་ with a tub containing three naked children, in memory of one of his miracles performed in a time of great scarcity, when a certain man, being short of provisions, seized some little children, cut them up, salted their limbs and served them up to his guests. He set a dish before St. Nicholas, who, at once perceiving what it contained, went to the tub where the limbs were in salt, offered up some prayers, and restored the children alive and whole. He performed many other good and pious works, and died Bishop of Myra, A. D. 326. 8. Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.-"This day," Dr. Forster says, "is a solemn festival, held by the Church in commemoration of the miraculous conception of the Immaculate, Ho'y and Blessed Virgin Mother of God; and is, as Butler assures us, the joyful dawning of the bright day of mercy, refulgent in the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ." The festival was instituted by St. Anselm in 1070. 13. St. Lucy, martyred 305. She was born at Syracuse, and having determined to devote herself to a religious life, she declined the addresses of a young nobleman who declared that her brilliant eyes haunted him night and day. She thereupon cut out her eyes and sent them to him. She also gave the whole of her fortune to the poor. In order to reward her for the sacrifice, God gave her a fresh pair of eyes more beautiful than before. Her suitor, enraged at his repulse and at the loss of his expected fortune, denounced her to the heathen judge, who ordered her to be put to death. 21. St. Thomas, apostle and martyr.-The Gospel narrative of Thomas, surnamed Didymus, relates that he was hard of belief; he would see and judge for himself, and he believed. After the Ascension he appears to have gone to India, and to have preached the Gospel to the Parthians, Medes and Persians, and was martyred at Melapore, on the Coromandel coast, being first stoned and then run through with a spear. 25. Christmas Day.-This is the greatest holyday in the year, in every sense. On this day we celebrate the birth of the Saviour, and even those who care little about religion make the day and season a time of rejoicing. Even before breakfast English people are saluted with "God bless you, merry gentlemen, Let nothing you dismay; A custom which was inaugurated by the angels: "While shepherds watched their flocks by night, 26. St. Stephen, the first martyr.-Of St. Stephen nothing is known except that he was chosen one of the first deacons, that he was devout and eloquent, and that he was the first martyr, having been stoned to death by the fanatical Jews, some of whom, as St. Paul says, thought that by so acting they did God service. Being a day of rest, our forefathers turned it to account by making it a practice to bleed their horses as recom mended by good old Thomas Tusser: Bishop Hall says, "Ere Christmas be passed let horse to let biood, If that do mislike thee, some other day chuse." "On St. Stephen's day blessings are implored upon pastures." 27. St. John, apostle, evangelist and martyr.-St. John, the beloved disciple, was one of Zebedee's children, and brother to St. James the Great. He was the youngest of the twelve, and to his charge was committed the mother of Jesus at the foot of the Cross. It is supposed that he remained in Judea as long as she lived, and then preached in various parts of the world. In his old age he was sent to Rome by Domitian, and there, before the gate Porta Latina, was put into a caldron of boiling oil, from which he not only suffered no injury, but acquired a more juvenile appearance. He had previously had a cup of poison offered him, but before putting his lips to it, the poison, in the form of a snake, escaped from the cup. He was banished to the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. After Domitian's death he returned to Ephesus, where he wrote his Gospel. At this time a report got abroad that he would not die, but would await the second coming of Christ. But on reaching the age of 100 he fell asleep. 28. Holy Innocents.-Childermas Day, in commemoration of the children slain by order of the impious Herod. It has been well observed that the Church commemorates three kinds of martyrs, each being exemplified in the three days past: 1. Those who like St. Stephen, are martyrs both in the will and the deed; this is the highest kind of martyrdom. 2. Those who, like St. John, are martyrs in will, but not in deed. 3. Thos who are martyrs in deed, but not in will, as were those innocent babes commemorated this day. 31. St. Silvester, Bishop of Rome, died 335. He succeeded Miltiades in the Papacy, A. D. 314, and was the first to introduce palls, corporals, unctions, mitres, etc. Many miracles are recorded of him. TIDES. The surface of the ocean rises and falls twice in a lunar day, about 24 h. 52 m. of mesa time. On the coast the tides appear as alternate elevations and depressions of the sea, and also as horizontal movements of the water, alternately flowing and ebbing; and the word tide is commonly used to designate both phases of the phenomenon. In hydrography the term tide signifies only the vertical movement of the water, and the words rise and fall are used with reference to the same motion. Stand is the term used to denote the interval of time at high or low water, during which no vertical motion is per teptible. The range of the tide is the height from low water to high water. The horizontal movement of the water is known as the tidal current, and the terms flood and ebb are used to indicate the general direction of the current. Slack is the word used to designate the interval of time during which no horizontal motion is perceptible. The tides do not always rise to the same height, but every fortnight, after the new and full moon, they become much higher than they were in the alternate weeks, or after the first and last quarters of the moon. These high tides are called Spring Tides, and the low ones Neap Tides. The close relation which the times of high water bear to the times of the moon's meridian passage, shows that the moon's influence in raising the tides is much greater than that of the sun. While the whole attraction of the sun upon the earth far exceeds that of the moon, yet, owing to the greater proximity of the latter, the difference between its attraction at the centre of the earth and at the nearest or most remote point of its surface (which difference produces the tides) is about two and a half times as great as the difference of the sun's attraction at the same points. Though each of these bodies may be supposed to cause two tidal waves, the tides must be regarded as the result of their combined action. At the time of full and change of the moon, the combined effect produces the spring tides, and high water is then higher and low water lower than at mean tides. When the moon is in perigee, or nearest the earth, the rise and fall is sensibly increased. When the moon is in quadrature, or 90° from the sun, the attraction of the two bodies upon the waters act in opposition, and the neap tides are produced. Very small tides will take place about the time of the earth's perihelion passage, if the moon is in apogee and also in quadrature. During the first and third quarters of the lunar month the solar wave lies to the west of the lunar wave, and the combined tide wave will be to the westward of that, due to the moon alone; and this causes an acceleration of the time of high water commonly called priming. In the second and fourth quarters the sun's influence acts to retard the lunar wave, and causes what is known as lagging of the tides. The interval of time which elapses from the time of the moon's transit over the meri. dian of a place to that of high water next following at the same meridian, is called the luni-tidal interval. It is found in general that any particular tide is not due to the moon's transit immediately preceding, but to a transit which has occurred some time before, and which is said therefore to correspond to it. The interval between the transit of the moon, at which a tide originates, and the appearance of a tide itself, is called the retard or age of the tide. The Diurnal Inequality is a regular change, considerable in amount, and almost uni• versal in prevalence. This change depends principally upon the moon's being north of south of the equator; its maximum is consequent on, but not always simultaneous with, the moon's greatest declination, and the period of its vanishing corresponds in like man ner with the moon's passing the equator. If the declination of the moon is of the same name as the latitude of the place, the greater of the daily tides occurs next after the upper transit of the moon; but if the lati tude and declination have contrary names, the higher tide of the day follows the lower culmination of the moon. The diurnal inequality sometimes affects the time of high water as much as two hours, that of low water about forty minutes; at the same time a variation of a foot may be observed in the height of high water, and of three feet in that of low water. Such effects are too great to be neglected, either in the prediction of tides or the reduction of soundings. The directions of strong winds, as well as the varying pressure of the atmosphere, con siderably affect both the times and the heights of high water. HOW THE TIDES ARE PRODUCED BY THE SUN AND MOON. Each of these bodies excites, by its attraction upon the waters of the sea, two gigantic waves, which flow in the same direction round the world as the attracting bodies themselves apparently do. The two waves of the moon, on account of her greater nearness, are about three and one-half times as large as those excited by the sun. One of these waves has its crest on the quarter of the earth's surface which is turned toward the moon, the other is at the opposite side. Both these quarters possess the flow of the tide, while the regions which lie between have the ebb. Although in the open sea the height of the tide amounts to only about three feet, and even in certain narrow channels, where the water is squeezed together, rises to thirty feet, the might of the phenomenon is nevertheless manifest from the caiculation of Bessel, according to which a quarter of the earth covered by the sea possesses during the flow of the tide about 25,000 cubic miles of water more than during the ebb, and that, therefore, such a mass of water must in six and one. quarter hours flow from one quarter of the earth to the other. THE WEATHER. CLOUDS. Cirrus cloud consists of streaks, wisps, and fibres, vulgarly called "mare's tails,' which may increase in any or all directions. Of all clouds it has the least density, the greatest elevation, and the greatest variety of extent and direction, or figure. It remains for a short time when found in the lower parts of the atmosphere and near other clouds, and longest when alone in the sky and at a great height. When streaks of cirrus run quite across the sky in the direction in which a light wind happens to blow, the wind will probably soon blow hard, but remain steady. When the fine threads of the cirrus appear blown or brushed backward at one end, as if by a wind prevailing in these elevated regions, the wind on the surface will ultimately veer round to that point. Cumulus, a cloud in dense convex heaps in rounded forms definitely terminated above; the lower surface remains roughly horizontal. When of moderate height and size, of well-defined curved outline, and appearing only during the heat of the day, they indicate a continuance of fair weather. But when they increase with great rapidity, sink down to the lower parts of the atmosphere, and do not disappear toward evening, rain may be expected. Stratus is a continuous extended sheet of cloud, increasing from below upward. It is the lowest sort of cloud. It generally forms about sunset, grows denser during the night, and disappears about sunrise. Cirro-Cumulus is composed of well-defined, small, rounded masses, lying near each other, and quite separated by intervals of sky. It is commonly known as a "mackerel sky: it occurs frequently in summer, and is attendant on warm and dry weather. Cirro-Stratus.-This cloud partakes partly of the characteristics of the cirrus and Stratus. in distinguishing it, attention must be paid, not so much to the form, which is very variable, but to the structure, which is dense in the middle and thin toward the edges. It is a precursor of storms, and from its greater or less abundance and permanence, it gives some indication of the time when the storm may be expected. Cumulo-Stratus.-This cloud is formed by the cirro-stratus blending with the cumulus, either among its piled-up heaps, or spreading underneath its base as a horizontal layer of vapor. Cumulo-Cirro-Stratus or Nimbus.-This is the rain-cloud. At a considerable height a sheet of cirro-stratus cloud is spread out, under which cumulus clouds drift from windward; these, rapidly increasing, unite at all points, forming one continuous mass, from which rain falls. Scud.--When a rain cloud is seen approaching at a distance, cirri appear to shoot out from its top in all directions, and it has been observed that the more copious the rainfall, the greater is the number of the cirri thrown out from the cloud. Morning rainbows indicate the advance of rain-cloud from the west when it is clear in the east; and the fall of rain at the time of day when the temperature should be rising, is regarded as a prognostic of a change to wet, stormy weather. On the contrary, the conditions under which a rainbow can appear in the evening are: the passing of the rain-cloud to the cast, and a clearing up in the west at the time of day when the temperature has begun to fall, thus indicating a change from wet to dry weather. "The evening gray and the morning red, Put on your hat, or you'll wet your head." This does not refer to a high red dawn, which may be regarded as a prognostic of settled weather. But if clouds ba red and lowering later in the morning, it may be accepted as a sign of rain. THE BAROMETER-WHAT IT IS. The barometer, feeling the pressure of the air, shows at once when that pressure is changing. If the pressure at one place on the earth's surface be greater than at another, the air has a tendency to move from the place where the pressure is greater, toward that where it is less, and thus wind is caused. A change of weather comes almost always with a change of wind, and the extent of this change of weather depends on the fact of the new wind being warmer or colder, damper or drier, than that which has been blowing. Any conclusions drawn from its movements must be checked by observations of temperature, moisture of the air, present direction and force of wind, and state of the sky, before any correct opinion can be formed as to what may be expected. In general, whenever the level of the mercury con tinues steady, settled weather may be expected; but when it is unsteady, a change must be looked for, and perhaps a gale. A sudden rise of the barometer is very nearly as bad a sign as a sudden fall, because it shows that atmospherical equilibrium is unsteady. In an ordinary gale the wind often blows hardest when the barometer is just beginning to rise, directly after having been very low. Besides these rules for the instrument, there is a rule about the way in which the wind changes which is very important. It is well known to every sailor, and is con⚫ tained in the following couplet: "When the wind shifts against the sun, Trust it not, for back it will run." The wind usually shifts with the sun, ie, from left to right, in the Northern Hemisphere. A change in this direction is called veering. Thus an east wind shifts to west through south-east; south, south-west; and a west wind shifts to east through north-west, north, and north-east. If the wind shifts the opposite way, viz., from west to south-west, south, and southcast, the change is called backing, and it seldom occurs, unless when the weather is unsettled. However, slight changes of wind do not follow this rule exactly; for instance, the wind often shifts from south-west to south and back again. In the Southern Hemisphere the motion with the sun is, of course, from right to left, and, therefore, the above rules will necessarily be reversed. THE THERMOMETER. As the barometer shows weight and pressure of the air, so the thermometer shows heat and cold, or temperature. The result of many observations show that in the Northern Hemisphere the thermomcter rises with east, south-east, and south winds; with a south-west wind it ceases to rise and begins to fall; it falls with west, south-west, and south winds; and with a north-east wind it ceases to fall and begins to rise. And in the Southern Hemisphere the thermometer rises with east, north-east, and north winds; with a north-west wind it ceases to rise and begins to fall; it falls with west, south-west, and south winds; and with a south-east wind it ceases to fall and begins to rise. Besides the use of the thermometer, in conjunction with the barometer, in foretelling the changes of weather by its aid, information may frequently be derived for sailors when passing from one ocean current to another; it also may give warning of the vicinity of ice. SUMMER HEAT. The following figures show the extreme summer heat in the various countries of the world. Bengal and the African desert, 150 deg. Fahrenheit. Senegal and Guadaloupą, 130 deg. Persia, 125 deg. Calcutta and Central America, 120 deg. Afghanistan and the Arabian deserts, 110 deg. Cape of Good Hope and Utah, 105 deg. Greece, 104 deg. Arabia, 103 deg. Montreal, 103 deg. New York, 102 deg. Spain, India, China, and Jamaica, 100 deg. Sierra Leone, 94 deg. France, Denmark, St. Petersburg, Shanghai, the Burman Empire, Buenos Ayres, and the Sandwich Islands, 90 deg. Great Britain, Siam, and Peru, 85 deg. Portugal, Pekin, and Natal, 80 deg. Siberia, 77 deg. Australia and Scotland, 75 deg. Italy, Venezuela, and Madeira, 73 deg. Prussia and New Zea land, 70 deg. Switzerland and Hungary, 66 deg. Bavaria, Sweden, Tasmania, and Moscow, 65 deg. Patagonia and the Falkland Isles, 55 deg. Iceland, 45 deg. Nova Zembla, 34 deg. WEATHER WISDOM. A rosy sky at sunset, whether clear or cloudy, indicates fine weather; an Indian-red tint at sunset foreshadows rain. A red sky in the morning, bad weather, or much wind -perhaps rain. A gray sky in the morning, fine weather; a high dawn, wind; a low dawn, fair weather. Soft-looking or delicate clouds foretell fine weather, with moderate or light breezes; hard-edged, oily-looking clouds, wind. A dark, gloomy, blue sky is windy; but a light bright blue sky indicates fine weather. Generally, the softer clouds look the less wind (but perhaps more rain) may be expected; and the harder, more "greasy," rolled, tufted, or rugged, the stronger the coming wind will prove. Also a bright yellow sky at sunset presages wind; a pale yellow, wet; and a greenish, sickly-looking color, wind and rain. Thus, by the prevalence of red, yellow, or other tints, the coming weather may be foretold very nearly; indeed, if aided by instruments, almost exactly. Small, inky-looking clouds foretell rain; light scud-clouds, driving across heavy masses, show wind and rain; but if alone, may indicate wind only. High upper clouds crossing the sun, moon, or stars in a direction different from that of the lower clouds, or the wind then felt below, portend a change of wind towards their direction. After fine clear weather, the first signs in the sky of a coming change are usually light streaks, curls, wisps, or mottled patches of white, distant clouds, which increase, and are followed by an overcasting of murky vapor that grows into cloudiness. This appearance, more or less oily or watery, as wind or rain will prevail, is an infallible sign. Usually, the higher or more distant such clouds seem to be, the more gradual but general the coming change of weather will prove. Light, delicate, quiet tints or colors, with soft undefined forms of clouds, indicate and accompany fine weather; but gaudy or unusual hues, with hard, definitely-outlined clouds, foretell rain, and probably strong wind. Misty clouds forming or hanging on heights, show wind and rain coming, if they remain, increase, or descend; if they rise or disperse, the weather will improve, or become fine. When sea-birds fly out early, or far to seaward, moderate wind and fair weather may be expected; when they hang about the land, or over it, sometimes flying inland, expect a strong wind with stormy weather. As many creatures besides birds are affected by the approach of rain or wind, such indication should not be slighted by any observer who wishes to foresee weather, or compare its variations. There are other signs of a coming change in the weather known less generally than may be desirable, and therefore worth notice; such as when birds of long flight-rooks, swallows, or others-hang about home, and fly up and down or low, rain or wind may be expected. Also when animals seek sheltered places instead of spreading over their usual range; when pigs carry straws to their styes; when smoke from chimneys does not ascend readily (or straight upwards during calm), an unfavorable change is probable. Dew is an indication of fine weather; so is fog. Neither of these two formations occur under an overcast sky, or when there is much wind. Occasionally one sees fog rolled away, as it were, by wind, but seldom or never actually formed while it is blowing. Remarkable clearness of atmosphere near the horizon; distant objects, such as hills, unusually visible, or raised (by refraction); and what is termed "a good hearing day," may be mentioned among signs of wet, if not wind, to be expected. More than usual twinkling of the stars, indistinctness, or apparent multiplication of the moon's horns, halos, "wind-dogs," and the rainbow, are more or less significant of increasing wind if not approaching rain, with or without wind. FORCE OF THE WINDS. Wind moving 1 mile per hour travels 88 feet per minute, 1.47 feet per second, and has force of .005 pounds per square foot; hardly perceptible. Wind moving 2 or 3 miles per hour travels 176 to 264 feet per minute, 2.93 to 4.4 feca per second, and has a force of .020 to .044 pounds per square foot; just perceptible. |