_of the_ ST. JAMES'S GAZETTE.

'SIR,--I have been a very constant though not a scientific observer
of the sky for a period of forty years; and I confess to a certain
feeling of astonishment at the way in which the "recent celestial
phenomena" seem to have taken the whole body of scientific
observers by surprise. It would even appear that something like
these extraordinary sunsets was necessary to call the attention of
such observers to what has long been a source of perplexity to a
variety of common folk, like sailors, farmers, and fishermen. But
to such people the look of the weather, and what comes of that
look, is of far more consequence than the exact amount of ozone or
the depth or width of a band of the spectrum.

'Now, to all such observers, including myself, it has been plain
that of late neither the look of the sky nor the character of the
weather has been, as we should say, what it used to be; and those
whose eyes were strong enough to look now and then toward the sun
have noticed a very marked increase of what some would call a
watery look about him, which might perhaps be better expressed as a
white sheen or glare, at times developing into solar halo or mock
suns, as noted in your paper of the 2d of October last year. A
fisherman would describe it as "white and davery-like." So far as
my observation goes, this appearance was only absent here for a
limited period during the present summer, when we had a week or two
of nearly normal weather; the summer before it was seldom absent.

'Again, those whose business or pleasure has depended on the use of
wind-power have all remarked the strange persistence of hard
westerly and easterly winds, the westerly ones at times partaking
of an almost trade-wind-like force and character. The summer of
1882 was especially remarkable for these winds, while each stormy
November has been followed by a period about mid-winter of mild
calm weather with dense fog. During these strong winds in summer
and early autumn the weather would remain bright and sunny, and to
a landsman would be not remarkable in any way, while the barometer
has been little affected by them; but it has been often observed by
those employed on the water that when it ceased blowing half a gale
the sky at once became overcast, with damp weather or rain. This
may all seem common enough to most people; but to those accustomed
to gauge the wind by the number of reefs wanted in a mainsail or
foresail it was not s