"Every pocket-book should have blank pages headed, 'The Weather,' for each month of the year. It is obvious that by a little study and attention any one may soon become weatherwise-at least sufficiently so for ordinary purposes.-Steinmetz. "We would strongly recommend any of our readers, whose occupations lead them to attend to the 'signs of the weather,' and who, from hearing a particular weather adage often repeated, and from noticing themselves a few remarkable instances of its verification, 'have begun to put faith in it,' to commence keeping a note-book, and to set down without bias all the incidents which occur to them of the recognized antecedent, and occurrence or non occurrence of the expected consequent, not omitting also to set down the cases in which it is left undecided; and after so collecting a considerable number of instances (not less than a hundred), proceed to form his judgment on a fair comparison of the favorable, the unfavorable and the undecided cases; remembering always that the absence of a majority one way or the other would be in itself an improbability, and that, therefore, to have any weight, the majority should be a very decided cne, and that not only in itself, but in reference to the neutral instances. We are all involuntarily much more strongly impressed by the fulfilment than by the failure of a prediction, and it is only when thus placing ourselves face to face with fact and experience that we can fully divest ourselves of this bias."-Sir John Herschel. The above considerations are worthy of the utmost attention, and to give those who read this Almanac an opportunity of judging of the correctness or unworthiness of any of the statements it contains, we have added twelve memoranda pages, and would consider ourselves favored by the results of any observations our readers may make. These may be addressed Henry G. Vennor, Geological Survey, Montreal. Printed and Electrotyped at the WITNESS Printing House, 33 to 37 St. Bonaventure Strees, Montreal INTRODUCTORY: During the last two years my correspondence on the subject of weather has been a heavy though cheerfully borne burden, inasmuch as it has afforded the best possible proof of the widely-spread interest taken in the subject of weather predictions, and that my efforts in this direction have met with a fair measure of success. It is in answer to the general demand of correspondents on both sides of the 45th parallel, and as a means of replying to constantly recurring questions, that I again issue my Almanac after a year's intermission. In doing this I am aware that my efforts will be misunderstood by many and misrepresented by more, but I have the surety that there are a large number who will be as one with me in the attempt to discover the secret o recurring seasons of a like character and thus be able to establish beforehand the character of any particular season or month. In attempting, as I do, to predict the weather for a year in advance, a fair allowance must be made for shortcomings, particularly toward the latter portions, which are seen less clearly than those at hand. Thus it is that the predictions are given in greater detail from Decem. ber, 1880, to May, 1881 (inclusive), and after that in more general terms for the summer months. In following these predictions it is well to remember that as yet no attempt has been made to assign exact limits or boundaries to them, consequently dwellers at remote points must make due allowances for any discrepancies It should not be forgotten, also, that the predictions respecting snow falls and drifts, of course, are intended especially for Canada and the bordering States, except when otherwise clearly mentioned. In addition, I claim the right always to revise and correct these forecasts during the winter's progress, should I see fit to do so, provided that this is done in advance of the period referred to. HENRY G. VENNOR. MONTREAL. THE SEASONS. Spring begins.. ................March 20 Autumn begins.....September 22 CHRONOLOGICAL CYCLES.-Dominical Letter, B; Epact, 30; Golden Number, I; Solar Cycle, 14; Roman Indiction, 9; Julian Period, 6594. FIXED AND MOVABLE FESTIVALS.-Epiphany, January 6th; Septuagesima Sunday, February 13th; Quinquagesima-Shrove Sunday, February 27th; Ash Wednesday, March 2nd; First Sunday in Lent, March 6th; St. Patrick's Day, March 17th; Palm Sunday, April 10th; Good Friday, April 15th; Easter Sunday, April 17th; Low Sunday, April 24th; Rogation Sunday, May 22nd; Ascension Day, May 26th; Pentecost-Whit Sunday, June 5th; Trinity Sunday, June 12th; Corpus Christi, June 16; St. John Baptiste, June 24th; St. Peter and St. Paul, June 29th; Michaelmas Day, September 29th; All Saint's Day, November 1st; First Sunday in Advent, November 27th; St. Andrew's Day, November 30th; St. Thomas's Day, December 21st; Christmas, December 25th. MORNING AND EVENING STARS. Mercury will be evening star about February 23rd, June 19th and October 15th; and morning star about April 7th, August 6th and November 24th. Venus, evening star till May 3rd; morning star for rest of year. Jupiter will be evening star till April 22nd; then morning star till November 13th; and evening star again for the rest of the year. In the year 1881 there will be four Eclipses, two of the Sun, and two of the Moon; and a Transit of Mercury across the Sun's disc. I. A Partial Eclipse of the Sun, May 27th. Visible to the northern part of North America and to Northern Asia. To the more Northern and Western of the Central States, it will appear as a slight Eclipse, beginning ordinarily a little before sun-set. II. A Total Eclipse of the Moon, June 11th-12th. Visible to North and South America, and to portions of Africa and Australia. III. An Annular Eclipse of the Sun, November 21st. Invisible. IV. A Partial Eclipse of the Moon, December 5th. Invisible. V. A Transit of Mercury over the Sun's disc, November 7th. Invisible east of a line drawn through Cleveland, Ohio, and Charleston, S. C. To the west of that line, it will be partly visible. Barometer, Why the Barometer shows two daily maxima Beaver, What is learnt from its actions Bees and Temperature Birds and weather in New York State 53 Boulders, Where they come from Calendar for January, 10; February, 12; March, 14; April, 16; Frontispiece. 49 48 55 64 38 18 6 26 22 6 68 43 20 58 5 72 36 71 44 85-96 9 II |