WATEH AND RAIN. 117 



has the. loi.ster) because their food is solid, and no filtering is 

 necessary. P.nt the whale,, the herring, the mackerel, and others 

 that are provided with extensive gills, take in a small descrip- 

 tion of aniiiKilcuIa 1 . for food with the water; and having dis- 

 charged the latter through their gills, as we see the whales 

 in particular do, the food is then left in a state for them to 

 swallow. From the fact already noticed that water does not 

 contain any fixed air, the air necessary for the support of the fish 

 is pnxluced from the dissolving of the food iu the stomach, 

 during the process of solution and digestion. 



The idea that air is generated by the dissolving and decom- 

 position of food in the fish, is supported by deduction from 

 natural facts, for we find that all decomposing or chemical 

 action generates a gas or air. The drowned body of an animal, 

 for instance, becomes inflated with gas not from air contained 

 in the water but from the process of decomposition by the 

 water and the body rises to the surface, where it floats. 



The question has often been asked, can we call down rain at 

 will ? and it lias been answered in different ways. "We answer 

 that under certain conditions it is possible, but the expense of 

 doing so, would be greater than the value returned. During 

 the late war in the United States, it was observed that every 

 great battle fought in the South was followed by deluges of 

 rain, and violent wind. It was then stated by many, in con- 

 sequence, that we could easily bring down rain by merely 

 discharging cannon. ]>ut during the Franco-Prussian war, the 

 like phenomenon was not observed, so the idea was declared a 

 myth. Since the war, some scientific American wished his 

 government to lend him a few hundred guns to settle the 

 question ; but the government very properly refused. It was 



