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East wind brings rain.
West wind brings clear, bright, cool weather.
North wind brings cold.
South wind brings heat.
Birds fly high when the barometer is high, and low when the barometer is
low.
Direction of Wind
The way to find which way the wind is blowing, if there is only very light
breeze, is to throw up little bits of dry grass; or to hold up a handful
of light dust and let it fall, or to suck your thumb and wet it all round
and let the wind blow over it, and the cold side of it will then tell you
which way the wind is blowing.
Weather Bureau
The U. S. Department of Agriculture Weather Bureau publishes a
"Classification of clouds," in colors which may be had for the asking. If
you are near one of the weather signal stations daily bulletins will be
sent to camp upon request, also the weather map.
A set of flag signals run up each day will create interest. The flags are
easily made, or may be purchased.
Keep a daily record of temperature. A boy in charge of the "Weather
Bureau" will find it to be full of interest, as well as to offer an
opportunity to render the camp a real service. He will make a weather
vane, post a daily bulletin board, keep a record of temperature, measure
velocity of wind and rainfall.
If you have lost your bearings and it is a cloudy day, put the point of
your knife blade on your thumb nail, and turn the blade around until the
full shadow of the blade is on the nail. This will tell you where the sun
is, and decide in which direction the camp is.
Points of Compass
Face the sun in the morning, spread out your arms straight from body.
Before you is the east; behind you is the west; to your right hand is the
south; to the left hand is the north.
A Home-made Weather Prophet
For a home-made barometer you need a clean, clear glass bottle. Take one
drachm[1] each of camphor gum, saltpetre and ammonia salts, and dissolve
them in thirteen drachms of pure alcohol. Shake till dissolved. Then pour
in bottle and cork tightly. Hang the bottle of mixture against the wall
facing north, and it will prove a perfect weather prophet. When the liquid
is clear it promises fair weather. When it is muddy or cloudy it is a sign
of rain. When little white flakes settle in the bottom it means that the
weather is growing colder, and the thicker the deposit the colder it
becomes. Fine, starry flakes foretell a storm, and large flakes are signs
of snow. When the liquid seems full of little, t
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