Chapter VII

MISTS. _If they rise in low Ground and soon vanish._ } Fair Weather.

THIS is a sure Sign and very well expressed, that is, clearly, and, in few Words, which is the Excellency of such Aphorisms. In order to be convinced of its good Sense and Certainty, we must consider a little what _Mists_ are, whence they rise, and what becomes of them.

MISTS are, strictly speaking, uncompacted Exhalations, which while they fleet near the Earth are styled _Mists_, but when they ascend into the Air, are called _Clouds_. If therefore, rising out of low Ground, they are driven along the Plain, and are soon lost to the Sight, it must arise from some of these Causes. That there is an Air abroad sufficient to divide and resolve them, or the Heat of the Sun has been strong enough to exhale them, that is, to rarify them, so as to render them lighter than the Air through which they were to pass. Whichever way this happens the Maxim remains unimpeached.