notion
is borne out by the fact. In 1807 and 1808, it rained on St.
Swithin's-day, and a dry season followed. In 1818 and 1819, it was dry
on the 15th, and a very dry season followed. The other summers,
occurring between 1807 and 1819, seem to show, "that in a majority of our
summers, a showery period which, with some latitude as to time and local
circumstances, may be admitted to constitute daily rain for forty days,
does come on about the time indicated by the tradition of St. Swithin."

But in these calculations, it is necessary to bear in mind that the
change of style has very much interfered with St. Swithin. With the day
allowed in the closing year of the last century, St. Swithin's day is how
thirteen days earlier in the calendar than it would have been by the old
style. Thus the true St. Swithin's-day, according to the tradition, is
about the 28th of July, and not the 15th, as set down in the present
calendar. There must, therefore, be a considerable difference as to the
rains and this day.

We now proceed to collect a number of prognostics connected with the
appearances of the heavenly bodies and of the sky; they are the result of
long experience, but at the same time it is necessary to caution our
readers against attaching much importance to them.

When the sun rises red, wind and rain may be expected during the day; but
when he rises unclouded, attended by a scorching heat, cloudiness and
perhaps rain will ensue before mid-day. When he rises clouded, with a
few grey clouds, they will soon dissipate, and a fine day will follow.
When his light is dim, vapour exists in the upper regions of the air, and
may be expected to descend shortly after in the form of dense clouds.
When his light, after rain, is of a transparent watery hue, rain will
soon fall again. When his direct rays have a scorching and weakening
effect on the body throughout the greater part of the day, the next day
will be cloudy, and perhaps rainy. When the sun is more or less obscured
by a thicker or thinner cirro-stratus cloud, and when he is said to be
_wading_ in the cloud, rain may come--if the cloud indicates rain it will
come. A halo surrounding the disc of the sun is almost always sure to
precede rain. A red sunset without clouds indicates a doubt of fair
weather; but a fine day may be expected after a red sunset in clouds. A
watery sunset, diverging rays of light, either direct from the sun or
from behind a cloud, is indicati