"How is it, father, that the almanac makers can predict changes in the
weather?"

"The almanac makers can only foresee one thing with absolute
certainty, and that is, that there are always fools to believe what
they say. A few meteorological phenomena may be predicted with
tolerable accuracy; but these are few in number, and range within very
narrow limits."

"Their predictions, nevertheless, sometimes turn out correct."

"Yes, when they predict by chance a hard frost on a particular day in
January, it is just possible the prediction may be verified; out of a
multitude of such prognostications a few may be successful, but the
greater part of them fail. Their few successes, however, have the
effect with weak minds of inspiring confidence, in defiance of the
failures which they do not take the trouble to observe."

"At what rate does the wind travel?"

"The speed of the wind is very variable; when it is scarcely felt, the
velocity does not exceed a foot a second; but it is far otherwise in
the cases of hurricanes and tornados, that sweep away trees and
houses.

"And sink his Majesty's ships," observed Willis.

"In those cases the wind sometimes reaches the velocity of forty-five
yards in a second, or about forty leagues in an hour."