. New China and old : personal recollections and observations of thirty years. day, broken only by occasional hot, steamy,and oppressive intervals. The fair outline of the hillsis blotted out, and everything indoors is covered withdamp and mildew and clamminess. Yet it is a most useful trouble of the rain. Some years ago in Mayand June the skies gave no water, and the me-tien, or mildew weather as the rainy season is called, was outof course. The vast stretches of rice-ground, recentlydotted over with the tender plants from the seed-beds,now looked hard as iron. The canals were dry ; relaysof
. New China and old : personal recollections and observations of thirty years. day, broken only by occasional hot, steamy,and oppressive intervals. The fair outline of the hillsis blotted out, and everything indoors is covered withdamp and mildew and clamminess. Yet it is a most useful trouble of the rain. Some years ago in Mayand June the skies gave no water, and the me-tien, or mildew weather as the rainy season is called, was outof course. The vast stretches of rice-ground, recentlydotted over with the tender plants from the seed-beds,now looked hard as iron. The canals were dry ; relaysof men were working night and day digging for water inthe damp central channels of the streams—and almostin vain. The rice-plants were sickening fast, and wereturning yellow with drooping blades. Famine or gravedisaster stared the poor people in the face, when theweather changed just in time with thunder-showers, andthen a steady downpour; and I have never since thosecritical days murmured at the troublesome rain. Chinesehusbandmen forecast the excellence of their rice crops. Thunder-storms. 113 partly by the amount of thunder-showers, which theyrightly consider to be more nutritious than ordinary rain. He maketh lightnings for the rain (Psalm cxxxv. 7). To be in attendance on the rain, writes Dr. Kay,commenting on this verse ; one of the most strikingarrangements in the great laboratory of Nature. Thefall of rain is owing to an alteration in the electricaltension of the vapour-drops. It is ascertained that therain from a thunder-cloud is more fertilizing, becausericher in ammonia than other rain. It is thought thatthis ammonia is due to the action of the electric currentin combining the nitrogen of the atmosphere with aportion of the hydrogen of the vapour. ^ With the return of the inundation of the fields, thewhole face of the country is changed. The expanse ofthe plain looks for a while like a great lake ; and theeffect of a thunder-storm at night breaking over the rice-field
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