GOOSE-BONES AND PROPHECIES.
The goose-bone predictions are perhaps more closely watched in Kentucky than anywhere else, and it may be called the Kentucky weather prophet.
We must take the breastbone of a last spring’s goose—none other will do, for the prophecy does not extend beyond the year in which the goose is hatched. It must be divided into three different parts, which represent the three divisions of winter.
The breastbone of a goose is translucent, but at places has cloudlike blots upon it. These blots denote cold weather, and the prophecy is made according to their density and position.
ORIGIN OF COLD WAVES OF AIR.
Dr. Klein, in reference to the use of daily weather reports, states that in Europe, as in America, in all cases, the reports of the weather westward of a given station are of the greatest importance, while reports from stations to the east are, on the average, of minor importance in making weather predictions.
A southerly wind in the region of Ireland, Scotland, or Norway indicates the approaching side of an area of low barometer. It is therefore a sign of a coming change in the weather.
A northerly wind in those regions indicates, for Germany, that the pressure of the air from the ocean is high, and can be considered as a sign of steady pleasant weather.
The region of high barometer is generally separated from oceans and from equatorial regions by lofty chains of mountains. The coldest and densest stratum of air can therefore not flow away toward the sea.
The area of greatest cold on this continent is not prevented by any range of mountains from extending southward and eastward, but is only hemmed in on the west by the Rocky Mountains. Thus while the Pacific Coast is protected from an overflow of very cold air, the whole eastern portion of America becomes peculiarly subject to it.