resemblance to drops of blood than this, and which yet was referrible to
a widely different origin. In the neighbourhood of Ashburton, in Devon,
a quarter of a mile or so from the town, there is a shallow horse-pond,
the bottom of which consists of an impalpable whitish mud, much indented
with hoof-holes and other irregularities. In these, the water being
dimly clear from settlement, I observed what looked exactly like blood,
in numerous patches, the appearance being as if two or three drops of
blood had fallen in one spot, half-a-dozen in another, and so on. The
colour was true, and even when I alighted, and looked carefully on the
spots, they had just that curdled appearance that drops of blood assume
when they fall into still water. But there appeared on minute
examination a constant intestine motion in each spot, which caused me to
bring my eye closer, when I discovered that I had been egregiously
deceived. Each apparent drop of blood was formed of a number of slender
worms, about as thick as a hog's bristle, and an inch and a half long,
of a red hue, which protruded the greater part of their length from the
mud, in a radiating form, each maintaining a constant undulatory
movement. There were more or fewer centres of radiation, the circles
frequently interrupted by, and merging into, others, just as drops of
blood crowded together would do. On the slightest disturbance the little
actors shrank out of sight into the soft mud; but by scooping up a
little of this I contrived to get a number of them into a phial, which,
as the sediment settled, were seen at the bottom playing as if in their
pond. On examination of the specimens with a microscope I found them to
be minute Annelids, such as I have described, apparently of the genus
_Lumbriculus_ of Grube, with two rows of bristle-pencils, and two
bristles in a pencil. The body was transparent and colourless, and the
red hue was given by the great and conspicuous longitudinal
blood-vessels, and by the lateral connecting vessels, which viewed
sidewise took the form of loops. The animals soon died in captivity, but
I kept some for three or four days alive.
I have elsewhere referred to the curious phenomenon of crimson snow, and
to the uncertainty which still hangs over its cause. I have lately met
with another explanation, which seems sufficiently guaranteed to be
depended on, though, as the red snow occurs in places where this cause
cannot operate, it only shews that similar results may be produced by
diverse agencies. A certain resemblance between the facts and those
adduced by M. Peiresc will warrant my quoting them. Mr Thomas Nicholson,
in a visit to Sowallik Point, in Prince Regent's Inlet, thus describes
what he saw:--"The summit of the hill forming the point is covered with
huge masses of granite, while the side, which forms a gentle declivity
towards the bay, was covered with crimson snow. It was evident, at first
view, that this colour was imparted to the snow by a substance lying on
the surface. This substance lay scattered here and there in small masses
bearing some resemblance to powdered cochineal, surrounded by a lighter
shade, which was produced by the colouring matter being partly dissolved
and diffused by the deliquescent snow. During this examination our hats
and upper garments were observed to be daubed with a substance of a
similar red colour; and a moment's reflection convinced us that this was
the excrement of the little Auk, myriads of which bird were continually
flying over our heads, having their nests among the loose masses of
granite. A ready explanation of the origin of the red snow was now
presented to us, and not a doubt remained in the mind of any of us that
this was the correct one. The snow on the mountains of higher elevation
than the nests of these birds was perfectly white; and a ravine at a
short distance, which was filled with snow from top to bottom, but which
afforded no hiding-place for these birds to form their nests, presented
an appearance uniformly white."[70]
After all, however, real _bona fide_ rain does sometimes descend, which,
if not blood-red, is at least red. "M. Giovanni Campani, Professor of
Chemistry at the University of Siena, has just published a letter,
addressed to Professor Matteucci, on a most singular phenomenon which
occurred at Siena in December last. On the 28th of that month, about
seven A.M., the inhabitants of the northwestern part of the city
witnessed with surprise the curious phenomenon of a copious fall of rain
of a reddish hue, which lasted two hours; a second shower of the same
colour occurred at eleven A.M., and a third at two P.M., but that of the
deepest red fell the first time. But what adds to the strangeness of the
occurrence is that it was entirely confined to that particular quarter
of the town, and so nicely was the line drawn that the cessation of the
red colour was ascertained in one direction to be at about two hundred
metres from the meteorological observatory, the pluviometer of which
received colourless rain at exactly the same time. The temperature
during the same interval varied between 8 deg. and 10 deg. Centigrade
(46 and 50 Fahrenheit). The wind blew from the S.W. at the beginning of
the phenomenon, and afterwards changed to W.S.W. None of the rural
population in the immediate vicinity of Siena remarked the occurrence,
so that most probably the rain that fell round the town was colourless.
The same phenomenon, strange to say, recurred in exactly the same
quarter of the town on the 31st of December, and again on the 1st of
January, the wind being W.N.W., and the temperature respectively 35 and
39.42 deg., Fahrenheit. Each time, however, the red colour diminished
in depth, its greatest strength having at no time exceeded that of weak
wine and water. A similar occurrence is recorded as having taken place
in 1819 at Blankenburg, when MM. Meyer and Stopp found the water to
contain a solution of chloride of cobalt. Professor Campani, who is now
engaged, in conjunction with his colleague, Professor Gabrielli, in
analyzing the red water collected, has ascertained that in this instance
it contains no chloride of cobalt, and, moreover, that the colour must
be owing to some solution, since the water has deposited no
sediment."[71]
The occasional occurrence of large masses of water stained of a vivid
red hue, and for the most part suddenly, and without any ostensible
cause, has not unreasonably been recorded as a prodigy, rivalling one of
the plagues of Egypt--the turning of the waters into blood.
"I remember," says Mr Latrobe, "the report reaching Neufchatel, through
the medium of the market-people passing from the one lake to the other,
(some time during the winter,) that the waters of the lake of Morat had
suddenly become the colour of blood, though I could meet with no one
whose testimony was sufficiently clear and unequivocal to establish the
fact. This, joined to my not having the leisure then to go and see for
myself, caused the matter to slip from my memory entirely, till I found
myself in the neighbourhood. Here the circumstance was fully confirmed
to me in a manner not to be questioned; and having since met with a
paper, written by M. de Candolle, of Geneva, on the subject, I shall
take what is there stated as my best guide in mentioning the facts as
they occurred:--
"It appears that this singular phenomenon began to excite the attention
of the inhabitants of Morat as early as November last year, and that it
continued more or less observable during the whole of the winter.
"Mr Trechsel, a gentleman resident at Morat, to whom M. de Candolle
applied, on hearing the report, for information and specimens of the
colouring matter, stated--That during the early hours of the day no
extraordinary appearance was observable in the lake; but that a little
later, long parallel lines of reddish matter were seen to extend along
the surface of the water, at some short distance from the banks. This,
being blown by the wind towards the more sheltered parts of the shore,
collected itself about the reeds and rushes, covering the surface of the
lake with a light foam; forming as it were different strata of various
colours, from greenish black, grey, yellow, and brown, to the most
delicious red. He adds, that this matter exhaled a pestiferous odour
during the day, but disappeared at the approach of night. It was further
observed, that during tempestuous weather it vanished altogether. Many
small fishes were seen to become intoxicated while swimming amongst it,
and after a few convulsive leaps, to lie motionless on the surface.
"The naturalists of Geneva decided, from the specimens sent, that it
was an animal substance, which, if not the _Oscillatoria subfusca_,[72]
was nearly allied to it.
"Soon after the beginning of May it disappeared entirely. It is not
known that this phenomenon has appeared before in the lake of Morat
within the memory of man. Tradition states the same to have happened the
year preceding the great battle."[73]
A few years ago, in one of my tanks of sea-water, there occurred a
phenomenon much like this. Patches of a rich crimson-purple colour
formed here and there on the surface, which rapidly grew on all sides
till they coalesced. If allowed to be a few days undisturbed, the entire
surface of the water became covered with a pellicle of the substance,
which spread also over the stones and shells of the bottom, and the
sides of the vessel. It could be lifted in impalpable laminae on sheets
of paper. I found it difficult to keep it within bounds, and impossible
to get quite rid of it, till, after some months, I lost it by the
accidental breaking of the vessel. Under the microscope, this proved an
_Oscillatoria_, which I could not identify with any of the described
species in Harvey's _Phytologia_: the filaments creeping and twining
with the peculiar vermicular movements of the genus.
Blood-like waters are sometimes produced by a rapid evolution of
infusorial animalcules. Of these the most effective are _Astasia
haematodes_, and _Euglena sanguinea_; both of them minute spindle-shaped
creatures of a pulpy substance, and sanguine hue. They are produced
occasionally in incalculable numbers, increasing with vast rapidity by
means of spontaneous division. Ehrenberg suggests that the miracle of
blood-change performed on the Nile and on all other collections of water
in Egypt by Moses (Exod. vii. 17-25) may have been effected by the
agency of these animalcules. Of course it would require Divine power as
much to educe uncounted millions of animalcules at the word of command,
as to form real blood, so that no escape from the presence of Deity
would be gained by admitting the supposition; but the words of the
inspired narrative seem to render it untenable.
To return to showers. "If it should rain cats and dogs,"--is a phrase
which is in many mouths; but probably no one has heard it transferred
from the subjunctive to the indicative mood. Why not, however, if it
rains snails, frogs, fishes, and feathers? That these animals and animal
products are really poured down from the atmosphere, I can adduce some
evidence; the value of which my readers may weigh when they have heard
the pleadings.
In that venerable newspaper, _Felix Farley's Journal_, for July 1821,
there was "an account of a wonderful quantity of snail-shells found in a
piece of land of several acres near Bristol, that common report says
fell in a shower." This shell-storm attracting much attention at the
time, Mr Wm. Baker, of Bridgewater, asked information from the Curator
of the Bristol Institution, who thus cleared up the mystery:--"The
periwinkles are indeed wonderful. They descended, forsooth, in a heavy
rain-like shower on the field of Mr Peach, as a due punishment for his
disrespect to the virtues of our late queen. The shower was so intense,
that the umbrella of an old lady passing by was broken to pieces, and
the fragments lifted in the air by the whirlwind, which picked up all
the periwinkles on the neighbouring hills, and dropped them three inches
thick on Mr Peach's field! But you know the story of 'The Three Black
Crows;' and thus the whole is reduced to no periwinkle rain, no
whirlwind; but turns out to be our old friend _Helix virgata_, making
its annual pilgrimage in search of a mate, and occurring one in almost
every square inch in the field in question."
Provincial newspapers seem to have a special power of reporting such
natural history facts, which rarely survive investigation. The _Stroud
Free Press_, for May 23, 1851, tells us that "an extraordinary scene was
witnessed at Bradford, about twelve miles from Bristol, on Saturday
week, when that village was visited by a heavy shower of snails. They
might have been gathered by bushels." Mr J. W. Douglas, the eminent
entomologist, immediately asked some pertinent questions anent the
shower; but whether it was that the witnesses were grieved at his
profanely comparing such prodigies to Professors Morison and Holloway's
cures, or whether they had no more definite intelligence to communicate,
_certes_ echo answered not.
We fear we must give up snails. But frogs! everybody knows that toads
and frogs fall from the sky. According to travellers in tropical
America, the inhabitants of Portobello assert that every drop of rain is
changed into a toad; the more instructed, however, believe that the
spawn of these animals is raised with the vapour from the adjoining
swamps, and being driven in the clouds over the city, the ova are
hatched as they descend in rain. 'Tis certain that the streets after a
night of heavy rain are almost covered with the ill-favoured reptiles,
and it is impossible to walk without crushing them.[74] But heretic
philosophers point to the mature growth of the vermin, many of them
being six inches in length, and maintain that the clever hypothesis just
mentioned will scarcely account for the appearance of these.
In the _Leeds Mercury_ for June 1844, there occurred the following
statement:--"In the course of the afternoon of Monday last, during the
prevalence of rather heavy rain, the good people of Selby were
astonished at a remarkable phenomenon. It was rendered forcibly
apparent, that, with the descent of the rain, there was a shower of
another description, viz. a shower of frogs. The truth of this was
rendered more manifest by the circumstance that several of the frogs
were caught in their descent by holding out hats for that purpose. They
were about the size of a horse-bean, and remarkably lively after their
aerial but wingless flight. The same phenomenon was observed in the
immediate neighbourhood."
The editor of the _Zoologist_ immediately asked for confirmation of the
stated facts, from resident persons of science; but notwithstanding the
circumstantiality of the account, and especially the reported actual
capture of the little sprawlers in hats, no one replied to the demand,
and we are compelled to conclude that the report would not bear critical
investigation.
Yet incredulity may be pushed too far even here. For, in the continental
journals many more such statements occur than in those of this country,
and some of them vouched by apparently indisputable authority. If my
readers will refer to _L'Institut._ tom. ii. (1834) pp. 337, 346, 347,
353, 354, 386, 409; tom. iv. (1836) pp. 221, 314, 325; tom. vi. (1838)
p. 212, they will find mention made of this phenomenon,--showers of
toads. In two or three of these cases, the toads were not only observed
in countless numbers on the ground, during, and after, heavy storms of
rain, but were seen to strike upon the roofs of houses, bounding thence
into the streets; they even fell upon the hats, umbrellas, and clothes
of the observers, who were out in the storm, and, in one instance, were
actually received into the outstretched hand.[75]
Much more recently, namely, early in 1859, the newspapers of South Wales
recorded a shower of fish in the Valley of Aberdare. The repeated
statements attracted more notice than usual, and the Rev. John Griffith,
the vicar of the parish, communicated the following results of his
inquiries to the _Evening Mail_:--
"Many of your readers might, perhaps, like to see the facts connected
with this phenomenon. They will be better understood in the words of the
principal witness, as taken down by me on the spot where it happened.
This man's name is John Lewis, a sawyer in Messrs Nixon and Co.'s yard.
His evidence is as follows:--'On Wednesday, February 9, I was getting
out a piece of timber for the purpose of setting it for the saw, when I
was startled by something falling all over me--down my neck, on my head,
and on my back. On putting my hand down my neck I was surprised to find
they were little fish. By this time I saw the whole ground covered with
them. I took off my hat, the brim of which was full of them. They were
jumping all about. They covered the ground in a long strip of about
eighty yards by twelve, as we measured afterwards. That shed (pointing
to a very large workshop) was covered with them, and the shoots were
quite full of them. My mates and I might have gathered bucketfuls of
them, scraping with our hands. We did gather a great many, about a
bucketful, and threw them into the rain-pool, where some of them now
are. There were two showers, with an interval of about ten minutes, and
each shower lasted about two minutes or thereabouts. The time was eleven
A.M. The morning up-train to Aberdare was just then passing. It was not
blowing very hard, but uncommon wet, just about the same wind as there
is to-day (blowing rather stiff), and it came from this quarter
(pointing to the S. of W.). They came down with the rain in "a body,
like."' Such is the evidence. I have taken it for the purpose of being
laid before Professor Owen, to whom, also, I shall send to-morrow, at
the request of a friend of his, eighteen or twenty of the little fish.
Three of them are large and very stout, measuring about four inches. The
rest are small. There were some--but they are since dead--fully five
inches long. They are very lively.--Your obedient servant,
"JOHN GRIFFITH,
"Vicar of Aberdare and Rural Dean.
"VICARAGE, ABERDARE, _March 8_."
The specimens which were forwarded to Professor Owen were exhibited in a
tank at the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park: they consisted of
minnows (_Leuciscus phoxinus_) and Smooth-tailed sticklebacks
(_Gasterosteus leiurus_.) A _savant_ thus endeavoured to "enlighten" the
uninitiated on the matter:--"On reading the evidence it appears to me
most probably only a practical joke of the mates of John Lewis, who seem
to have thrown a pailful of water with the fish in it over him, and he
appears to have returned them to the pool from which they were
originally taken. The fish forwarded are very unlike those taken up in
whirlwinds in tropical countries, and we must make allowance for
unintentional exaggerations of quantity, &c., in an account given a
month after the event had occurred."
This "appears to me" a beautiful example of critical acumen. My readers
will do well to look at it for a moment; as they may thus learn how to
sift the grain of truth out of the bushel of chaff. _Reverenter
procedamus!_
The main (is it not the only?) objection to the honest sawyer's
statement is that "the fish are very unlike those taken up in whirlwinds
in tropical countries." That is, that, seeing the phenomenon occurs in
Great Britain, it is most unfortunate that the fishes are British
species. Now, in India, when such things occur, it is always _Indian_
species that are taken up; _ergo_, it ought to be Indian species _here_.
But these are "very unlike" the Indian fishes; _ergo_, it is manifestly
a humbug.
Then, does it not strike one as palpably probable, when once one's dull
intellect has been "enlightened" by the brilliant suggestion,--that the
worthy sawyer who had a pail of water soused upon him, thought it was a
heavy shower of rain? _Very_ heavy, no doubt; indeed he says it was
"uncommon wet." To be sure, he thought there were _two_ showers, each
lasting about two minutes, with an interval of ten minutes between them;
but this little error might be easily made, for doubtless a bucket of
water poured on one's head might well be equivalent to two showers of
rain, or even ten, for that matter. To be sure, moreover, there was a
considerable quantity of fish:--"The whole ground was covered with them:
they were jumping all about: they covered the ground in a long strip of
about eighty yards by twelve, _as we measured_ afterwards: the shed was
covered with them, and the shoots were quite full of them.... My mates
and I might have gathered bucketfuls of them: we did gather about a
bucketful." Yes, yes: but all were originally in the pail of water
thrown over you, John. How stupid you were, not to perceive _that_! How
there was room for any water at all in the pail, seeing there were so
many fish, you say you don't know; but that is your stupidity, John!
There _must_ have been room for water, for it was "uncommon wet;" and
the water was in the pail, for the Doctor says so. Uncommon fishy, too,
I should think; but let that pass. Where the mates collected the pail of
live fishes for their pleasant and profitable hoax, and how, and
when,--the sceptic might wonderingly ask; but a hoax it was. _Ipse
dixit._
However, the verdict did not obtain universal assent; and an excellent
and well-known naturalist, Mr Robert Drave, residing in the vicinity,
ventured modestly to indicate a dissent. "I think actual fact will
excuse the otherwise apparently unbecoming assumption in me, of opposing
such high authority by a contrary opinion, for from information
_obtained from many sources, and very careful and minute_ inquiry, I am
quite convinced that a great number of fish did actually descend with
rain _over a considerable tract of country_. The specimens I obtained
_from three individuals_, resident some distance from each other, were
of two species, the common minnow and the three-spined stickleback; the
former most abundant, and mostly very small, though some had attained
their full size."[76]
If now we look to other lands, we shall find that the descent of fishes
from the atmosphere, under conditions little understood, is a phenomenon
which rests on indubitable evidence. Humboldt has published interesting
details of the ejection of fish in large quantities from volcanoes in
South America. On the night between the 19th and 20th of June, 1698, the
summit of Carguairazo, a volcano more than 19,000 feet in height, fell
in, and all the surrounding country for nearly thirty-two square miles
was covered with mud and fishes. A similar eruption of fish from the
volcano of Imbaburu was supposed to have been the cause of a putrid
fever which raged in the town of Ibarra seven years before that period.
These facts are not inexplicable. Subterraneous lakes, communicating
with surface-waters, form in deep cavities in the declivities, or at the
base of a volcano. In certain active stages of ignition, these internal
cavities are burst open, and their contents discharged through the
crater. Humboldt ascertained that the fishes in question belonged to a
curious and ill-favoured species of the _Siluridae_,--the _Pimelodes
Cyclopum_.