i8o BOOK OF THE DAMNED 



News, Feb., 1884 sky, in general, unusually clear, but, near the 

 sun, "a white, slightly curdled haze, which was dazzlingly bright." 



We accept that sometimes fields of ice pass between the sun and 

 the earth: that many strata of ice, or very thick fields of ice, or 

 superimposed fields would obscure the sun that there have been 

 occasions when the sun was eclipsed by fields of ice: 



Flammarion, "The Atmosphere," p. 394: 



That a profound darkness came upon the city of Brussels, June 

 18, 1839: 



There fell flat pieces of ice, an inch long. 



Intense darkness at Aitkin, Minn., April 2, 1889: sand and 

 "solid chunks of ice" reported to have fallen (Science, April 19, 

 1889). 



In Sy marts' Meteorological Magazine, 32-172, are outlined rough- 

 edged but smooth-surfaced pieces of ice that fell at Manassas, Vir- 

 ginia, Aug. 10, 1897. They look as much like the roughly broken 

 fragments of a smooth sheet of ice as ever have roughly broken 

 fragments of a smooth sheet of ice looked. About two inches across, 

 and one iach thick. In Cosmos, 3-116, it is said that, at Rouen, 

 July 5, 1853, fell irregular-shaped pieces of ice, about the size of a 

 hand, described as looking as if all had been broken from one 

 enormous block of ice. That I think was an aerial iceberg. In the 

 awful density, or almost absolute stupidity of the i9th century, it 

 never occurred to anybody to look for traces of polar bears or of 

 seals upon these fragments. 



Of course, seeing what we want to see, having been able to 

 gather these data only because they are in agreement with notions 

 formed in advance, we are not so respectful to our own notions as 

 to a similar impression forced upon an observer who had no theory 

 or acceptance to support. In general, our prejudices see and our 

 prejudices investigate, but this should not be taken as an abso- 

 lute. 



Monthly Weather Review, July, 1894: 



That, from the Weather Bureau, of Portland, Oregon, a tornado, 

 of June 3, 1894, was reported. 



Fragments of ice fell from the sky. 



They averaged three to four inches square, and about an inch 

 thick. In length and breadth they had the smooth surfaces re- 

 quired by our acceptance: and, according to the writer in the 

 Review, "gave the impression of a vast field of ice suspended in the 



