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.