82 BOOK OF THE DAMNED 



who had thought fish in it had fallen from the sky" had dipped 

 up a pailful from a brook. 



Those fishes still alive were exhibited at the Zoological Gar- 

 dens, Regent's Park. The Editor says that one was a minnow and 

 that the rest were sticklebacks. 



He says that Dr. Gray's explanation is no doubt right. 



But, upon page 6564, he publishes a letter from another corre- 

 spondent, who apologizes for opposing "so high an authority as Dr. 

 Gray/' but says that he had obtained some of these fishes from 

 persons who lived at a considerable distance apart, or considerably 

 out of range of the playful pail of water. 



According to the Annual Register, 1859-14, the fishes them- 

 selves had fallen by pailfuls. 



If these fishes were not upon the ground in the first place, we 

 base our objections to the whirlwind explanation, upon two data: 



That they fell in no such distribution as one could attribute to 

 the discharge of a whirlwind, but upon a narrow strip of land: about 

 80 yards long and 12 yards wide 



The other datum is again the suggestion that at first seemed so 

 incredible, but for which support is piling up, a suggestion of a 

 stationary source overhead 



That ten minutes later another fall of fishes occurred upon this 

 same narrow strip of land. 



Even arguing that a whirlwind may stand still axially, it dis- 

 charges tangentially. Wherever the fishes came from it does not 

 seem thinkable that some could have fallen and that others could 

 have whirled even a tenth of a minute, then falling directly after 

 the first to fall. Because of these evil circumstances the best adap- 

 tation was to laugh the whole thing off and say that some one had 

 soused some one else with a pailful of water, in which a few "very 

 young" minnows had been caught up. 



In the London Times, March 2, 1859, is a letter from Mr. Aaron 

 Roberts, curate of St. Peter's, Carmathon. In this letter the fishes 

 are said to have been about four inches long, but there is some 

 question of species. I think, myself, that they were minnows and 

 sticklebacks. Some persons, thinking them to be sea fishes, placed 

 them in salt water, according tn Mr. Roberts. "The effect is stated 

 to have been almost instantaneous death." "Some were placed in 

 fresh water. These seemed to tl .jve well." As to narrow distribu- 

 tion, we are told that the fishes '41 "in and about the premises of 

 Mr. Nixon." "It was not observed at the time that any fish fell 



