Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 July 1895 — SIMPLE REASONS. [ARTICLE]

SIMPLE REASONS.

Bunches of dried sea weed, window cords, crackers, tobacco and similar fibrous substances indicate the approach of rain, because their fibers become soft by absorplng thi moisture of the air when the atmosphere is approaching the point of saturation. A flash of lightning is generally succeeded by a heavy fall of rain, because, It is supposed, the discharge of electricity destroys the vesleles of the mist and vapor In the air, the thin films are concentrated, unite with others and descend In the form of rain. The primrose Is yellow, because, as the scientists say, It alters the vibrations of white light from 87,640 in an inch to 44,000 In an inch, and the number in a second of time from 458,000,000,000,000 to 585,000,000,000,000, but nobody understands how or why. The vital principle is preserved in seeds and eggs, fruits and vegetables during cold weather because they have a heat of their own. The temperature of an egg or apple, down to the freezing point, is always several degrees above that of the surrounding air. The toy called the weather-coek Is made with a piece of catgut, because this material becomes longer or shorter as It absorbs of parts with moisture. When It shrinks, It turns a rod which sends the man out of the house; when It dries, the action Is reversed and the woman appears. RoQi often desert a house before it falls down, because It Is probable that the settling of the beams and stones causes noises that, Inaudible to human beings, are perfectly so, and very alarming besides, to the rodents. Rats have been known to desert mines shortly before earthquakes or cavings occur' r «d. ppofuftty for the same reason.