for, because at q certain instant of time the
moon is exactly between the earth and sun,
little above or little below; or the earth in the
same position relatively to the moon and sun,
when these positions are SO gradually attained
The idea wet and dry moons is certainly
absurd, for the position ofthe new moon which Is
illuminated, whether the side or lower portion,
depends no the relative position of the sun and
moon, and can be as exactly foretold as the
eclipse, for any number of years in advance, and
indeed exactly repeats itself after intervals of
about IL years, both as to position and degree of
illumination, and on the same days and hours.
This would give us, after that intervals, repe-
tltlon OF the same weather for ever and ever.
G. G.