Project Gutenberg's The Philosophy of the Weather, by Thomas Belden Butler

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Title: The Philosophy of the Weather
And a Guide to Its Changes

Author: Thomas Belden Butler

Release Date: August 14, 2010 [EBook #33429]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE WEATHER.
AND A GUIDE TO ITS CHANGES.

BY T. B. BUTLER.

NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON & COMPANY,
NOS. 346 & 348 BROADWAY.
1856.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by
T. B. BUTLER,
In the Clerks Office of the District Court of the District of
Connecticut.

ELECTROTYPED BY
THOMAS B. SMITH,
82 & 84 Beekman Street.

PRINTED BY
J. F. TROW,
379 Broadway.

INTRODUCTION.

The atmospheric conditions and phenomena which constitute "The Weather"
are of surpassing interest. Now, we rejoice in the genial air and warm
rains of spring, which clothe the earth with verdure; in the alternating
heat and showers of summer, which insure the bountiful harvest; in the
milder, ripening sunshine of autumn; or the mantle of snow and the
invigorating air of a moderate winter's-day. Now, again, we suffer from
drenching rains and, devastating floods, or excessive and debilitating
heat and parching drought, or sudden and unseasonable frost, or extreme
cold. And now, death and destruction come upon us or our property, at any
season, in the gale, the hurricane, or the tornado; or a succession of
sudden or peculiar changes blight our expected crops, and plant in our
systems the seeds of epidemic disease and death. These, and other normal
conditions, and varied changes, and violent extremes, potent for good or
evil, are continually alternating above and around us. They affect our
health and personal comfort, and, through those with whom we are
connected, our social and domestic enj