90 BOOK OF THE DAMNED 



But that there had been some unusual condition aloft comes out 

 in his observation upon "the curious azure-blue appearance of the 

 sun, at the time." 



Nature, 47-278: 



That, according to Das Wetter, Dec., 1892, upon August 9, 1892, 

 a yellow cloud appeared over Paderborn, Germany. From this cloud, 

 fell a torrential rain, in which were hundreds of mussels. There is 

 no mention of whatever may have been upon the ground in the first 

 place, nor of a whirlwind. 



Lizards said to have fallen on the sidewalks of Montreal, Can- 

 ada, Dec. 28, 1857. (Notes and Queries, 8-6-104.) 



In the Scientific American, 3-112, a correspondent writes, from 

 South Granville, N. Y., that, during a heavy shower, July 3, 1860, 

 he heard a peculiar sound at his feet, and looking down, saw a 

 snake lying as if stunned by a fall. It then came to life. Gray 

 snake, about a foot long. 



These data have any meaning or lack of meaning or degree of 

 damnation you please: but, in the matter of the fall that occurred at 

 Memphis, Tennessee, occur some strong significances. Our quasi- 

 reasoning upon this subject applies to all segregations so far con- 

 sidered. 



Monthly Weather Review, Jan. 15, 1877: 



That, in Memphis, Tenn., Jan. 15, 1877, rather strictly localized, 

 or "in a space of two blocks," and after a violent storm in which 

 the rain "fell in torrents," snakes were found. They were crawling 

 on sidewalks, in yards, and in streets, and in masses but "none were 

 found on roofs or any other elevation above ground" and "none were 

 seen to fall." 



* If you prefer to believe that the snakes had always been there, 

 or had been upon the ground in the first place, and that it was only 

 that something occurred to call special attention to them, in the 

 streets of Memphis, Jan. 15, 1877 why that's sensible: that's the 

 common sense that has been against us from the first. 



It is not said whether the snakes were of a known species or not, 

 but that "when first seen, they were of a dark brown, almost 

 black." Blacksnakes, I suppose. 



If we accept that these snakes did fall, even though not seen to 

 fall by all the persons who were out sight-seeing in a violent storm, 

 and had not been in the streets crawling loose or in thick tangled 

 masses, in the first place; 



