STRANGE METEOROLOGY

Evening Star, Issue 21433, 9 June 1933, Page 10

STRANGE METEOROLOGY

OLD WIVES’TALES GF RAIN Many people in city and country put their faith in an amateur meteorology which science resolutely declines to recognise (writes R. J. Ross, in tho Melbourne ‘Argus’). Of the many different and supposedly accurate methods of foretelling a change of weather, one of the commonest is a sudden attack of rheumatism—a sign said to bo reliable by thousands of elderly people. Younger folks arc denied'this natural , indicator. If- tbov lack corns, also, they must look elsewhere. 1 Most housewives disregard the official reports which appear regularly in tho newspapers.. They prefer to accept the indications furnished by the contents of the sugar bowl and saltcaster, When sugar and salt become damp no power on earth, they say, can prevent rain. It matters not whether the official meteorologist forecasts fine weather. The fall of soot, also, is an alleged sign of rain, and tho family cat is regarded by some as a satisfactory medium. When she washes behind her ears wet weather is threatening. Tn the city we do not take much notice of the manner in which tho new moon arrives in tho skv: but this is noted in different parts of‘the country. When a new moon appears, setting itself on its hack, rain, it is believed, will certainly fall soon. . , , , Country-dwelling weather prophets have scores, if not hundreds, of natural indicators at their service. _ Basalt formations serve as one, changing colour when wet weather is imminent. Frogs and crickets chorus warnings of rain. In the warm weather snakes move themselves to higher ground, and talkative and noisy birds, crying warnings as they fly, leave the lulls and seek sanctuary _ about the flats, to tho farmer such signs as these portend rain. Why is it that many sensible country residents repose so much faith in these signs? They were discovered years ago, and they have stood the test of time. The countryman will tell you that when dry timber falls there is a _ storm brewing; and this also is predicted when little black ants leave their homes and climb up the sturdiest of trees. Some pigs sense the approach ot stormy weather and squeal warnings. They become restless hours before rain falls. The tramp often relies on the “music” of the telegraph wires. A loud, shrill buzzing tells him _that boisterous weather threatens. -there are also manv supposedly reliable indications of drought. _ “ Absent swallows mean absent rain ” is an_ old popular belief. “If you see crimson sunsets, whirlwinds, and smoke going to heaven in a lino as straight ns a die,” an old bnshman told me. may count on a long, dry spell. DOGS SEEK SHELTER.

Dogs have often been seen digging holes in the ground for shelter long before any visible signs of inclement weather. Most animals feel m their bones that bad weather is approaching, and an instinct bids them prepare lor shelter and sustenance by laying m stores of bedding and food. \Mien storms threaten sheep and cattle often leap about, become irritable, and butt one another. Dandelions contract when rain is near, and close up their blossoms before a storm. Certain kinds or flowers are peculiarly sensitive; they close their petals or loaves before ram comes. Damp air makes oats contract. Placed away from heavy coastal air seaweed will give warning of ap-

preaching rain as? well as, the most expensive of meteorological instruments. About two days before rain arrives the seaweed begins to grow damp, and just before rain'it becomes quite moist. As soon as the rain passes it gradually dries again. The common little shellbacked turtle which frequents most of Australia’s inland rivers is a reliable gauge of bad weather. At the slightest sign of an approaching storm it will desert tile river and make for higher ground, there to remain until _ all danger of Hood has passed. When swallows fly low and crowd together it is a sure “sign that they expect a storm. Other signs of approaching wet weather, as manifest in pile world of Nature, are sheep and cows lying down to keep a dry spot for themselves, insects getting in supplies of fodder for the wet spell, and horses jumping about like lambs. I knew an old Scotswoman who kept in a jar of water a small frog, which, during fine weather, would stay at the bottom, but if wet weather threatened would come to the surface, k-eej. )ing its head out of the water.