178 JOURNAL OF THE [july, 



of autumn, on damp garden-walks), they have received the name 

 of ' fallen stars.' They are not always so suddenly produced, 

 however, as they appear to be; for they shrink up into mere films 

 in dry weather, and expand again with the first shower." 

 And of Palmo<:;l(ea macrococca, which usually spreads itself as 

 a green slime on damp stones, walls, etc., he remarks (p. 277) : 

 " It is curious to observe that during this conjugating process 

 a production of oil-particles takes place in the cells; these at 

 first are small and distant, but gradually become larger, and 

 approximate more closely to each other, and at last coalesce so 

 as to form oil-drops of various sizes, the green granular matter 

 disappearing; and the color of the conjugated body changes, 

 with the advance of this process, from green to a light yellow- 

 ish-brown." 



5. The flowinx:; of Oil \r\ brooks, fountains, etc., is probably 

 the popular way of describing, under other conditions, the 

 same iridescence to which I have already referred, and which 

 needs no further consideration here. 



6. S/iowers of Wool, etc., are well elucidated by an account 

 quoted in White's " Natural History of Selborne " (Letter 

 XCVIT.), of a sudden overspreading of the branches of a grape- 

 vine " with large lumps of a white fibrous substance resem- 

 bling spiders' webs, or rather raw cotton. It was of a 

 very clammy quality, sticking fast to everything that touched 

 it, and capable of being spun into long threads. * * * 



It remained all the summer, still increasing, and loaded the 

 woody and bearing branches to a vast degree." It turned out 

 to be a product of the Coccus. 



7. Showers of Milk, like other reported showers, were proba- 

 bly merely so-called. The appearance of milk-white spots upon 

 foliage might easily give rise to the belief that drops had fallen 

 from the sky, when, in fact, no actual descent had been ob- 

 served. Such milk-like spots may have been produced by 

 many causes, but the cause which most readily suggests itself 

 to a microscopist is some form of the fungus called " white 

 rust," which frequently appears upon the leaves of cabbage, cauli- 

 flower, shepherd's-purse, etc, as patches resembling splashes of 

 white-wash or spatters of milk. 



8. The Flowing of Milk from the earth, in streams, etc., 

 might be in most cases the superstitious interpretation of so sim- 



