RAIN-MAKING. 489 



Probably the distinction between a scientist and a crank could 

 not be shown more clearly than in a comparison of the methods 

 of Aitken and Von Helmholtz with the methods of Powers. The 

 former spent years working in private and at their own expense 

 to find if possible some explanation of the mystery of condensa- 

 tion. The other wished an appropriation of one hundred and 

 sixty thousand dollars from the Government in order to test his 

 visionary hypothesis. 



RuGGLES. In 1880 Daniel Ruggles, of Fredericksburg, Ya,., 

 patented a process for producing rain. The invention, as de- 

 scribed by Mr. Ruggles, consists of " a balloon carrying torpedoes 

 and cartridges charged with such explosives as nitroglycerin, 

 dynamite, gun cotton, gunpowder, or fulminates, and connecting 

 the balloon with an electrical apparatus for exploding the car- 

 tridges." 



This is another scheme for lowering the temperature of the air 

 by heating it. 



Dyrenforth. It is probable that the name of Mr. Dyrenforth 

 is better known in connection with attempts at artificial rain- 

 making than that of any other man. As a result of the agitation 

 of Mr. Powers, Congress voted two thousand dollars to make a 

 preliminary test, and the inquiry fell to the scientists connected 

 with the Department of Agriculture. They reported that there 

 was no foundation for the opinion that days of battle were fol- 

 lowed by rain any more than days of no battle. It was then that 

 Mr. Dyrenforth came forward with Ruggles's plans and offered 

 to make some tests. Through the influence of Senator Farwell, 

 an additional appropriation of seven thousand dollars was placed 

 at his disposal for a series of j^ractical tests, which were made at 

 Midland, Texas, in August, 1891. A further Government appro- 

 priation was expended in tests at San Antonio, Texas, in Novem- 

 ber, 1892. 



Mr. Dyrenforth's plan seems to have been to imitate as nearly 

 as possible the conditions of a battle. His explosives were ranged 

 in a line facing the advancing clouds. Shells were fired into the 

 air at frequent intervals. Dr. Macfarlane states that the " gen- 

 eral " and his lieutenant even wore cavalry boots. 



In addition to these warlike demonstrations, cheap balloons 

 containing hydrogen and oxygen mixed in the proper proportions 

 for forming water were sent up, and the gases were exploded by 

 means of a time fuse attached to the balloon. 



At the time of making the San Antonio tests, November 25, 

 1892, the record of the weather office in San Antonio at 8 p. m. 

 gave the temperature of the air at 72 F. and the temperature 

 of the dew point as 61 F. Dr. Macfarlane makes the following 

 calculations upon a cubic mile of the air under the above con- 



