The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-11-25

'Tis good on goats or camels' mike to
 drinke
 Cowes' mike and sheeps' do well, but
 yet an asses
 Is best of all, and all the other passes" But though the largest portion of the almanac was given over to things medi- cal, other information was to be found within its pages. The inevitable list of falrs, With the days upon which each is held, had its place; also table by which to find when it. is high or low water at any point on the coast, as well as an elaborate table Ito know the houre of the night by the moone on a sunne dial" Nor is the amateur gar dener passed over, for under the head or "Husbandiall elections in planting, grafting and sowing" he may reap much Information. A rule whereby one might know when marriages were for bidden to be celebrated is embodied in the following verse, which also finds a place in MT. Neve's multum in paryo almanac:
 Advent bids thee to containe,
 But Hilary sets thee free agalne
 Septuagesslma says thee nay,
 But eight from Easter says thou may. Rogation bids thee to tarry,
 But Trinity gives thee leave to marry"
 With regard to prognostications prop CT, the author does not seem to have attempted much. Mankind's destiny for the coming year is not parcelled out and duly allotted month by month, af- ter the fashion of some modern-day al- manacs, the almanac-makers of the seventeenth century evidently believ- ing in the saying that 'it is never safe to prophecy unless you know" All we find under the head of representations is the foretelling of eclipses of the sun and moon, and the conjunctions of the planets. Even the weather is scarcely dealt with, while under no circum- stances do they predict either sudden deaths, national calamities, wars or ru mors of wars Perhaps the nearest thing to a prediction is a table of the "Signifcation of Thunder in every one of the twelve signs according to Astrol- ogers." From this we are given to un- derstand that if it thunders when the sun is in Aries, it signifies an abund- ance of herbs, that men shall suffer many troubles, and that many shall die of the rope, the last a tolerably safe prediction, thunder or no thunder, con- sidering the state of our criminal code at that time. If under Taurus, a plen- tiful supply of victuals shall follow; if under Cancer, famine, commotion and locusts shall ensue; in Leo, sedition be- twixt kingdoms, deaths of great men, and so on.
 Appended to this, we find a state- ment to the effect that if the first night in January "be fair without raine," the year shall be good. If windy, the wind being in the east, there will be much disease among cattle. If the wind be in the west, then kings shall die; while if it be either in the south or north, it predicts great mortalitie and a very low birthrate, respectively" Such then, was the almanac of our forefath- CTS. Medicine and astrology being di- vorced, the latter-day almanac is no longer embellished with the Leech's wisdom and the Leech's verse. Were this still the fashion, almanacs would certainly be more interesting reading than they now are. The wisdom of Harley Street conveyed through such a medium as the verse of poetical M. D. $ would, we feel sure, be appreciated, and patients would eagerly look forward to the beginning of the year, when, to- gether with their bill for professional attendance, the general practitioners Almanac Prognostication would also be deposited one morning on their break fast-table.