Flakes, %c. 6493 



The Shower of Fish in the Valley of Aberdare. — Many of your readers might, per- 

 haps, like to see the facts connected with this phenomenon. They will he hetter 

 understood in the words of the principal witness, as taken down by me on the spot 

 where it happened. This man's name is John Lewis, a sawyer in Messrs. Nixon and 

 Go's yard. His evidence is as follows : — " On Wednesday, February 9, I was getting 

 out a piece of timber for the purpose of setting it for the saw, when I was startled by 

 something falling all over me — down my neck, on my head, and on my back. On 

 putting my hand down my neck I was surprised to find they were little fish. By this 

 time I saw the whole ground covered with them. I took off my hat, the brim of which 

 was full of them. They were jumping all about. They covered the ground in a long 

 strip of about 80 yards by 12, as we measured afterwards. That shed (pointing to a 

 very large workshop) was covered with them, and the shoots were quite full of them. 

 My mates and I might have gathered bucketsful of them, scraping with our hands. 

 We did gather a great many, about a bucketful, and threw them into the rain-pool, 

 where some of them now are. There were two showers, with an interval of about ten 

 minutes, and each shower lasted about two minutes, or thereabouts. The lime was 

 11 a.m. The morning up-train to Aberdare was just then passing. It was not blow- 

 ing very hard, but uncommon wet; just about the same wind as there is to-day 

 (blowing rather stiff), and it came from this quarter (pointing to the S. of W). They 

 came down with the rain in * a body like.' " Such is the evidence. I have taken it 

 for the purpose of being laid before Professor Owen, to whom, also, I shall send to- 

 morrow, at the request of a friend of his, eighteen or twenty of the little fish. Three of 

 them are large and very stout, measuring about four inches. The rest are small. There 

 were some — but they are since dead — fully five inches long. They are very lively. 

 John Griffith ; Vicarage, Aberdare, March 8, 1859. 



[The newspapers for the last three weeks have repeated similar statements to this 

 in a variety of forms. Will some of our correspondents enlighten us on the subject ? 

 —E. iV]. 



Remarks on Arachnida, taken chiefly in Dorsetshire and Hampshire, 

 By the Rev. O. Pickard-Cambridge, M.A. 



I beg to enclose a list of Arachnida, taken chiefly in the counties, 

 of Dorset and Hants, during the last six years. I have not made this 

 order the particular object of search during all that time, but have 

 merely " had my eyes open" for them, in my daily constitutionals, and 

 whilst collecting Lepidoptera and other insects; and the great success 

 I have met with will, I hope, induce others to open their eyes in the 

 same way. The preservation of spiders has been fully detailed in 

 former numbers of the ' Zoologist' by Mr. Meade ; I will therefore 

 only add my testimony to the almost complete success of his method 

 of keeping them in corked tubes of spirits of wine, slightly diluted, 

 for the smaller species. The usual plan in collecting spiders is, to 

 put them at once, indiscriminately, into a phial of spirits (carried in 

 the pocket for the purpose) as soon as caught; and this kills them in 



