1422. That the new moon will bring with it a change of weather is in the doctrine of chances as 6 to 1. Each situation of the moon alters that state of the atmosphere which has been occasioned by the preceding one; and it seldom happens that any change in the weather takes place without a change in the lunar situations. These situations are combined on account of the inequality of their revolutions, and the greatest effect is produced by the union of the syzigies, or the conjunction and opposition of a planet with the sun, with the apsides, or points in the orbits of planets, in which they are at the greatest and least distance from the sun or earth. The proportions of their powers to produce variations are as follow: - New moon coinciding with the perigee, 33 to 1. Ditto, with the apogee, 7 to 1. Full moon coinciding with the perigee, 10 to 1. Ditto, with the apogee, 8 to 1. The combination of these situations generally occasions storms and tempests: and this perturbing power will always have the greater effect, the nearer these combined situations are to the moon's passage over the equator, particularly in the months of March and September. At the new and full moons, in the months of March and September, and even at the solstices, especially the winter solstice, the atmosphere assumes a certain character, by which it is distinguished for three and sometimes six months. The new moons which produce no change in the weather are those that happen at a distance from the apsides. As it is perfectly true that each situation of the moon alters that state of the atmosphere which has been produced by another, it is also observed, that many situations of the moon are favourable to good and others to bad weather.
