20 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



soot, for instance, would be accounted for by the proximity of 

 manufactories. The material in this instance consisted of 

 coloured particles (mainly irregular), angular fragments, mineral 

 particles, silicious organisms, particles of soot, rhombohedra of 

 calcite, and cubes of salt. The quantitative analysis given by M. 

 Barac is as follows : — 



Silica ... ... ... ... 49-49 



Iron sesquioxide ... ... ... 9.96 



Alumina ... ... ... ... 12.10 



Manganese peroxide ... ... 1.99 



Lime ... ... •.. ... 11.46 



Magnesia ... ... ... 0.40 



Carbonic acid ... ... ... 8.96 



Organic matter ... ... ... 5.48 



Traces of soda, sulphuric acid. Hydro- 

 chloric acid, &c. ... ... 0.16 



Red Rain in England. — The mud-rains so frequent in the 

 Mediterranean area occasionally extend, as we have seen, far 

 into Europe. It is extremely rare, however, in the British Islands, 

 so that it is the more interesting to note its, occurrence in January 

 of last year in the neighbourhood of the Bristol Channel. This 

 fall occurred in the night or early morning of the 22nd and 23rd 

 at Chewton, Henbury, and Lawrence Western,* and it appears, 

 according to some authorities, to have had a quite local origin in 

 that part of the south-west of England. It has been suggested by 

 Clement Reid that the dust of this particular fall of mud-rain 

 originated in the alluvial flats of the Cornish area.t 



Occurrence of Red Rain in Australasia. — When we turn to 

 Australasia we find nearly similar conditions prevalent to those 

 on the coastal areas of the Mediterranean. The hot, dry north 

 wind, passing over the sterile region of the centre, frequently brings 

 down a great quantity of dust across tlie southern states. These 

 dust clouds mix with the southerly moist winds, and in some 

 measure, as already remarked, assist in the condensation of the 

 moisture, which results in a downfall of khaki-coloured rain. 

 These showers are recorded from time to time, and form one of 

 the ordinary features of the Australian climate, although ihey are 

 not of great frequency, for very often the dust subsides before it 

 is caught by a moist stratum of air. 



A note on a shower of red rain was published in the Eield 

 Naturalists' journal in 1897, J in which the writer, Mr. C. C. 

 Brittlebank, mentions that he had observed diatoms in the red 



* Nalure, 1902, vol. Ixv., p. 317. 



+ J bid, p. 414. 



J Vol. xiii., p. 125. 



