A Leech Barometer.
Very few books of pastimes are lacking in elaborate descriptions for making so-called "infallible" barometers. Now here is a barometer, not absolutely infallible, however, of an exceedingly simple kind, though, like the aforementioned, you may purchase your outfit entire at the apothecary's—unless, luckily, you are a rural member. Here are the directions:
Buy or catch a leech. Confine it in a jar three-quarters full of rain-water, which must be changed regularly twice a week. Place the jar on a window-frame, facing the north.
Weather indications. Fair and Frosty.—The leech lies motionless, rolled up in a spiral form, at the bottom of the glass. Rain or Snow.—The leech creeps up to the top of the glass. If the rain will be heavy and of long duration, it remains a considerable time. If trifling, it quickly descends. If the rain or snow is accompanied by wind, it darts about quickly, and does not cease until there is a hard blow. Storm of Thunder or Lightning.—The leech is exceedingly agitated, and expresses its feelings in violent, convulsive starts.
Vincent V. M. Beede.