264 WEATHER MAKING, ANCIENT AND MODERN. 



In his life of Marius, referring to tlie battle with the Teutons near Aix, 

 in July, 102 B. C, Plutarch says: "Extraordinary rains pretty gen- 

 erally fall after great battles; whether it be that some divine power 

 thus washes and cleanses the polluted earth with showers from above? 

 or that moist and heavy evaporations steaming forth from the blood 

 and corruption thicken the air, which naturally is subject to alteration 

 from tbe smallest causes." ^ Here are two distinct suggestions for rain 

 making, but not that of concussion. 



The first elaborate treatment of the concussion theory appears to 

 have been by Edward Powers, civil engineer, who published in 1890 a 

 book on the relations of battles to rainfall. The first edition was 

 printed in Chicago in 1871, but most of the edition was destroyed by 

 the great fire in tliat city, which also destroyed the stereotype plates. 

 The latest issue seen by me contains an inset of 15 pages devoted to 

 a criticism of Professor lifewcomb's article already mentioned. The 

 aim of this book is to prove that great battles or heavy cannonading 

 are usually soon followed by rainfall. A fair criticism of the book is 

 that such phenomena are not invariably followed by rain. The coinci- 

 dences could be explained by the fact that in the season of military 

 operations rain is usually falling somewhere in eastern United States; 

 that in fact it is not clear but that the rain is a pure coincidence. The 

 argument is not conclusive. Indeed, it is only fair to say that under 

 the conditions involved it could not be made conclusive. Mr. Powers, 

 however, did not despond, but used his utmost endeavors to bring the 

 matter to a test. For this purpose he persuaded Senator Farwell, in 

 1874, to present a petition to Congress asking that the theory be tried. 

 This, with a j)revious i)etition to which he refers, seems to have been 

 without response on the part of Congress, 



Later, and apparently independently, the matter was taken up by 

 Gen. Daniel Kuggles, of Fredericksburg, Va., who obtained a patent 

 in 1880 (No. 230067) on making rain by explosions in the clouds. His 

 claim runs: 



" The nature of my invention consists in sending one or more balloons 

 into the cloud realms, said balloon or balloons carrying torpedoes and 

 cartridges charged with explosives, and there to explode or detonate 

 them by magneto-electric or electric force through metallic wire, tex- 

 tile cordage, or by the fuse, or by mechanical force, in order to precipi- 

 tate rainfall by concussion or vibration of the atmosphere." 



General Euggles succeeded in bringing the matter before Congress, 

 but did not succeed in getting an appropriation. His plan was much 

 discussed in the newspapers at the time, but does not seem to have 

 reached the experimental stage. 



Senator Farwell, however, continued his interest in the matter, and 

 in 1890 finally succeeded in obtaining an appropriation, first of $2,000, 



•Plutarch's Lives, dough's revision, Am. Book Exchange edition, 1881, pages 

 390, 391. 



