Easy And Curious Methods Of Foretelling Rainy Or Fine Weather
If a line be made of good whipcord, that is well dried, and a plummet
affixed to the end of it, and then hung against a wainscot, and a line
drawn under it, exactly where the plummet reaches, in very moderate
weather it will be found to rise above it before rain, and to sink
below when the weather is likely to become fair. But the best
instrument of all, is a good pair of scales, in one of which let there
be a brass weight of a pound, and in the other a pound of salt, or of
saltpetre, well dried; a stand being placed under the scale, so as to
hinder it falling too low. When it is inclined to rain, the salt will
swell, and sink the scale: when the weather is growing fair, the brass
weight will regain its ascendancy.