by their Recess may occasion a Change of Texture in the Body especially in regard of the Pores whose Bigness Figure and perhaps Position being alter'd the Body by this Change of Texture acquires a Disposition to act and be acted on in several Cases otherwise than formerly Sometimes when the Weather began to be overcast the Hygroscope did not sensibly appear to grow heavier and sometimes it would preponderate when I took notice of no Vapours to make it do so and though these things happen'd but seldom in respect of the ordinary Changes of the Hygroscope according to those of the Weather yet they made me suspect that sometimes the Clouds may consist of other Steams than Aqueous or that there may be some Exhalations that may have a peculiar Congruity with the Pores of the Hygroscope and whose Nature may be such as to the Power of drying the Hygroscope that upon these or some other yet unheeded Accounts the Steams that are sometimes diffused in the Air may controul the usual and regular Causes of increasing or lessening the Gravity of the Hygroscope And this Suspicion was the stronger because having made Hygroscopes with Powder and Salt and also with the Saw-dust of Wainscot hung at nice Scales in very thin open Glasses purposely blown for Lightness sake at the Flame of a Lamp though they usually acquired and lost Weight as the Weather grew moister or drier yet sometimes they did not At half of an Hour after nine a Clock at Night I look'd upon the Half Hundred Weight that hung at the bottom of the Rope the Weather being then fair and a Mark being put at that part of the erected Board where the bottom of the Weight touch'd I perceiv'd the Sky a while after to grow cloudy and overcast but without Rain wherefore going to visit the Weight again I found it to be risen ¼ of an Inch or more and looking on my Watch perceiv'd there had pass'd an Hour and a Quarter since the Mark was made This Morning I came again to look upon the Weight between eight and nine of the Clock and found it raised above the newly mentioned Mark made last Night about one Inch for 't was about 9 10 of an Inch. This Day the Weather being fair and windy the Weight was fallen by ten at Night about six Inches beneath its Station at which I found it when I look'd on it in the Morning Being not well yester-night the Weight was observ'd at Bed-time by two of my Servants and it then rested at the 11th of the erected Bound This Morning about eight of the Clock I visited it my self and found it to be risen about ⅛ of an Inch above the eighth Inch the Morning being cloudy though the Morning very dry and dusty The Weather growing more overcast within somewhat less than an Hour after I visited the Weight again some scatter'd Drops of Rain then beginning to fall and found it to be risen about half an Inch above the newly mention'd eighth Mark. I look'd when I was ready to go to Bed upon the suspended Weight of 56 Pound and mark'd how low it reach'd upon the divided Board and a great part of the Night having been rainy I look'd again when I was dress'd in the Morning which was about half an Hour after eight a Clock and I found the Cord so shrunk that the Weight was raised above five Inches higher than I left it the Night before but the Day recovering dry and windy and sometimes warm the Rope was so stretch'd that at Night the Weight sunk a good way beneath all the Marks N. B. The Rope near the Weight was in Diameter ◠of an Inch and four decimal Parts of a tenth We took a Rope of near three Foot and an half in length from the Point of Appension and somewhat less than ◠Inch in Diameter this we suffer'd to be stretch'd for some Days by a Weight of Lead with an Iron Ring or Ansula weighing a Quarter of an Hundred according to the great Hundred which is five score and twelve and then placing a flat Board under it so that the Weight just rested upon it we had the Rope well wetted over them with a Spunge dip'd in Water and so often applied to it that the Liquor might be thorowly soak'd into the Pores of the Rope which at first seem'd thereby a little stretch'd rather than shorten'd but after an Hour or two it began to shrink so that we could make the Weight swinge like a Pendulum over the Piece of Board it lean'd upon before But afterwards the same Day the Weight stretch'd out the Rope again as much as formerly 'T is observable that though Morocco be an Inland-Town and the Soil of those Parts be usually dry if not parched yet Doctor D. who was lately there informed me that about Morocco notwithstanding the violent Heats he felt in the Day-time he observed the Nocturnal Air to be very damp so as to make the Clothes he put off at Night exceeding moist and unfit to be worn without airing the next Morning He added That though the Air was very piercing and manifested it self to be so by many other Signs yet it would not make his Knife rust in his Pocket or his Sword in the Scabbard though it would quickly produce a Rust in Instruments of that Metal exposed naked to it Air too moist cannot be wholesome The Air in our Parts viz. about Oakly in Buckingham-shire though a high Country is as I said before between Michaelmas and Alhallontide very moist especially in rainy Weather and upon a Thaw insomuch that Wainscots Stair-cases and Pictures will stand all of a Water and after run down in great Drops and at Brill upon that high Hill 't is in divers Houses worse than in the Valley insomuch that the Stair-cases especially if laid in Oil will run down with Water the North and North-East side of our Houses are observed to be moister insomuch that the Furniture will rot if Fires be not made sometimes in the Rooms and the things aired This is observ'd to be the most aguish Season of the Year Mr. J. T. As in another Experiment wetried whether or no the Removal of the Air out of the Receiver would much alter the Temperature of the included Medium or Space as to Heat and Cold so we indeavour'd to discover whether the Alteration would be notable as to Driness and Moisture To this purpose we did indeed wish for such a Hygroscope or Instrument wherewith to measure the Moisture and Driness of the Air as we used many Years ago and since found well described by the industrious Kircher in a Place of his Ars magnetica to which I therefore refer your Lordship But in regard that to this Instrument there is requisite the Beard of a wild Oat seasonably gather'd which we could not then procure we recall'd to Mind another Hygroscope which though it discover not such small Mutations as the former we thought
        10 21 16 ․    E   June         9 22 22 ․    E  Rain 10 9 21 ․      Cloudy 12 9 23 ․      Fair. 13 22 22Ë™      Rain 14 9 24Ë™      Close 17 9 26Ë™       18 9 26Ë™      Close 20 9 22Ë™      Fair. 21 9 24 ․      Fair. 2 6 23Ë™      Fair. 27 10 26Ë™       28 9 25Ë™      Rain 1673 July Memorand That from the Beginning of May till the middle of July there was scarce one dry Day but so great Rains that produced greater Flouds than were known in the Memory of Man d h T. 2 Bar. Hy. Wind. Weather 2 9 25Ë™       8 10 26 ․       10 8 25 ․      Fair. 14 17 31Ë™      Fair. 25 22 35Ë™       28 12 33Ë™      Close 30 9 24Ë™      Fair. 1674 March         9 8 1    N E  Frost and Snow 19 6 5Ë™      Snow 20 10 5·    N E  Snow all Day December         25 15 11 ․      Fair. 27 16 11 ․    W  Fair. 28 15 14Ë™    W  Close 1675 January         3 16 14 ․    W  Fair. April         25 9 12 ․    N E  Fair. 26 10 12 ․    N  Fair. 27 12 12Ë™    E  Fair. 28 9 12 ․    E  Close 1675 May         2 9 16 ․      Close 23 15 27 ․      Cloudy June         8 22 21 ․      Cloudy 9 13 21Ë™      Close 10 14 22 ․      Close 13 10 22Ë™    E  Close 14 9 17 ․      Fair. 1681 March The Thermometer marked 3 is one which I began now to use at my Return to Oxford d h T. 3 Bar. Hy. Wind. Weather 14 14 46 29 4 ․  W  A little Mist 15 8 36 29 6  N W  Fair. 16 12 45 29 5Ë™  N W 2 Little Rain 17 7 37 29 7Ë™  E  Fog 18 8 33 29 7Ë™  E  Fair. 23 11 34 28 8Ë™  N W  Close 24 12 32 29 2Ë™  N  Cloudy 25 18 33 28 7Ë™  N W  Cloudy 26 15 32  8 ․  N  Cloudy 27 13 28 29 2·  N  Fair Snow this Morning  14  29 2middot  N  Snow hard 28 11 29  5 ․  N  Cloudy 30 7 34  5Ë™  W  Close All the foregoing Week it rained in Showers every Day April         6 18 49  4Ë™  S  Very fair 7 9 45  5Ë™  S  Very fair  17 55  4Ë™  S W  Very fair 9 8 50  3 ․  S W  Close  14 50  2Ë™  S W  Rain 10 11 44  3Ë™  W 2 Clouds and a little Shower this Morning 11 17 46  5Ë™  S W 2 Fair ever since Yesterday 12 15 51  2·  S 3 Fair since 13 14 49  3Ë™  W 2 Fair since 14 13 45  3Ë™  S W 3 Fair since 15 17 54  3Ë™  E N 3 Close all Day 16 8 45  3·  E N 1 Misty  17 52  2·  E N 1 A little Shower between 4 and 5 17 6 49  2·  N E 1 Thick Fog Showers between 6 and 7 last Night 18 7 46  2·  S W 2 Fair and Clouds since May         3 14 50 29 4 ․  N E 2 Close no Rain since 18 April but very hot and fair Weather till Yesterday the Wind for the most part between N and E. 4 10 44  4·  N E 1 Close since 5 8 37  4·  N E 1 Clouds 6 8 37  2Ë™  E N 1 Fair Clouds Yesterday  19 46 29   W 1 Cloudy 7 7 41 28 8Ë™  W N 2 Clouds  11 43  8·  W 1 Rain  16 47  7Ë™  W 1 Close 8 9 41 29   N E 1 Cloudy since 9 9 42  2Ë™  E N 1 Fair. 10 4 47  3·  N 1 Fair since 11 9 48  3·  S E 1 Fair since  15 61  2·  S W 1 Fair since 16 11 54  6Ë™  S W 1 Fair a little Shower or two since  18 65  5Ë™  W 1 Fair since 17 8 55  6Ë™  W N 1 Fair since 19 17 70  2Ë™  N E 1 Fair since 20 6 64  3·  N E 2 Cloudy no Rain from hence till June 20 the driest Spring that hath been known there having been no Rain from the End of March to the End of June August         2 6 65  3Ë™ 7 N W 1 Fair. 3 11 60  3Ë™ 8 N 1 Fair. 4 9 62  3· 9 W 1 Fair. 5 9 62  3· 8 E 1 Fair. 6 15 71  1·  S 1 Fair. 7 9 68  2 ․ 9 S 1 Fair.  15 72 28 8Ë™ 8 S W 2 Cloudy 8 8 68  7Ë™ 9 S 2 Close  11 69  7Ë™ 9 S 2 Rain a little 9 9 64  8Ë™ 10 S W 1 Close  17 66  7Ë™ 10 S 1 Rain a hard Shower 10 6 62  7Ë™ 11 S W 2 Close 11 9 62 29 1· 11 S W 1 Close 12 8 66  2 ․ 17 S W 1 Mist 13 9 69 28 8Ë™ 18 S 1 Rain  14 72  7Ë™ 17 SW 1 Fair Clouds 14 8 67  8 ․ 17 S 1 Fair.  16 72  6 ․ 16 SE 1 Thunder Shower 16 9 69 29 2 ․ 17 SW 1 Rain for â…› Hour and then fair 17 6 69  2 ․ 16    18 4 67  3Ë™ 16  Â
 1682 February         10 12 25 29 5˙  EN 1 Close Frost 11 10 24 29 6˙  NE 1 Fair Ice 12 15 27 29 7 ․  NE  Very fair 13 11 24 29 7˙ 61 NE 1 Thick Fog 14 8 23 29 6˙ 63 NE 1 Fair. 15 8 29 29 5˙ 65 EN 1 Close 17 8 31 29 0 72 S 2 Cloudy and some Rain 20 17 42 28 7˙ 75 SE 2 Rain 21 8 44 28 6˙ 75 S 2 Rainy 22 9 42 28 7 ․ 77 S 2 Close 24 10 41 29 2 ․ 74 SE 1 Close 25 15 39 28 7˙ 75 NE 1 Rain ever since Yesterday in the Afternoon 26 10 38 29 1˙ 74 N 1 Close 27 7 37 29 3˙ 75 NW 1 Close 28 10 39 29 4· 73 W 1 Close 1682 March         d h T. 3 Bar. Hy. Wind. Weather 1 9 42 29 3· 74   Fog 5 16 30 29 1 ․ 67 S 1 Very fair hard Frost in the Morning 6 10 28 29 2 ․ 67 NE 1 Fair. 7 11 25 29 2· 65 N 2 Very fair 22 13 29 29 2 ․ 57 N 3 Cloudy and a little Snow 23 8 25 29 4˙ 56 N 2 Close Frost 24 7 29 29 4 ․ 57 W 1 Close 25 9 36 29 2 ․ 59 N 2 Clouds 26 8 31 29 4˙ 56 N 1 Close 27 8 34 29 4 ․ 57 W 2 Fair.  13 39 29 3 ․ 59 WN 1 A Shower 28 7 35 29 4 ․ 56 NW 1 Fair. 29 7 30 29 5˙ 50 N  Clouds 30 8 30 29 5· 48 NE 2 Fair.  11 31 29 5˙ 47 NE 3 Snow 31 8 30 29 6 ․ 48 NE 2 Fair. April         1 8 30 29 6 ․ 49 NE 2 Close 2 9 33 29 6 ․ 50 NE 1 Close  19 36 29 6 ․ 51 NE 1 Small Mist 3 7 34 29 6 ․ 51 NE 1 Small Mist 4 9 34 29 6 ․ 50 NE 1 Close 5 7 34 29 5 50 NE 1 Fog and Sun-shine 6 9 39 29 4 ․ 49 N 1 Fair. 7 9 39 29 5 ․ 48 N 1 Fair. 8 8 39 29 5˙ 44 NE 1 Fog and Sun-shine  11 43 29 5˙ 44 SE 2 Fair. 9 7 40 29 3 ․ 40 SE 2 Thick Fog  14 41 29 1· 41 S 2 Rain  20 43 28 7 44 S 2 Rain till past 6 now fair 10 7 43 28 6˙ 47 SW 2 Close Rain in Showers most part of the Day 11 8 43 28 6 ․ 49 SW 2 Close Rain in Showers most part of the Day 12 7 41 28 5 ․ 48 SW 1 Close Shower about Noon  16 44 28 6˙ 47 WN 1 Fair. 13 6 37 28 8· 47 SE 1 Fair.  17 44 28 5˙ 47  2 Rain 14 7 42 28 2˙ 48 SE 2 Rain all the Morning till past 12  14 45 28 5· 50 W 3 Rain more or less almost all the Afternoon 15 6 40 29 1· 50 SW 2 Fair. 16 7 43 29 1˙ 48   Fair hard Shower about 18 17 7 47 28 8· 49 SE 1 Close Showers several times in the Day 18 7 43 28 7˙ 50 SE 1 Rain the greatest part of the Day 19 6 44 28 7 ․ 52 S 2 Close Rain a great part of the Day 20 6 44 28 6 ․ 51 SE 1 Rain and so in Showers several times of the Day 21 4 45 28 6˙ 51 S 1 Cloudy Rain most part of the Morning 22 8 47 28 7 ․ 51 S 1 Rain  17 51 28 8˙ 52 N 1 Rain most part of the Afternoon 23 7 46 29 2˙ 52 N 1 Close  13 49 29 3· 52 S 1 Close Rain almost all the Afternoon  22 49 29 3˙ 52 N about 18 Hard Rain 24 6 46 29 4 ․ 52 E 1 Close hard Rain at Night 25 7 47 29 1˙ 52 ES 1 Close some Rain  14 42 28 8˙ 53 SE 1 Dropping  22 54 28 7 ․ 54  3 Hard Rain from 18 26 7 52 28 6 ․ 54 S 2 Cloudy Rain often in the Day 27 5 52 28 8 ․ 55 SW 1 Close a good deal of Rain before Night 28 18 51 28 ˙ 55 SW 1 Close Rain a good part of the Morning and some in the Afternoon 29 8 47 29 1 ․ 55 SW 1 Cloudy a little Rain in the Afternoon 30 5 47 28 8˙ 55 SW 1 Fair.  18 46 28 6 ․ 55 NE 1 Hard Rain which began about 11 and lasted till 21 or 22 1682 May         d h T. 3 Bar. Hy. Wind. Weather 1 4 42 28 8 ․ 55 NW 2 Cloudy  21 47 29 2 ․ 54 NW 1 Fair. 2 8 43 29 2· 54 SW 1 Cloudy hard Rain from 19 or 20 all Night 3 6 49 28 7˙ 54 SW 2 Clouds Wind W. all the Afternoon but fair bating a little Rain in the Evening 4 5 52 28 7 ․ 54 SE 1 Rain hard till 13  13 54 28 7˙ 54 N 1 Rain hard till Night Memorand That new fitting my Barometer here the Mercury was raised by Addition of more in the Receiver about 2 10 Inch which is almost 2 of my Degrees which are Eights though I suspect it is still by reason of included Air a Degree or two too low          22 53 29 2˙ 54   Small Rain 5 8 48 29 3 ․ 54 E 1 Rain  20 51 29 3· 55 E 1 Close Rain most part of the Morning and 2 or 3 Showers in the Afternoon 6 7 48 29 3· 55 NE 1 Mist 7 8 46 29 4· 55 E 2 Rain a great part of the Day 8 4 53 29 2 ․ 56 SW 2 Hard Rain till 7 or 8 9 10 54 29 1˙ 55 E 1 Close  14 55 29 1· 55 SW 1 Rain 10 9 50 29 2˙ 54 S 1 Cloudy a little Rain about 17 and again about 22 11 6 49 29 2˙ 54 SW 1 Close 11 9 50 29 2˙ 55 SW 1 Short Shower several short Showers in the Afternoon 12 6 49 29 3 ․ 54 SW 1 Close a Shower in the Morning 13 4 51 29 2· 53 E 1 Close several Showers in the Day 14 9 53 29 4· 54 SW 2 Clouds 15 7 51 29 4˙ 51 S 1 Fair. 16 8 61 29 2 ․ 48 SE 1 Fair hard Shower about 18 17 5 60 29 3· 48 SW 2 Close 18 7 57 29 5· 47 W 1 Fair. 19 8 58 29 5 ․ 45 WS 1 Fair. 20 5 63 29 3· 43 SE 1 Fair.  16 69 29 3· 43 WS 1 Very fair 21 8 59 29 3˙ 44 S 1 Fair. 22 9 69 29 1˙ 42 SE 1 Fair.  17 47 29 1 ․ 38 SW 2 Fair. 23 7 64 29 2˙ 38 W 1 Fair gentle Rain from 8 to 11  10 63 29 2˙ 38 W 1 Rain 24 7 62 29