The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1874-10-24
Living BarOmeters.

lnht ls curious instinct which a large
number Of animals possess, of predicting
the weather and signifying the approach
ing change by peculiar movements or
sounds. Some Of their actions in this
respect appear to be more governed by
reason than by mere instinct, others arc
clearly due TO the moisture in the air or
various atmospheric influences, while some,
which occur under conditions which pre-
vent their being referred to the latter
cause, offer an interesting field for the in
yestigations Of the naturalist. The pres
ence of the barometer in almost every
farmhouse, together with the weather bull
letin or the dietum Of "0ld Probabilities, F"
good for the next twenty-four hours, rem
der such homely knowledge as that which
governed the labors Of the farmers and
sailors Of the last century almost superau-
Gus in this advanced age; but the subject,
like all topics which relate to the sagacity
Of the lower animals, is Of itself an inter
esting one And besides, it is not entirely
impossible that some farmer to whom the
barometer, If he had one, would be incom-
prehensible, and whose location prevents
his obtaining the weather reports, may, by
some odd action of his own cattle, Of some
insect, or Of some bird, as described in the
following lines, be forewarned of coming
storm In time, and save perhaps crop
during the harvest months.
We have said that certain movements
on the part of the animals, before change
of wheather, appeared to indicate reason
ing faculty, Such seems to be the case
with the common garden spider, which, on
the approach of rainy or windy weather,
will be found to shorten and strengthen
the supporting guys of his web, lengthen-
ing the same when the storm is over.
There is popular superstition in England
that 1t is unlucky for an angler to meet a
single magpie; but two of the birds together
are good omen. The reason is that the
birds foretell the coming of cold or storAy
weather; and then. instead Of ther search
ing for food for their young in pairs, one
will always remain on the nest. Sea gulls
predict storms by assembling on the land,
as they know that the rain will bring
earthworms and larvae to the surface.
This, however, is merely search for food,
and is due to the same instinct which
teaches the swallow to fly high In fine
weather, and skim along the ground when
foul is coming. They simply follow the
fies and gnats which remain in the warm
strata Of the air. The different tribes of
wading birds always migrate before rain,
likewise to hunt for food.
There is large variety of actions Of
which it is hardly possible to give a salts,
factory explanation. Coming rain Is fore
told by the peacock uttering frequent cries,
by the woodpecker lamenting, by parrO-
quets babbling, by pintados perching aud
by geese running around uneasily. So
also it is said that, when storm is at hand,
swine will carry hay and straw to hiding
places, oxen will lick themselves the wrong
way of the hair, sheep will bleat and skip
about, hogs turned out in the woods will
come homo grunting and sqealing, colts
will rub their backs against the ground,
crows win gather in crowds, crickets will
sing more loudly, flies come into the house,.
frogs croak and change color to dingier
hue, dogs cat grass, and rocks soar like
hawks.
II is probable that many of these actions
are due to actual uneasiness, similar to that
which all who are troubled with corns or
rheumatism experience before storm, and
are caused both by the variation in barom
etric pressure and the changes in the elec-
trical condition Of the atmosphere,