The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-11-28
Indian Summer.

year has It's charms for HIM who
contemplates nature with the mind
OF sage and the piety of a believer
IN a experimenting Providence,
yet Jhere are periods when subjects
for admiration and thought are
more numerous and striking than
at Others. The flowers of spring.
the golden harvest OF summer, the
rlpenlng fruits Of autumn, and
even the tintless snow Of winter, bv
their beauty, variety and adapta-
ton to the wants of animated ma
ture afford much that calls for pa
tent investigation and reverential
gratitude. But none of them
spreads before us a greater number
of charms or a richer display Of
beauty than that part Of autumn
which is called Indian summer.
The forests, ere they Law aside their
leafy covering, vie with the rain
bow III the beauty of their dyes,
while the deep azure of the sky, the
mellow sunlight and the balmy
air lend their aid to make this the
loycliest part Of the year. But
while enjoying the mildness and
serenity Of Indian summer the
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and why are these varied colors IN
an American landscape, and this
equatorial warmth tempered by
Arctic b~reezes unknown in Europe
and other portions OF the Eastern
Continent ? 1t has been observed
that Indian summer never com
mences until severe frosts have
caused the leaves either to fall from
the trees or become lifelesS and veg
citation in general to lease The
decaying verdure not only grows
dry and warm, and thus imparts
an additional amount of heat to the
atmosphere, but 1t likewise diffuses
innumerable particles through the
air, which acquire a high tempera-
ture. These, by partially decom-
posing the rays Of light, cause the
sky to assume a deeper blue and
distant objects to appear as if
viewed through intervening smoke.
As is we'll known, the red rays are
the least refrangible, or are caused
to vary less from a direct course
when a ray of white light is de-
composed by passing through a
medium. Hence the reason why a
red light or II red signal can be
seen at Il greater distance than any
other. Railway operatives avail
themselves of this by using a red
signal as a sign Of danger, not, Us
many suppose, because it is the
color of blood. Owing to the red
ray being the stronger and reaching
the eve when the other rays do not,
during Indian summer the sun to
wards evening presents Il red APP
pearance and seems like a globe of
fire descending IN the western sky.
sky. The greater moisture of many
portions Of Europe prevents the
same effect from being produced
by decaying vegetation there that
occurs IN America, and it Is, there
fore, not surprising that foreigners
are enraptured by the beauty and
loneliness of our Indian summer.
As our country is denuded more
and more of its forests the Indian
summer becomes shorter and less
distinctive, since the leaves of the
trees, by reason of their exposed
position, are more highly heated
than those vegetable productions
which are near the surface OF the
earth. Indian summer, though a
source of pleasure and delight to
many. is far otherwise TIC those af-
f1icted with diseases of the lungs.
as the amount of fncly-diyided
matter diffused through the atmos-
phere aggravates the.disease. The
name Indian summer Is said to
have been given By those Euro
peans who first made the Western
wilderness their home, because the
/ hostile Indians usually took adyan-
tage of this period of mild weather
to make their attacks on the settle
ments. If so, what is now welcom-
ed with pleasure they beheld with
dread.
Prof. Mills, of Wake Forest
College, while addressing the Bap-
list Convention on the importance