,,the ,,book ,,of ,,the ,,damned #a ,a procession of the damned4 ,by the damned1 ,i mean the excluded4 ,we shall have a procession of data that ,science has excluded4 ,battalions of the accursed1 captained by pallid data that ,i have exhumed1 will march4 ,you'll read them--or they'll march4 ,some of them livid and some of them fiery and some of them rotten4 ,some of them are corpses1 skeletons1 mummies1 twitching1 tottering1 animated by companions that have been damned alive4 ,there are giants that will walk by1 though sound asleep4 ,there are things that are theorems and things that are rags3 they'll go by like ,euclid arm in arm with the spirit of anarchy4 ,here and there will flit little harlots4 ,many are clowns4 ,but many are of the highest respectability4 ,some are assassins4 ,there are pale stenches and gaunt superstitions and mere shadows and lively malices3 whims and amiabilities4 ,the naive and the pedantic and the bizarre and the grotesque and the sincere and the insincere1 the profound and the puerile4 ,a stab and a laugh and the patiently folded hands of hopeless propriety4 ,the ultra-respectable1 but the condemned1 anyway4 ,the aggregate appearance is of dignity and dissoluteness3 the aggregate voice is a defiant prayer3 but the spirit of the whole is processional4 ,the power that has said to all these things that they are damned1 is ,dogmatic ,science4 ,but they'll march4 ,the little harlots will caper1 and freaks will distract attention1 and the clowns will break the rhythm of the whole with their buffooneries--but the solidity of the procession as a whole3 the impressiveness of things that pass and pass and pass1 and keep on and keep on and keep on coming4 ,the irresistibleness of things that neither threaten nor jeer nor defy1 but arrange themselves in mass-formations that pass and pass and keep on passing4 99 99 99 99 99 ,so1 by the damned1 ,i mean the excluded4 ,but by the excluded ,i mean that which will some day be the excluding4 ,or everything that is1 won't be4 ,and everything that isn't1 will be-- ,but1 of course1 will be that which won't be-- ,it is our expression that the flux between that which isn't and that which won't be1 or the state that is commonly and absurdly called existence1 is a rhythm of heavens and hells3 that the damned won't stay damned2 that salvation only precedes perdition4 ,the inference is that some day our accursed tatterdemalions will be sleek angels4 ,then the sub-inference is that some later day1 back they'll go whence they came4 99 99 99 99 99 ,it is our expression that nothing can attempt to be1 except by attempting to exclude something else3 that that which is commonly called being is a state that is wrought more or less definitely proportionately to the appearance of positive difference between that which is included and that which is excluded4 ,but it is our expression that there are no positive differences3 that all things are like a mouse and a bug in the heart of a cheese4 ,mouse and a bug3 no two things could seem more unlike4 ,they're there a week1 or they stay there a month3 both are then only transmutations of cheese4 ,i think we're all bugs and mice1 and are only different expressions of an all-inclusive cheese4 ,or that red is not positively different from yellow3 is only another degree of whatever vibrancy yellow is a degree of3 that red and yellow are continuous1 or that they merge in orange4 ,so then that1 if1 upon the basis of yellowness and redness1 ,science should attempt to classify all phenomena1 including all red things as veritable1 and excluding all yellow things as false or illusory1 the demarcation would have to be false and arbitrary1 because things colored orange1 constituting continuity1 would belong on both sides of the attempted borderline4 ,as we go along1 we shall be impressed with this3 ,that no basis for classification1 or inclusion and exclusion1 more reasonable than that of redness and yellowness has ever been conceived of4 ,science has1 by appeal to various bases1 included a multitude of data4 ,had it not done so1 there would be nothing with which to seem to be4 ,science has1 by appeal to various bases1 excluded a multitude of data4 ,then1 if redness is continuous with yellowness3 if every basis of admission is continuous with every basis of exclusion1 ,science must have excluded some things that are continuous with the accepted4 ,in redness and yellowness1 which merge in orangeness1 we typify all tests1 all standards1 all means of forming an opinion-- ,or that any positive opinion upon any subject is illusion built upon the fallacy that there are positive differences to judge by-- ,that the quest of all intellection has been for something--a fact1 a basis1 a generalization1 law1 formula1 a major premise that is positive3 that the best that has ever been done has been to say that some things are self-evident--whereas1 by evidence we mean the support of something else-- ,that this is the quest2 but that it has never been attained2 but that ,science has acted1 ruled1 pronounced1 and condemned as if it had been attained4 ,what is a house8 ,it is not possible to say what anything is1 as positively distinguished from anything else1 if there are no positive differences4 ,a barn is a house1 if one lives in it4 ,if residence constitutes houseness1 because style of architecture does not1 then a bird's nest is a house3 and human occupancy is not the standard to judge by1 because we speak of dogs' houses2 nor material1 because we speak of snow houses of ,eskimos--or a shell is a house to a hermit crab--or was to the mollusk that made it--or things seemingly so positively different as the ,white ,house at ,washington and a shell on the seashore are seen to be continuous4 ,so no one has ever been able to say what electricity is1 for instance4 ,it isn't anything1 as positively distinguished from heat or magnetism or life4 ,metaphysicians and theologians and biologists have tried to define life4 ,they have failed1 because1 in a positive sense1 there is nothing to define3 there is no phenomenon of life that is not1 to some degree1 manifest in chemism1 magnetism1 astronomic motions4 ,white coral islands in a dark blue sea4 ,their seeming of distinctness3 the seeming of individuality1 or of positive difference one from another--but all are only projections from the same sea bottom4 ,the difference between sea and land is not positive4 ,in all water there is some earth3 in all earth there is some water4 ,so then that all seeming things are not things at all1 if all are inter-continuous1 any more than is the leg of a table a thing in itself1 if it is only a projection from something else3 that not one of us is a real person1 if1 physically1 we're continuous with environment2 if1 psychically1 there is nothing to us but expression of relation to environment4 ,our general expression has two aspects3 ,conventional monism1 or that all things that seem to have identity of their own are only islands that are projections from something underlying1 and have no real outlines of their own4 ,but that all things1 though only projections1 are projections that are striving to break away from the underlying that denies them identity of their own4 ,i conceive of one inter-continuous nexus1 in which and of which all seeming things are only different expressions1 but in which all things are localizations of one attempt to break away and become real things1 or to establish entity or positive difference or final demarcation or unmodified independence--or personality or soul1 as it is called in human phenomena-- ,that anything that tries to establish itself as a real1 or positive1 or absolute system1 government1 organization1 self1 soul1 entity1 individuality1 can so attempt only by drawing a line about itself1 or about the inclusions that constitute itself1 and damning or excluding1 or breaking away from1 all other things3 ,that1 if it does not so act1 it cannot seem to be2 ,that1 if it does so act1 it falsely and arbitrarily and futilely and disastrously acts1 just as would one who draws a circle in the sea1 including a few waves1 saying that the other waves1 with which the included are continuous1 are positively different1 and stakes his life upon maintaining that the admitted and the damned are positively different4 ,our expression is that our whole existence is animation of the local by an ideal that is realizable only in the universal3 ,that1 if all exclusions are false1 because always are included and excluded continuous3 that if all seeming of existence perceptible to us is the product of exclusion1 there is nothing that is perceptible to us that really is3 that only the universal can really be4 ,our especial interest is in modern science as a manifestation of this one ideal or purpose or process3 ,that it has falsely excluded1 because there are no positive standards to judge by3 that it has excluded things that1 by its own pseudo-standards1 have as much right to come in as have the chosen4 99 99 99 99 99 ,our general expression3 ,that the state that is commonly and absurdly called existence1 is a flow1 or a current1 or an attempt1 from negativeness to positiveness1 and is intermediate to both4 ,by positiveness we mean3 ,harmony1 equilibrium1 order1 regularity1 stability1 consistency1 unity1 realness1 system1 government1 organization1 liberty1 independence1 soul1 self1 personality1 entity1 individuality1 truth1 beauty1 justice1 perfection1 definiteness-- ,that all that is called development1 progress1 or evolution is movement toward1 or attempt toward1 this state for which1 or for aspects of which1 there are so many names1 all of which are summed up in the one word positiveness4 ,at first this summing up may not be very readily acceptable4 ,at first it may seem that all these words are not synonyms3 that harmony may mean order1 but that by independence1 for instance1 we do not mean truth1 or that by stability we do not mean beauty1 or system1 or justice4 ,i conceive of one inter-continuous nexus1 which expresses itself in astronomic phenomena1 and chemic1 biologic1 psychic1 sociologic3 that it is everywhere striving to localize positiveness3 that to this attempt in various fields of phenomena--which are only quasi-different--we give different names4 ,we speak of the system of the planets1 and not of their government3 but in considering a store1 for instance1 and its management1 we see that the words are interchangeable4 ,it used to be customary to speak of chemic equilibrium1 but not of social equilibrium3 that false demarcation has been broken down4 ,we shall see that by all these words we mean the same state4 ,as every-day conveniences1 or in terms of common illusions1 of course1 they are not synonyms4 ,to a child an earth worm is not an animal4 ,it is to the biologist4 ,by beauty1 ,i mean that which seems complete4 ,obversely1 that the incomplete1 or the mutilated1 is the ugly4 ,venus de ,milo4 ,to a child she is ugly4 ,when a mind adjusts to thinking of her as a completeness1 even though1 by physiologic standards1 incomplete1 she is beautiful4 ,a hand thought of only as a hand1 may seem beautiful4 ,found on a battlefield--obviously a part--not beautiful4 ,but everything in our experience is only a part of something else that in turn is only a part of still something else--or that there is nothing beautiful in our experience3 only appearances that are intermediate to beauty and ugliness--that only universality is complete3 that only the complete is the beautiful3 that every attempt to achieve beauty is an attempt to give to the local the attribute of the universal4 ,by stability1 we mean the immovable and the unaffected4 ,but all seeming things are only reactions to something else4 ,stability1 too1 then1 can be only the universal1 or that besides which there is nothing else4 ,though some things seem to have--or have--higher approximations to stability than have others1 there are1 in our experience1 only various degrees of intermediateness to stability and instability4 ,every man1 then1 who works for stability under its various names of permanency1 survival1 duration1 is striving to localize in something the state that is realizable only in the universal4 ,by independence1 entity1 and individuality1 ,i can mean only that besides which there is nothing else1 if given only two things1 they must be continuous and mutually affective1 if everything is only a reaction to something else1 and any two things would be destructive of each other's independence1 entity1 or individuality4 ,all attempted organizations and systems and consistencies1 some approximating far higher than others1 but all only intermediate to ,order and ,disorder1 fail eventually because of their relations with outside forces4 ,all are attempted completenesses4 ,if to all local phenomena there are always outside forces1 these attempts1 too1 are realizable only in the state of completeness1 or that to which there are no outside forces4 ,or that all these words are synonyms1 all meaning the state that we call the positive state-- ,that our whole existence is a striving for the positive state4 ,the amazing paradox of it all3 ,that all things are trying to become the universal by excluding other things4 ,that there is only this one process1 and that it does animate all expressions1 in all fields of phenomena1 of that which we think of as one inter-continuous nexus3 ,the religious and their idea or ideal of the soul4 ,they mean distinct1 stable entity1 or a state that is independent1 and not a mere flux of vibrations or complex of reactions to environment1 continuous with environment1 merging away with an infinitude of other interdependent complexes4 ,but the only thing that would not merge away into something else would be that besides which there is nothing else4 ,that ,truth is only another name for the positive state1 or that the quest for ,truth is the attempt to achieve positiveness3 ,scientists who have thought that they were seeking ,truth1 but who were trying to find out astronomic1 or chemic1 or biologic truths4 ,but ,truth is that besides which there is nothing3 nothing to modify it1 nothing to question it1 nothing to form an exception3 the all-inclusive1 the complete-- ,by ,truth ,i mean the ,universal4 ,so chemists have sought the true1 or the real1 and have always failed in their endeavors1 because of the outside relations of chemical phenomena3 have failed in the sense that never has a chemical law1 without exceptions1 been discovered3 because chemistry is continuous with astronomy1 physics1 biology--,for instance1 if the sun should greatly change its distance from this earth1 and if human life could survive1 the familiar chemic formulas would no longer work out3 a new science of chemistry would have to be learned-- ,or that all attempts to find ,truth in the special are attempts to find the universal in the local4 ,and artists and their striving for positiveness1 under the name of harmony--but their pigments that are oxydizing1 or are responding to a deranging environment--or the strings of musical instruments that are differently and disturbingly adjusting to outside chemic and thermal and gravitational forces--again and again this oneness of all ideals1 and that it is the attempt to be1 or to achieve1 locally1 that which is realizable only universally4 ,in our experience there is only intermediateness to harmony and discord4 ,harmony is that besides which there are no outside forces4 ,and nations that have fought with only one motive3 for individuality1 or entity1 or to be real1 final nations1 not subordinate to1 or parts of1 other nations4 ,and that nothing but intermediateness has ever been attained1 and that history is record of failures of this one attempt1 because there always have been outside forces1 or other nations contending for the same goal4 ,as to physical things1 chemic1 mineralogic1 astronomic1 it is not customary to say that they act to achieve ,truth or ,entity1 but it is understood that all motions are toward ,equilibrium3 that there is no motion except toward ,equilibrium1 of course always away from some other approximation to ,equilibrium4 ,all biologic phenomena act to adjust3 there are no biologic actions other than adjustments4 ,adjustment is another name for ,equilibrium4 ,equilibrium is the ,universal1 or that which has nothing external to derange it4 ,but that all that we call being is motion3 and that all motion is the expression1 not of equilibrium1 but of equilibrating1 or of equilibrium unattained3 that life-motions are expressions of equilibrium unattained3 that all thought relates to the unattained3 that to have what is called being in our quasi-state1 is not to be in the positive sense1 or is to be intermediate to ,equilibrium and ,inequilibrium4 ,so then3 ,that all phenomena in our intermediate state1 or quasi-state1 represent this one attempt to organize1 stabilize1 harmonize1 individualize--or to positivize1 or to become real3 ,that only to have seeming is to express failure or intermediateness to final failure and final success3 ,that every attempt--that is observable--is defeated by ,continuity1 or by outside forces--or by the excluded that are continuous with the included3 ,that our whole existence is an attempt by the relative to be the absolute1 or by the local to be the universal4 ,in this book1 my interest is in this attempt as manifested in modern science3 ,that it has attempted to be real1 true1 final1 complete1 absolute3 ,that1 if the seeming of being1 here1 in our quasi-state1 is the product of exclusion that is always false and arbitrary1 if always are included and excluded continuous1 the whole seeming system1 or entity1 of modern science is only quasi-system1 or quasi-entity1 wrought by the same false and arbitrary process as that by which the still less positive system that preceded it1 or the theological system1 wrought the illusion of its being4 ,in this book1 ,i assemble some of the data that ,i think are of the falsely and arbitrarily excluded4 ,the data of the damned4 ,i have gone into the outer darkness of scientific and philosophical transactions and proceedings1 ultra-respectable1 but covered with the dust of disregard4 ,i have descended into journalism4 ,i have come back with the quasi-souls of lost data4 ,they will march4 99 99 99 99 99 ,as to the logic of our expressions to come-- ,that there is only quasi-logic in our mode of seeming3 ,that nothing ever has been proved-- ,because there is nothing to prove4 ,when ,i say that there is nothing to prove1 ,i mean that to those who accept ,continuity1 or the merging away of all phenomena into other phenomena1 without positive demarcations one from another1 there is1 in a positive sense1 no one thing4 ,there is nothing to prove4 ,for instance nothing can be proved to be an animal--because animalness and vegetableness are not positively different4 ,there are some expressions of life that are as much vegetable as animal1 or that represent the merging of animalness and vegetableness4 ,there is then no positive test1 standard1 criterion1 means of forming an opinion4 ,as distinct from vegetables1 animals do not exist4 ,there is nothing to prove4 ,nothing could be proved to be good1 for instance4 ,there is nothing in our existence that is good1 in a positive sense1 or as really outlined from evil4 ,if to forgive be good in times of peace1 it is evil in wartime4 ,there is nothing to prove3 good in our experience is continuous with1 or is only another aspect of evil4 ,as to what ,i'm trying to do now--,i accept only4 ,if ,i can't see universally1 ,i only localize4 ,so1 of course then1 that nothing ever has been proved3 ,that theological pronouncements are as much open to doubt as ever they were1 but that1 by a hypnotizing process1 they became dominant over the majority of minds in their era3 ,that1 in a succeeding era1 the laws1 dogmas1 formulas1 principles1 of materialistic science never were proved1 because they are only localizations simulating the universal2 but that the leading minds of their era of dominance were hypnotized into more or less firmly believing them4 ,newton's three laws1 and that they are attempts to achieve positiveness1 or to defy and break ,continuity1 and are as unreal as are all other attempts to localize the universal3 ,that1 if every observable body is continuous1 mediately or immediately1 with all other bodies1 it cannot be influenced only by its own inertia1 so that there is no way of knowing what the phenomena of inertia may be2 that1 if all things are reacting to an infinitude of forces1 there is no way of knowing what the effects of only one impressed force would be2 that if every reaction is continuous with its action1 it cannot be conceived of as a whole1 and that there is no way of conceiving what it might be equal and opposite to-- ,or that ,newton's three laws are three articles of faith3 ,or that demons and angels and inertias and reactions are all mythological characters3 ,but that1 in their eras of dominance1 they were almost as firmly believed in as if they had been proved4 99 99 99 99 99 ,enormities and preposterousnesses will march4 ,they will be proved as well as ,moses or ,darwin or ,lyell ever proved anything4 99 99 99 99 99 ,we substitute acceptance for belief4 ,cells of an embryo take on different appearances in different eras4 ,the more firmly established1 the more difficult to change4 ,that social organism is embryonic4 ,that firmly to believe is to impede development4 ,that only temporarily to accept is to facilitate4 99 99 99 99 99 ,but3 ,except that we substitute acceptance for belief1 our methods will be the conventional methods2 the means by which every belief has been formulated and supported3 or our methods will be the methods of theologians and savages and scientists and children4 ,because1 if all phenomena are continuous1 there can be no positively different methods4 ,by the inconclusive means and methods of cardinals and fortune tellers and evolutionists and peasants1 methods which must be inconclusive1 if they relate always to the local1 and if there is nothing local to conclude1 we shall write this book4 ,if it function as an expression of its era1 it will prevail4 99 99 99 99 99 ,all sciences begin with attempts to define4 ,nothing ever has been defined4 ,because there is nothing to define4 ,darwin wrote ,the ,origin of ,species4 ,he was never able to tell what he meant by a species4 ,it is not possible to define4 ,nothing has ever been finally found out4 ,because there is nothing final to find out4 ,it's like looking for a needle that no one ever lost in a haystack that never was-- ,but that all scientific attempts really to find out something1 whereas really there is nothing to find out1 are attempts1 themselves1 really to be something4 ,a seeker of ,truth4 ,he will never find it4 ,but the dimmest of possibilities--he may himself become ,truth4 ,or that science is more than an inquiry3 ,that it is a pseudo-construction1 or a quasi-organization3 that it is an attempt to break away and locally establish harmony1 stability1 equilibrium1 consistency1 entity-- ,dimmest of possibilities--that it may succeed4 99 99 99 99 99 ,that ours is a pseudo-existence1 and that all appearances in it partake of its essential fictitiousness-- ,but that some appearances approximate far more highly to the positive state than do others4 ,we conceive of all things as occupying gradations1 or steps in series between positiveness and negativeness1 or realness and unrealness3 that some seeming things are more nearly consistent1 just1 beautiful1 unified1 individual1 harmonious1 stable--than others4 ,we are not realists4 ,we are not idealists4 ,we are intermediatists--that nothing is real1 but that nothing is unreal3 that all phenomena are approximations one way or the other between realness and unrealness4 ,so then3 ,that our whole quasi-existence is an intermediate stage between positiveness and negativeness or realness and unrealness4 ,like purgatory1 ,i think4 ,but in our summing up1 which was very sketchily done1 we omitted to make clear that ,realness is an aspect of the positive state4 ,by ,realness1 ,i mean that which does not merge away into something else1 and that which is not partly something else3 that which is not a reaction to1 or an imitation of1 something else4 ,by a real hero1 we mean one who is not partly a coward1 or whose actions and motives do not merge away into cowardice4 ,but1 if in ,continuity1 all things do merge1 by ,realness1 ,i mean the ,universal1 besides which there is nothing with which to merge4 ,that1 though the local might be universalized1 it is not conceivable that the universal can be localized3 but that high approximations there may be1 and that these approximate successes may be translated out of ,intermediateness into ,realness--quite as1 in a relative sense1 the industrial world recruits itself by translating out of unrealness1 or out of the seemingly less real imaginings of inventors1 machines which seem1 when set up in factories1 to have more of ,realness than they had when only imagined4 ,that all progress1 if all progress is toward stability1 organization1 harmony1 consistency1 or positiveness1 is the attempt to become real4 ,so1 then1 in general metaphysical terms1 our expression is that1 like a purgatory1 all that is commonly called existence1 which we call ,intermediateness1 is quasi-existence1 neither real nor unreal1 but expression of attempt to become real1 or to generate for or recruit a real existence4 ,our acceptance is that ,science1 though usually thought of so specifically1 or in its own local terms1 usually supposed to be a prying into old bones1 bugs1 unsavory messes1 is an expression of this one spirit animating all ,intermediateness3 that1 if ,science could absolutely exclude all data but its own present data1 or that which is assimilable with the present quasi-organization1 it would be a real system1 with positively definite outlines--it would be real4 ,its seeming approximation to consistency1 stability1 system--positiveness or realness--is sustained by damning the irreconcilable or the unassimilable-- ,all would be well4 ,all would be heavenly-- ,if the damned would only stay damned4 #b ,in the autumn of #ahhc1 and for years afterward1 occurred brilliant-colored sunsets1 such as had never been seen before within the memory of all observers4 ,also there were blue moons4 ,i think that one is likely to smile incredulously at the notion of blue moons4 ,nevertheless they were as common as were green suns in #ahhc4 ,science had to account for these unconventionalities4 ,such publications as ,nature and ,knowledge were besieged with inquiries4 ,i suppose1 in ,alaska and in the ,south ,sea ,islands1 all the medicine men were similarly upon trial4 ,something had to be thought of4 ,upon the #bhth of ,august1 #ahhc1 the volcano of ,krakatoa1 of the ,straits of ,sunda1 had blown up4 ,terrific4 ,we're told that the sound was heard #b1jjj miles1 and that #cf1chj persons were killed4 ,seems just a little unscientific1 or impositive1 to me3 marvel to me we're not told #b1afc miles and #cf1chg persons4 ,the volume of smoke that went up must have been visible to other planets--or1 tormented with our crawlings and scurryings1 the earth complained to ,mars2 swore a vast black oath at us4 ,in all text-books that mention this occurrence--no exception so far so ,i have read--it is said that the extraordinary atmospheric effects of #ahhc were first noticed in the last of ,august or the first of ,september4 ,that makes a difficulty for us4 ,it is said that these phenomena were caused by particles of volcanic dust that were cast high in the air by ,krakatoa4 ,this is the explanation that was agreed upon in #ahhc-- ,but for seven years the atmospheric phenomena continued-- ,except that1 in the seven1 there was a lapse of several years--and where was the volcanic dust all that time8 ,you'd think that such a question as that would make trouble8 ,then you haven't studied hypnosis4 ,you have never tried to demonstrate to a hypnotic that a table is not a hippopotamus4 ,according to our general acceptance1 it would be impossible to demonstrate such a thing4 ,point out a hundred reasons for saying that a hippopotamus is not a table3 you'll have to end up agreeing that neither is a table a table--it only seems to be a table4 ,well1 that's what the hippopotamus seems to be4 ,so how can you prove that something is not something else1 when neither is something else some other thing8 ,there's nothing to prove4 ,this is one of the profundities that we advertised in advance4 ,you can oppose an absurdity only with some other absurdity4 ,but ,science is established preposterousness4 ,we divide all intellection3 the obviously preposterousness and the established4 ,but ,krakatoa3 that's the explanation that the scientists gave4 ,i don't know what whopper the medicine men told4 ,we see1 from the start1 the very strong inclination of science to deny1 as much as it can1 external relations of this earth4 ,this book is an assemblage of data of external relations of this earth4 ,we take the position that our data have been damned1 upon no consideration for individual merits or demerits1 but in conformity with a general attempt to hold out for isolation of this earth4 ,this is attempted positiveness4 ,we take the position that science can no more succeed than1 in a similar endeavor1 could the ,chinese1 or than could the ,united ,states4 ,so then1 with only pseudo-consideration of the phenomena of #ahhc1 or as an expression of positivism in its aspect of isolation1 or unrelatedness1 scientists have perpetrated such an enormity as suspension of volcanic dust seven years in the air--disregarding the lapse of several years--rather than to admit the arrival of dust from somewhere beyond this earth4 ,not that scientists themselves have ever achieved positiveness1 in its aspect of unitedness1 among themselves--because ,nordenskiold1 before #ahhc1 wrote a great deal upon his theory of cosmic dust1 and ,prof4 ,cleveland ,abbe contended against the ,krakatoan explanation--but that this is the orthodoxy of the main body of scientists4 ,my own chief reason for indignation here3 ,that this preposterous explanation interferes with some of my own enormities4 ,it would cost me too much explaining1 if ,i should have to admit that this earth's atmosphere has such sustaining power4 ,later1 we shall have data of things that have gone up in the air and that have stayed up--somewhere--weeks--months--but not by the sustaining power of this earth's atmosphere4 ,for instance1 the turtle of ,vicksburg4 ,it seems to me that it would be ridiculous to think of a good-sized turtle hanging1 for three or four months1 upheld only by the air1 over the town of ,vicksburg4 ,when it comes to the horse and the barn--,i think that they'll be classics some day1 but ,i can never accept that a horse and a barn could float several months in this earth's atmosphere4 ,the orthodox explanation3 ,see the ,report of the ,krakatoa ,committee of the ,royal ,society4 ,it comes out absolutely for the orthodox explanation--absolutely and beautifully1 also expensively4 ,there are #dib pages in the ,report1 and #dj plates1 some of them marvelously colored4 ,it was issued after an investigation that took five years4 ,you couldn't think of anything done more efficiently1 artistically1 authoritatively4 ,the mathematical parts are especially impressive3 distribution of the dust of ,krakatoa2 velocity of translation and rates of subsidence2 altitudes and persistences-- ,annual ,register1 #ahhc-aje3 ,that the atmospheric effects that have been attributed to ,krakatoa were seen in ,trinidad before the eruption occurred3 ,knowledge1 #e-dah3 ,that they were seen in ,natal1 ,south ,africa1 six months before the eruption4 99 99 99 99 99 ,inertia and its inhospitality4 ,or raw meat should not be fed to babies4 ,we shall have a few data initiatorily4 ,i fear me that the horse and the barn were a little extreme for our budding liberalities4 ,the outrageous is the reasonable1 if introduced politely4 ,hailstones1 for instance4 ,one reads in the newspapers of hailstones the size of hens' eggs4 ,one smiles4 ,nevertheless ,i will engage to list one hundred instances1 from the ,monthly ,weather ,review1 of hailstones the size of hens' eggs4 ,there is an account in ,nature1 ,nov4 #a1 #ahid1 of hailstones that weighed almost two pounds each4 ,see ,chambers' ,encyclopedia for three-pounders4 ,report of the ,smithsonian ,institution1 #ahgj-dgi--two-pounders authenticated1 and six-pounders reported4 ,at ,seringapatam1 ,india1 about the year #ahjj1 fell a hailstone-- ,i fear me1 ,i fear me3 this is one of the profoundly damned4 ,i blurt out something that should1 perhaps1 be withheld for several hundred pages--but that damned thing was the size of an elephant4 ,we laugh4 ,or snowflakes4 ,size of saucers4 ,said to have fallen at ,nashville1 ,tenn41 ,jan4 #bd1 #ahia4 ,one smiles4 ,in ,montana1 in the winter of #ahhg1 fell snowflakes #ae inches across1 and #h inches thick4 7,monthly ,weather ,review1 #aiae-gc47 ,in the topography of intellection1 ,i should say that what we call knowledge is ignorance surrounded by laughter4 99 99 99 99 99 ,black rains--red rains--the fall of a thousand tons of butter4 ,jet-black snow--pink snow--blue hailstones--hailstones flavored like oranges4 ,punk and silk and charcoal4 99 99 99 99 99 ,about one hundred years ago1 if anyone was so credulous as to think that stones had ever fallen from the sky1 he was reasoned with3 ,in the first place there are no stones in the sky3 ,therefore no stones can fall from the sky4 ,or nothing more reasonable or scientific or logical than that could be said upon any subject4 ,the only trouble is the universal trouble3 that the major premise is not real1 or is intermediate somewhere between realness and unrealness4 ,in #aggb1 a committee1 of whom ,lavoisier was a member1 was appointed by the ,french ,academy1 to investigate a report that a stone had fallen from the sky at ,luce1 ,france4 ,of all attempts at positiveness1 in its aspect of isolation1 ,i don't know of anything that has been fought harder for than the notion of this earth's unrelatedness4 ,lavoisier analyzed the stone of ,luce4 ,the exclusionists' explanation at that time was that stones do not fall from the sky3 that luminous objects may seem to fall1 and that hot stones may be picked up where a luminous object seemingly had landed--only lightning striking a stone1 heating1 even melting it4 ,the stone of ,luce showed signs of fusion4 ,lavoisier's analysis absolutely proved that this stone had not fallen3 that it had been struck by lightning4 ,so1 authoritatively1 falling stones were damned4 ,the stock means of exclusion remained the explanation of lightning that was seen to strike something--that had been upon the ground in the first place4 ,but positiveness and the fate of every positive statement4 ,it is not customary to think of damned stones raising an outcry against a sentence of exclusion1 but1 subjectively1 aerolites did--or data of them bombarded the walls raised against them-- ,monthly ,review1 #agif-dbf ,the phenomenon which is the subject of the remarks before us will seem to most persons as little worthy of credit as any that could be offered4 ,the falling of large stones from the sky1 without any assignable cause of their previous ascent1 seems to partake so much of the marvelous as almost entirely to exclude the operation of known and natural agents4 ,yet a body of evidence is here brought to prove that such events have actually taken place1 and we ought not to withhold from it a proper degree of attention4 ,the writer abandons the first1 or absolute1 exclusion1 and modifies it with the explanation that the day before a reported fall of stones in ,tuscany1 ,june #af1 #agid1 there had been an eruption of ,vesuvius-- ,or that stones do fall from the sky1 but that they are stones that have been raised to the sky from some other part of the earth's surface by whirlwinds or by volcanic action4 ,it's more than one hundred and twenty years later4 ,i know of no aerolite that has ever been acceptably traced to terrestrial origin4 ,falling stones had to be undamned--though still with a reservation that held out for exclusion of outside forces4 ,one may have the knowledge of a ,lavoisier1 and still not be able to analyze1 not be able even to see1 except conformably with the hypnoses1 or the conventional reactions against hypnoses1 of one's era4 ,we believe no more4 ,we accept4 ,little by little the whirlwind and volcano explanations had to be abandoned1 but so powerful was this exclusion-hypnosis1 sentence of damnation1 or this attempt at positiveness1 that far into our own times some scientists1 notably ,prof4 ,lawrence ,smith and ,sir ,robert ,ball1 continued to hold out against all external origins1 asserting that nothing could fall to this earth1 unless it had been cast up or whirled up from some other part of this earth's surface4 ,it's as commendable as anything ever has been--by which ,i mean it's intermediate to the commendable and the censurable4 ,it's virginal4 ,meteorites1 data of which were once of the damned1 have been admitted1 but the common impression of them is only a retreat of attempted exclusion3 that only two kinds of substance fall from the sky3 metallic and stony3 that the metallic objects are of iron and nickel-- ,butter and paper and wool and silk and resin4 ,we see1 to start with1 that the virgins of science have fought and wept and screamed against external relations--upon two grounds3 ,there in the first place2 ,or up from one part of this earth's surface and down to another4 ,as late as ,november1 #aijb1 in ,nature ,notes1 #ac-bca1 a member of the ,selborne ,society still argued that meteorites do not fall from the sky2 that they are masses of iron upon the ground in the first place1 that attract lightning2 that the lightning is seen1 and is mistaken for a falling1 luminous object-- ,by progress we mean rape4 ,butter and beef and blood and a stone with strange inscriptions upon it4 #c ,so then1 it is our expression that ,science relates to real knowledge no more than does the growth of a plant1 or the organization of a department store1 or the development of a nation3 that all are assimilative1 or organizing1 or systematizing processes that represent different attempts to attain the positive state--the state commonly called heaven1 ,i suppose ,i mean4 ,there can be no real science where there are indeterminate variables1 but every variable is1 in finer terms1 indeterminate1 or irregular1 if only to have the appearance of being in ,intermediateness is to express regularity unattained4 ,the invariable1 or the real and stable1 would be nothing at all in ,intermediateness--rather as1 but in relative terms1 an undistorted interpretation of external sounds in the mind of a dreamer could not continue to exist in a dreaming mind1 because that touch of relative realness would be of awakening and not of dreaming4 ,science is the attempt to awaken to realness1 wherein it is attempt to find regularity and uniformity4 ,or the regular and uniform would be that which has nothing external to disturb it4 ,by the universal we mean the real4 ,or the notion is that the underlying super-attempt1 as expressed in ,science1 is indifferent to the subject-matter of ,science3 that the attempt to regularize is the vital spirit4 ,bugs and stars and chemical messes3 that they are only quasi-real1 and that of them there is nothing real to know2 but that systematization of pseudo-data is approximation to realness or final awakening-- ,or a dreaming mind--and its centaurs and canary birds that turn into giraffes--there could be no real biology upon such subjects1 but attempt1 in a dreaming mind1 to systematize such appearances would be movement toward awakening--if better mental co-ordination is all that we mean by the state of being awake--relatively awake4 ,so it is1 that having attempted to systematize1 by ignoring externality to the greatest possible degree1 the notion of things dropping in upon this earth1 from externality1 is as unsettling and as unwelcome to ,science as--tin horns blowing in upon a musician's relatively symmetric composition--flies alighting upon a painter's attempted harmony1 and tracking colors one into another--suffragist getting up and making a political speech at a prayer meeting4 ,if all things are of a oneness1 which is a state intermediate to unrealness and realness1 and if nothing has succeeded in breaking away and establishing entity for itself1 and could not continue to exist in intermediateness1 if it should succeed1 any more than could the born still at the same time be the uterine1 ,i of course know of no positive difference between ,science and ,christian ,science--and the attitude of both toward the unwelcome is the same--it does not exist4 ,a ,lord ,kelvin and a ,mrs4 ,eddy1 and something not to their liking--it does not exist4 ,of course not1 we ,intermediates say3 but1 also1 that1 in ,intermediateness1 neither is there absolute non-existence4 ,or a ,christian ,scientist and a toothache--neither exists in the final sense3 also neither is absolutely non-existent1 and1 according to our therapeutics1 the one that more highly approximates to realness will win4 ,a secret of power-- ,i think it's another profundity4 ,do you want power over something8 ,be more nearly real than it4 ,we'll begin with yellow substances that have fallen upon this earth3 we'll see whether our data of them have a higher approximation to realness than have the dogmas of those who deny their existence--that is1 as products from somewhere external to this earth4 ,in mere impressionism we take our stand4 ,we have no positive tests nor standards4 ,realism in art3 realism in science--they pass away4 ,in #ahei1 the thing to do was to accept ,darwinism2 now many biologists are revolting and trying to conceive of something else4 ,the thing to do was to accept it in its day1 but ,darwinism of course was never proved3 ,the fittest survive4 ,what is meant by the fittest8 ,not the strongest2 not the cleverest-- ,weakness and stupidity everywhere survive4 ,there is no way of determining fitness except in that a thing does survive4 ,fitness1 then1 is only another name for survival4 ,darwinism3 ,that survivors survive4 ,although ,darwinism1 then1 seems positively baseless1 or absolutely irrational1 its massing of supposed data1 and its attempted coherence approximate more highly to ,organization and ,consistency than did the inchoate speculations that preceded it4 ,or that ,columbus never proved that the earth is round4 ,shadow of the earth on the moon8 ,no one has ever seen it in its entirety4 ,the earth's shadow is much larger than the moon4 ,if the periphery of the shadow is curved--but the convex moon--a straight-edged object will cast a curved shadow upon a surface that is convex4 ,all the other so-called proofs may be taken up in the same way4 ,it was impossible for ,columbus to prove that the earth is round4 ,it was not required3 only that with a higher seeming of positiveness than that of his opponents1 he should attempt4 ,the thing to do1 in #adib1 was nevertheless to accept that beyond ,europe1 to the west1 were other lands4 ,i offer for acceptance1 as something concordant with the spirit of this first quarter of the #bjth century1 the expression that beyond this earth are--other lands--from which come things as1 from ,america1 float things to ,europe4 ,as to yellow substances that have fallen upon this earth1 the endeavor to exclude extra-mundane origins is the dogma that all yellow rains and yellow snows are colored with pollen from this earth's pine trees4 ,symons' ,meteorological ,magazine is especially prudish in this respect and regards as highly improper all advances made by other explainers4 ,nevertheless1 the ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,may1 #ahgg1 reports a golden-yellow fall1 of ,feb4 #bg1 #ahgg1 at ,peckloh1 ,germany1 in which four kinds of organisms1 not pollen1 were the coloring matter4 ,there were minute things shaped like arrows1 coffee beans1 horns1 and disks4 ,they may have been symbols4 ,they may have been objective hieroglyphics-- ,mere passing fancy--let it go-- ,in the ,annales de ,chimie1 #he-bhh1 there is a list of rains said to have contained sulphur4 ,i have thirty or forty other notes4 ,i'll not use one of them4 ,i'll admit that every one of them is upon a fall of pollen4 ,i said1 to begin with1 that our methods would be the methods of theologians and scientists1 and they always begin with an appearance of liberality4 ,i grant thirty or forty points to start with4 ,i'm as liberal as any of them--or that my liberality won't cost me anything--the enormousness of the data that we shall have4 ,or just to look over a typical instance of this dogma1 and the way it works out3 ,in the ,american ,journal of ,science1 #a-db-aif1 we are told of a yellow substance that fell by the bucketful upon a vessel1 one windless night in ,june1 in ,pictou ,harbor1 ,nova ,scotia4 ,the writer analyzed the substance1 and it was found to give off nitrogen and ammonia and an animal odor4 ,now1 one of our ,intermediatist principles1 to start with1 is that so far from positive1 in the aspect of ,homogeneousness1 are all substances1 that1 at least in what is called an elementary sense1 anything can be found anywhere4 ,mahogany logs on the coast of ,greenland2 bugs of a valley on the top of ,mt4 ,blanc2 atheists at a prayer meeting2 ice in ,india4 ,for instance1 chemical analysis can reveal that almost any dead man was poisoned with arsenic1 we'll say1 because there is no stomach without some iron1 lead1 tin1 gold1 arsenic in it and of it--which1 of course1 in a broader sense1 doesn't matter much1 because a certain number of persons must1 as a restraining influence1 be executed for murder every year2 and1 if detectives aren't able really to detect anything1 illusion of their success is all that is necessary1 and it is very honorable to give up one's life for society as a whole4 ,the chemist who analyzed the substance of ,pictou sent a sample to the ,editor of the ,journal4 ,the ,editor of course found pollen in it4 ,my own acceptance is that there'd have to be some pollen in it3 that nothing could very well fall through the air1 in ,june1 near the pine forests of ,nova ,scotia1 and escape all floating spores of pollen4 ,but the ,editor does not say that this substance contained pollen4 ,he disregards nitrogen1 ammonia1 and an animal odor1 and says that the substance was pollen4 ,for the sake of our thirty or forty tokens of liberality1 or pseudo-liberality1 if we can't be really liberal1 we grant that the chemist of the first examination probably wouldn't know an animal odor if he were janitor of a menagerie4 ,as we go along1 however1 there can be no such sweeping ignoring of this phenomenon3 ,the fall of animal-matter from the sky4 ,i'd suggest1 to start with1 that we'd put ourselves in the place of deep-sea fishes3 ,how would they account for the fall of animal-matter from above8 ,they wouldn't try-- ,or it's easy enough to think of most of us as deep-sea fishes of a kind4 ,jour4 ,franklin ,inst41 #ij-aa3 ,that1 upon the #adth of ,february1 #ahgj1 there fell1 at ,genoa1 ,italy1 according to ,director ,boccardo1 of the ,technical ,institute of ,genoa1 and ,prof4 ,castellani1 a yellow substance4 ,but the microscope revealed numerous globules of cobalt blue1 also corpuscles of a pearly color that resembled starch4 ,see ,nature1 #b-aff4 ,comptes ,rendus1 #ef-igb3 ,m4 ,bouis says of a substance1 reddish varying to yellowish1 that fell enormously and successively1 or upon ,april #cj1 ,may #a and ,may #b1 in ,france and ,spain1 that it carbonized and spread the odor of charred animal matter--that it was not pollen--that in alcohol it left a residue of resinous matter4 ,hundreds of thousands of tons of this matter must have fallen4 ,odor of charred animal matter4 ,or an aerial battle that occurred in inter-planetary space several hundred years ago--effect of time in making diverse remains uniform in appearance-- ,it's all very absurd because1 even though we are told of a prodigious quantity of animal matter that fell from the sky--three days--,france and ,spain--we're not ready yet3 that's all4 ,m4 ,bouis says that this substance was not pollen2 the vastness of the fall makes acceptable that it was not pollen2 still1 the resinous residue does suggest pollen of pine trees4 ,we shall hear a great deal of a substance with a resinous residue that has fallen from the sky3 finally we shall divorce it from all suggestion of pollen4 ,blackwood's ,magazine1 #c-cch3 ,a yellow powder that fell at ,gerace1 ,calabria1 ,march #ad1 #ahac4 ,some of this substance was collected by ,sig4 ,simenini1 ,professor of ,chemistry1 at ,naples4 ,it had an earthy1 insipid taste1 and is described as unctuous4 ,when heated1 this matter turned brown1 then black1 then red4 ,according to the ,annals of ,philosophy1 #aa-dff1 one of the components was a greenish-yellow substance1 which1 when dried1 was found to be resinous4 ,but concomitants of this fall3 ,loud noises were heard in the sky4 ,stones fell from the sky4 ,according to ,chladni1 these concomitants occurred1 and to me they seem--rather brutal8--or not associable with something so soft and gentle as a fall of pollen8 99 99 99 99 99 ,black rains and black snows--rains as black as a deluge of ink--jet-black snowflakes4 ,such a rain as that which fell in ,ireland1 ,may #ad1 #ahdi1 described in the ,annals of ,scientific ,discovery1 #ahej1 and the ,annual ,register1 #ahdi4 ,it fell upon a district of #djj square miles1 and was the color of ink1 and of a fetid odor and very disagreeable taste4 ,the rain at ,castlecommon1 ,ireland1 ,april #cj1 #ahhg--thick1 black rain4 7,amer4 ,met4 ,jour41 #d-aic47 ,a black rain fell in ,ireland1 ,oct4 #h and #i1 #aijg4 7,symons' ,met4 ,mag4 #dc-b47 ,it left a most peculiar and disagreeable smell in the air4 ,the orthodox explanation of this rain occurs in ,nature1 ,march #b1 #aijh--;cloud of soot that had come from ,south ,wales1 crossing the ,irish ,channel and all of ,ireland4 ,so the black rain of ,ireland1 of ,march1 #ahih3 ascribed in ,symons' ,met4 ,mag4 #cc-dj1 to clouds of soot from the manufacturing towns of ,north ,england and ,south ,scotland4 ,our ,intermediatist principle of pseudo-logic1 or our principle of ,continuity is1 of course1 that nothing is unique1 or individual3 that all phenomena merge away into all other phenomena3 that1 for instance--suppose there should be vast celestial super-oceanic1 or inter-planetary vessels that come near this earth and discharge volumes of smoke at times4 ,we're only supposing such a thing as that now1 because1 conventionally1 we are beginning modestly and tentatively4 ,but if it were so1 there would necessarily be some phenomenon upon this earth1 with which that phenomenon would merge4 ,extra-mundane smoke and smoke from cities merge1 or both would manifest in black precipitations in rain4 ,in ,continuity1 it is impossible to distinguish phenomena at their merging-points1 so we look for them at their extremes4 ,impossible to distinguish between animal and vegetable in some infusoria--but hippopotamus and violet4 ,for all practical purposes they're distinguishable enough4 ,no one but a ,barnum or a ,bailey would send one a bunch of hippopotami as a token of regard4 ,so away from the great manufacturing centers3 ,black rain in ,switzerland1 ,jan4 #bj1 #aiaa4 ,switzerland is so remote1 and so ill at ease is the conventional explanation here1 that ,nature1 #he-dea1 says of this rain that in certain conditions of weather1 snow may take on an appearance of blackness that is quite deceptive4 ,may be so4 ,or at night1 if dark enough1 snow may look black4 ,this is simply denying that a black rain fell in ,switzerland1 ,jan4 #bj1 #aiaa4 ,extreme remoteness from great manufacturing centers3 ,la ,nature1 #ahhh1 #b-djf3 ,that ,aug4 #ad1 #ahhh1 there fell at the ,cape of ,good ,hope1 a rain so black as to be described as a shower of ink4 ,continuity dogs us4 ,continuity rules us and pulls us back4 ,we seemed to have a little hope that by the method of extremes we could get away from things that merge indistinguishably into other things4 ,we find that every departure from one merger is entrance upon another4 ,at the ,cape of ,good ,hope1 vast volumes of smoke from great manufacturing centers1 as an explanation1 cannot very acceptably merge with the explanation of extra-mundane origin--but smoke from a terrestrial volcano can1 and that is the suggestion that is made in ,la ,nature4 ,there is1 in human intellection1 no real standard to judge by1 but our acceptance1 for the present1 is that the more nearly positive will prevail4 ,by the more nearly positive we mean the more nearly ,organized4 ,everything merges away into everything else1 but proportionately to its complexity1 if unified1 a thing seems strong1 real1 and distinct3 so1 in aesthetics1 it is recognized that diversity in unity is higher beauty1 or approximation to ,beauty1 than is simpler unity2 so the logicians feel that agreement of diverse data constitute greater convincingness1 or strength1 than that of mere parallel instances3 so to ,herbert ,spencer the more highly differentiated and integrated is the more fully evolved4 ,our opponents hold out for mundane origin of all black rains4 ,our method will be the presenting of diverse phenomena in agreement with the notion of some other origin4 ,we take up not only black rains but black rains and their accompanying phenomena4 ,a correspondent to ,knowledge1 #e-aij1 writes of a black rain that fell in the ,clyde ,valley1 ,march #a1 #ahhd3 of another black rain that fell two days later4 ,according to the correspondent1 a black rain had fallen in the ,clyde ,valley1 ,march #bj1 #ahbh3 then again ,march #bb1 #ahbh4 ,according to ,nature1 #i-dc1 a black rain fell at ,marlsford1 ,england1 ,sept4 #d1 #ahgc2 more than twenty-four hours later another black rain fell in the same small town4 ,the black rains of ,slains3 ,according to ,rev4 ,james ,rust 7,scottish ,showers73 ,a black rain at ,slains1 ,jan4 #ad1 #ahfb--;another at ,carluke1 #adj miles from ,slains1 ,may #a1 #ahfb--;at ,slains1 ,may #bj1 #ahfb--,slains1 ,oct4 #bh1 #ahfc4 ,but after two of these showers1 vast quantities of a substance described sometimes as pumice stone1 but sometimes as slag1 were washed upon the sea coast near ,slains4 ,a chemist's opinion is given that this substance was slag3 that it was not a volcanic product3 slag from smelting works4 ,we now have1 for black rains1 a concomitant that is irreconcilable with origin from factory chimneys4 ,whatever it may have been the quantity of this substance was so enormous that1 in ,mr4 ,rust's opinion1 to have produced so much of it would have required the united output of all the smelting works in the world4 ,if slag it were1 we accept that an artificial product has1 in enormous quantities1 fallen from the sky4 ,if you don't think that such occurrences are damned by ,science1 read ,scottish ,showers and see how impossible it was for the author to have this matter taken up by the scientific world4 ,the first and second rains corresponded1 in time1 with ordinary ebullitions of ,vesuvius4 ,the third and fourth1 according to ,mr4 ,rust1 corresponded with no known volcanic activities upon this earth4 ,la ,science ,pour ,tous1 #aa-bf3 ,that1 between ,october1 #ahfc1 and ,january1 #ahff1 four more black rains fell at ,slains1 ,scotland4 ,the writer of this supplementary account tells us1 with a better1 or more unscrupulous1 orthodoxy than ,mr4 ,rust's1 that of the eight black rains1 five coincided with eruptions of ,vesuvius and three with eruptions of ,etna4 ,the fate of all explanation is to close one door only to have another fly wide open4 ,i should say that my own notions upon this subject will be considered irrational1 but at least my gregariousness is satisfied in associating here with the preposterous--or this writer1 and those who think in his rut1 have to say that they can think of four discharges from one far-distant volcano1 passing over a great part of ,europe1 precipitating nowhere else1 discharging precisely over one small northern parish-- ,but also of three other discharges1 from another far-distant volcano1 showing the same precise preference1 if not marksmanship1 for one small parish in ,scotland4 ,nor would orthodoxy be any better off in thinking of exploding meteorites and their debris3 preciseness and recurrence would be just as difficult to explain4 ,my own notion is of an island near an oceanic trade-route3 it might receive debris from passing vessels seven times in four years4 ,other concomitants of black rains3 ,in ,timb's ,year ,book1 #ahea-bgj1 there is an account of a sort of rumbling1 as of wagons1 heard for upward of an hour without ceasing1 ,july #af1 #ahej1 ,bulwick ,rectory1 ,northampton1 ,england4 ,on the #aith1 a black rain fell4 ,in ,nature1 #cj-f1 a correspondent writes of an intense darkness at ,preston1 ,england1 ,april #bf1 #ahhd3 page #cb1 another correspondent writes of black rain at ,crowle1 near ,worcester1 ,april #bf3 that a week later1 or ,may #c1 it had fallen again3 another account of black rain1 upon the #bhth of ,april1 near ,church ,shetton1 so intense that the following day brooks were still dyed with it4 ,according to four accounts by correspondents to ,nature there were earthquakes in ,england at this time4 ,or the black rain of ,canada1 ,nov4 #i1 #ahai4 ,this time it is orthodoxy to attribute the black precipitate to smoke of forest fires south of the ,ohio ,river-- ,zurcher1 ,meteors1 p4 #bch3 ,that this black rain was accompanied by shocks like those of an earthquake4 ,edinburgh ,philosophical ,journal1 #b-cha3 ,that the earthquake had occurred at the climax of intense darkness and the fall of black rain4 99 99 99 99 99 ,red rains4 ,orthodoxy3 ,sand blown by the sirocco1 from the ,sahara to ,europe4 ,especially in the earthquake regions of ,europe1 there have been many falls of red substance1 usually1 but not always1 precipitated in rain4 ,upon many occasions1 these substances have been absolutely identified as sand from the ,sahara4 ,when ,i first took this matter up1 ,i came across assurance after assurance1 so positive to this effect1 that1 had ,i not been an ,intermediatist1 ,i'd have looked no further4 ,samples collected from a rain at ,genoa--samples of sand forwarded from the ,sahara--absolute agreement some writers said3 same color1 same particles of quartz1 even the same shells of diatoms mixed in4 ,then the chemical analyses3 not a disagreement worth mentioning4 ,our intermediatist means of expression will be that1 with proper exclusions1 after the scientific or theological method1 anything can be identified with anything else1 if all things are only different expressions of an underlying oneness4 ,to many minds there's rest and there's satisfaction in that expression absolutely identified4 ,absoluteness1 or the illusion of it--the universal quest4 ,if chemists have identified substances that have fallen in ,europe as sand from ,african deserts1 swept up in ,african whirlwinds1 that's assuasive to all the irritations that occur to those cloistered minds that must repose in the concept of a snug1 isolated1 little world1 free from contact with cosmic wickednesses1 safe from stellar guile1 undisturbed by inter-planetary prowlings and invasions4 ,the only trouble is that a chemist's analysis1 which seems so final and authoritative to some minds1 is no more nearly absolute than is identification by a child or description by an imbecile-- ,i take some of that back3 ,i accept that the approximation is higher-- ,but that it's based upon delusion1 because there is no definiteness1 no homogeneity1 no stability1 only different stages somewhere between them and indefiniteness1 heterogeneity1 and instability4 ,there are no chemical elements4 ,it seems acceptable that ,ramsay and others have settled that4 ,the chemical elements are only another disappointment in the quest for the positive1 as the definite1 the homogeneous1 and the stable4 ,if there were real elements1 there could be a real science of chemistry4 ,upon ,nov4 #ab and #ac1 #aijb1 occurred the greatest fall of matter in the history of ,australia4 ,upon the #adth of ,november1 it rained mud1 in ,tasmania4 ,it was of course attributed to ,australian whirlwinds1 but1 according to the ,monthly ,weather ,review1 #cb-cfe1 there was a haze all the way to the ,philippines1 also as far as ,hong ,kong4 ,it may be that this phenomenon had no especial relation with the even more tremendous fall of matter that occurred in ,europe1 ,february1 #aijc4 ,for several days1 the south of ,england was a dumping ground--from somewhere4 ,if you'd like to have a chemist's opinion1 even though it's only a chemist's opinion1 see the report of the meeting of the ,royal ,chemical ,society1 ,april #b1 #aijc4 ,mr4 ,e4,g4 ,clayton read a paper upon some of the substance that had fallen from the sky1 collected by him4 ,the ,sahara explanation applies mostly to falls that occur in southern ,europe4 ,farther away1 the conventionalists are a little uneasy3 for instance1 the editor of the ,monthly ,weather ,review1 #bi-aba1 says of a red rain that fell near the coast of ,newfoundland1 early in #ahij3 ,it would be very remarkable if this was ,sahara dust4 ,mr4 ,clayton said that the matter examined by him was merely wind-borne dust from the roads and lanes of ,wessex4 ,this opinion is typical of all scientific opinion--or theological opinion--or feminine opinion--all very well except for what it disregards4 ,the most charitable thing ,i can think of--because ,i think it gives us a broader tone to relieve our malices with occasional charities--is that ,mr4 ,clayton had not heard of the astonishing extent of this fall--had covered the ,canary ,islands1 on the #aith1 for instance4 ,i think1 myself1 that in #aijc1 we passed through the remains of a powdered world--left over from an ancient inter-planetary dispute1 brooding in space like a red resentment ever since4 ,or1 like every other opinion1 the notion of dust from ,wessex turns into a provincial thing when we look it over4 ,to think is to conceive incompletely1 because all thought relates only to the local4 ,we metaphysicians1 of course1 like to have the notion that we think of the unthinkable4 ,as to opinions1 or pronouncements1 ,i should say1 because they always have such an authoritative air1 of other chemists1 there is an analysis in ,nature1 #fh-ed1 giving water and organic matter at #i4jh per cent4 ,it's that carrying out of fractions that's so convincing4 ,the substance is identified as sand from the ,sahara4 ,the vastness of this fall4 ,in ,nature1 #fh-fe1 we are told that it had occurred in ,ireland1 too4 ,the ,sahara1 of course--because1 prior to ,february #ai1 there had been dust storms in the ,sahara--disregarding that in that great region there's always1 in some part of it1 a dust storm4 ,however1 just at present1 it does look reasonable that dust had come from ,africa1 via the ,canaries4 ,the great difficulty that authoritativeness has to contend with is some other authoritativeness4 ,when an infallibility clashes with a pontification-- ,they explain4 ,nature1 ,march #e1 #aijc3 ,another analysis--#cf per cent organic matter4 ,such disagreements don't look very well1 so1 in ,nature1 #fh-aji1 one of the differing chemists explains4 ,he says that his analysis was of muddy rain1 and the other was of sediment of rain-- ,we're quite ready to accept excuses from the most high1 though ,i do wonder whether we're quite so damned as we were1 if we find ourselves in a gracious and tolerant mood toward the powers that condemn--but the tax that now comes upon our good manners and unwillingness to be too severe-- ,nature1 #fh-bbc3 ,another chemist4 ,he says it was #bc4di per cent water and organic matter4 ,he identifies this matter as sand from an ,african desert--but after deducting organic matter-- ,but you and ,i could be identified as sand from an ,african desert1 after deducting all there is to us except sand-- ,why we cannot accept that this fall was of sand from the ,sahara1 omitting the obvious objection that in most parts the ,sahara is not red at all1 but is usually described as dazzling white-- ,the enormousness of it3 that a whirlwind might have carried it1 but that1 in that case it would be no supposititious1 or doubtfully identified whirlwind1 but the greatest atmospheric cataclysm in the history of this earth3 ,jour4 ,roy4 ,met4 ,soc41 #cj-ef3 ,that1 up to the #bgth of ,february1 this fall had continued in ,belgium1 ,holland1 ,germany and ,austria2 that in some instances it was not sand1 or that almost all the matter was organic3 that a vessel had reported the fall as occurring in the ,atlantic ,ocean1 midway between ,southampton and the ,barbados4 ,the calculation is given that1 in ,england alone1 #aj1jjj1jjj tons of matter had fallen4 ,it had fallen in ,switzerland 7,symons' ,met4 ,mag41 ,march1 #aijc74 ,it had fallen in ,russia 7,bull4 ,com4 ,geolog41 #bb-dh74 ,not only had a vast quantity of matter fallen several months before1 in ,australia1 but it was at this time falling in ,australia 7,victorian ,naturalist1 ,june1 #aijc7--;enormously--red mud--fifty tons per square mile4 ,the ,wessex explanation-- ,or that every explanation is a ,wessex explanation3 by that ,i mean an attempt to interpret the enormous in terms of the minute--but that nothing can be finally explained1 because by ,truth we mean the ,universal2 and that even if we could think as wide as ,universality1 that would not be requital to the cosmic quest--which is not for ,truth1 but for the local that is true--not to universalize the local1 but to localize the universal--or to give to a cosmic cloud absolute interpretation in terms of the little dusty roads and lanes of ,wessex4 ,i cannot conceive that this can be done3 ,i think of high approximation4 ,our ,intermediatist concept is that1 because of the continuity of all things1 which are not separate1 positive1 or real things1 all pseudo-things partake of the underlying1 or are only different expressions1 degrees1 or aspects of the underlying3 so then that a sample from somewhere in anything must correspond with a sample from somewhere in anything else4 ,that1 by due care in selection1 and disregard for everything else1 or the scientific and theological method1 the substance that fell1 ,february1 #aijc1 could be identified with anything1 or with some part or aspect of anything that could be conceived of-- ,with sand from the ,sahara1 sand from a barrel of sugar1 or dust of your great-great-grandfather4 ,different samples are described and listed in the ,journal of the ,royal ,meteorological ,society1 #cj-eg--or we'll see whether my notion that a chemist could have identified some one of these samples as from anywhere conceivable1 is extreme or not3 ,similar to brick dust1 in one place2 buff or light brown1 in another place2 chocolate-colored and silky to the touch and slightly iridescent2 gray2 red-rust color2 reddish raindrops and gray sand2 dirty gray2 quite red2 yellow-brown1 with a tinge of pink2 deep yellow-clay color4 ,in ,nature1 it is described as of a peculiar yellowish cast in one place1 reddish somewhere else1 and salmon-colored in another place4 ,or there could be real science if there were really anything to be scientific about4 ,or the science of chemistry is like a science of sociology1 prejudiced in advance1 because only to see is to see with a prejudice1 setting out to prove that all inhabitants of ,new ,york came from ,africa4 ,very easy matter4 ,samples from one part of town4 ,disregard for all the rest4 ,there is no science but ,wessex-science4 ,according to our acceptance1 there should be no other1 but that approximation should be higher3 that metaphysics is super-evil3 that the scientific spirit is of the cosmic quest4 ,our notion is that1 in a real existence1 such a quasi-system of fables as the science of chemistry could not deceive for a moment3 but that in an existence endeavoring to become real1 it represents that endeavor1 and will continue to impose its pseudo-positiveness until it be driven out by a higher approximation to realness3 ,that the science of chemistry is as impositive as fortune-telling-- ,or no-- ,that1 though it represents a higher approximation to realness than does alchemy1 for instance1 and so drove out alchemy1 it is still only somewhere between myth and positiveness4 ,the attempt at realness1 or to state a real and unmodified fact here1 is the statement3 ,all red rains are colored by sands from the ,sahara ,desert4 ,my own impositivist acceptances are3 ,that some red rains are colored by sands from the ,sahara ,desert2 ,some by sands from other terrestrial sources2 ,some by sands from other worlds1 or from their deserts--also from aerial regions too indefinite or amorphous to be thought of as worlds or planets-- ,that no supposititious whirlwind can account for the hundreds of millions of tons of matter that fell upon ,australia1 ,pacific ,ocean and ,atlantic ,ocean and ,europe in #aijb and #aijc--that a whirlwind that could do that would not be supposititious4 ,but now we shall cast off some of our own wessicality by accepting that there have been falls of red substance other than sand4 ,we regard every science as an expression of the attempt to be real4 ,but to be real is to localize the universal--or to make some one thing as wide as all things--successful accomplishment of which ,i cannot conceive of4 ,the prime resistance to this endeavor is the refusal of the rest of the universe to be damned1 excluded1 disregarded1 to receive ,christian ,science treatment1 by something else so attempting4 ,although all phenomena are striving for the ,absolute--or have surrendered to and have incorporated themselves in higher attempts1 simply to be phenomenal1 or to have seeming in ,intermediateness is to express relations4 ,a river4 ,it is water expressing the gravitational relation of different levels4 ,the water of the river4 ,expression of chemic relations of hydrogen and oxygen--which are not final4 ,a city4 ,manifestation of commercial and social relations4 ,how could a mountain be without base in a greater body8 ,storekeeper live without customers8 ,the prime resistance to the positivist attempt by ,science is its relations with other phenomena1 or that it only expresses those relations in the first place4 ,or that a ,science can have seeming1 or survive in ,intermediateness1 as something pure1 isolated1 positively different1 no more than could a river or a city or a mountain or a store4 ,this ,intermediateness-wide attempt by parts to be wholes--which cannot be realized in our quasi-state1 if we accept that in it the co-existence of two or more wholes or universals is impossible--high approximation to which1 however1 may be thinkable-- ,scientists and their dream of pure science4 ,artists and their dream of art for art's sake4 ,it is our notion that if they could almost realize1 that would be almost realness3 that they would instantly be translated into real existence4 ,such thinkers are good positivists1 but they are evil in an economic and sociologic sense1 if1 in that sense1 nothing has justification for being1 unless it serve1 or function for1 or express the relations of1 some higher aggregate4 ,so ,science functions for and serves society at large1 and would1 from society at large1 receive no support1 unless it did so divert itself or dissipate and prostitute itself4 ,it seems that by prostitution ,i mean usefulness4 ,there have been red rains that1 in the middle ages1 were called rains of blood4 ,such rains terrified many persons1 and were so unsettling to large populations1 that ,science1 in its sociologic relations1 has sought1 by ,mrs4 ,eddy's method1 to remove an evil-- ,that rains of blood do not exist2 ,that rains so called are only of water colored by sand from the ,sahara ,desert4 ,my own acceptance is that such assurances1 whether fictitious or not1 whether the ,sahara is a dazzling white desert or not1 have wrought such good effects1 in a sociologic sense1 even though prostitutional in the positivist sense1 that1 in the sociologic sense1 they were well justified3 ,but that we've gone on3 that this is the twentieth century2 that most of us have grown up so that such soporifics of the past are no longer necessary3 ,that if gushes of blood should fall from the sky upon ,new ,york ,city1 business would go on as usual4 ,we began with rains that we accepted ourselves were1 most likely1 only of sand4 ,in my own still immature hereticalness--and by heresy1 or progress1 ,i mean1 very largely1 a return1 though with many modifications1 to the superstitions of the past1 ,i think ,i feel considerable aloofness to the idea of rains of blood4 ,just at present1 it is my conservative1 or timid purpose1 to express only that there have been red rains that very strongly suggest blood or finely divided animal matter-- ,debris from inter-planetary disasters4 ,aerial battles4 ,food-supplies from cargoes of super-vessels1 wrecked in inter-planetary traffic4 ,there was a red rain in the ,mediterranean region1 ,march #f1 #ahhh4 ,twelve days later1 it fell again4 ,whatever this substance may have been1 when burned1 the odor of animal matter from it was strong and persistent4 7,l',astronomie1 #ahhh-bje47 ,but--infinite heterogeneity--or debris from many different kinds of aerial cargoes--there have been red rains that have been colored by neither sand nor animal matter4 ,annals of ,philosophy1 #af-bbf3 ,that1 ,nov4 #b1 #ahai--week before the black rain and earthquake of ,canada--there fell1 at ,blankenberge1 ,holland1 a red rain4 ,as to sand1 two chemists of ,bruges concentrated #add ounces of the rain to #d ounces--no precipitate fell4 ,but the color was so marked that had there been sand1 it would have been deposited1 if the substance had been diluted instead of concentrated4 ,experiments were made1 and various reagents did cast precipitates1 but other than sand4 ,the chemists concluded that the rain-water contained muriate of cobalt--which is not very enlightening3 that could be said of many substances carried in vessels upon the ,atlantic ,ocean4 ,whatever it may have been1 in the ,annales de ,chimie1 #b-ab-dcb1 its color is said to have been red-violet4 ,for various chemic reactions1 see ,quar4 ,jour4 ,roy4 ,inst41 #i-bjb1 and ,edin4 ,phil4 ,jour41 #b-cha4 ,something that fell with dust said to have been meteoric1 ,march #i1 #aj1 #aa1 #ahgb3 described in the ,chemical ,news1 #be-cjj1 as a peculiar substance1 consisted of red iron ocher1 carbonate of lime1 and organic matter4 ,orange-red hail1 ,march #ad1 #ahgc1 in ,tuscany4 7,notes and ,queries #i-e-af47 ,rain of lavender-colored substance1 at ,oudon1 ,france1 ,dec4 #ai1 #aijc4 7,bull4 ,soc4 ,met4 de ,france1 #aijd-abd47 ,la ,nature1 #ahhe-b-cea3 ,that1 according to ,prof4 ,schwedoff1 there fell1 in ,russia1 ,june #ad1 #ahhj1 red hailstones1 also blue hailstones1 also gray hailstones4 ,nature1 #cd-abc3 ,a correspondent writes that he had been told by a resident of a small town in ,venezuela1 that there1 ,april #ag1 #ahhf1 had fallen hailstones1 some red1 some blue1 some whitish3 informant said to have been one unlikely ever to have heard of the ,russian phenomenon2 described as an honest1 plain countryman4 ,nature1 ,july #e1 #ahgg1 quotes a ,roman correspondent to the ,london ,times who sent a translation from an ,italian newspaper3 that a red rain had fallen in ,italy1 ,june #bc1 #ahgg1 containing microscopically small particles of sand4 ,or1 according to our acceptance1 any other story would have been an evil thing1 in the sociologic sense1 in ,italy1 in #ahgg4 ,but the ,english correspondent1 from a land where terrifying red rains are uncommon1 does not feel this necessity4 ,he writes3 ,i am by no means satisfied that the rain was of sand and water4 ,his observations are that drops of this rain left stains such as sandy water could not leave4 ,he notes that when the water evaporated1 no sand was left behind4 ,l',annee ,scientifique1 #ahhh-ge3 ,that1 ,dec4 #ac1 #ahhg1 there fell1 in ,cochin ,china1 a substance like blood1 somewhat coagulated4 ,annales de ,chimie1 #he-bff3 ,that a thick1 viscous1 red matter fell at ,ulm1 in #ahab4 ,we now have a datum with a factor that has been foreshadowed2 which will recur and recur and recur throughout this book4 ,it is a factor that makes for speculation so revolutionary that it will have to be reinforced many times before we can take it into full acceptance4 ,year ,book of ,facts1 #ahfa-bgc3 ,quotation from a letter from ,prof4 ,campini to ,prof4 ,matteucci3 ,that1 upon ,dec4 #bh1 #ahfj1 at about #g ,a4,m41 in the northwestern part of ,siena1 a reddish rain fell copiously for two hours4 ,a second red shower fell at #aa o'clock4 ,three days later1 the red rain fell again4 ,the next day another red rain fell4 ,still more extraordinarily3 ,each fall occurred in exactly the same quarter of town4 #d ,it is in the records of the ,french ,academy that1 upon ,march #ag1 #affi1 in the town of ,chatillon-sur-,seine1 fell a reddish substance that was thick1 viscous1 and putrid4 ,american ,journal of ,science1 #a-da-djd3 ,story of a highly unpleasant substance that had fallen from the sky1 in ,wilson ,county1 ,tennessee4 ,we read that ,dr4 ,troost visited the place and investigated4 ,later we're going to investigate some investigations--but never mind that now4 ,dr4 ,troost reported that the substance was clear blood and portions of flesh scattered upon tobacco fields4 ,he argued that a whirlwind might have taken an animal up from one place1 mauled it around1 and have precipitated its remains somewhere else4 ,but1 in volume #dd1 page #baf1 of the ,journal1 there is an apology4 ,the whole matter is1 upon newspaper authority1 said to have been a hoax by ,negroes1 who had pretended to have seen the shower1 for the sake of practicing upon the credulity of their masters3 that they had scattered the decaying flesh of a dead hog over the tobacco fields4 ,if we don't accept this datum1 at least we see the sociologically necessary determination to have all falls accredited to earthly origins--even when they're falls that don't fall4 ,annual ,register1 #ahba-fhg3 ,that1 upon the #acth of ,august1 #ahai1 something had fallen from the sky at ,amherst1 ,mass4 ,it had been examined and described by ,prof4 ,graves1 formerly lecturer at ,dartmouth ,college4 ,it was an object that had upon it a nap1 similar to that of milled cloth4 ,upon removing this nap1 a buff-colored1 pulpy substance was found4 ,it had an offensive odor1 and1 upon exposure to the air1 turned to a vivid red4 ,this thing was said to have fallen with a brilliant light4 ,also see the ,edinburgh ,philosophical ,journal1 #e-bie4 ,in the ,annales de ,chimie1 #ahba-fg1 ,m4 ,arago accepts the datum1 and gives four instances of similar objects or substances said to have fallen from the sky1 two of which we shall have with our data of gelatinous1 or viscous matter1 and two of which ,i omit1 because it seems to me that the dates given are too far back4 ,in the ,american ,journal of ,science1 #a-b-cce1 is ,professor ,graves' account1 communicated by ,professor ,dewey3 ,that1 upon the evening of ,august #ac1 #ahai1 a light was seen in ,amherst--a falling object--sound as if of an explosion4 ,in the home of ,prof4 ,dewey1 this light was reflected upon a wall of a room in which were several members of ,prof4 ,dewey's family4 ,the next morning1 in ,prof4 ,dewey's front yard1 in what is said to have been the only position from which the light that had been seen in the room1 the night before1 could have been reflected1 was found a substance unlike anything before observed by anyone who saw it4 ,it was a bowl-shaped object1 about #h inches in diameter1 and one inch thick4 ,bright buff-colored1 and having upon it a fine nap4 ,upon removing this covering1 a buff-colored1 pulpy substance of the consistency of soft-soap1 was found--of an offensive1 suffocating smell4 ,a few minutes of exposure to the air changed the buff color to a livid color resembling venous blood4 ,it absorbed moisture quickly from the air and liquefied4 ,for some of the chemic reactions1 see the ,journal4 ,there's another lost quasi-soul of a datum that seems to me to belong here3 ,london ,times1 ,april #ai1 #ahcf3 ,fall of fish that had occurred in the neighborhood of ,allahabad1 ,india4 ,it is said that the fish were of the chalwa species1 about a span in length and a seer in weight--you know4 ,they were dead and dry4 ,or they had been such a long time out of water that we can't accept that they had been scooped out of a pond1 by a whirlwind--even though they were so definitely identified as of a known local species-- ,or they were not fish at all4 ,i incline1 myself1 to the acceptance that they were not fish1 but slender1 fish-shaped objects of the same substance as that which fell at ,amherst--it is said that1 whatever they were1 they could not be eaten3 that in the pan1 they turned to blood4 ,for details of this story see the ,journal of the ,asiatic ,society of ,bengal1 #ahcd-cjg4 ,may #af or #ag1 #ahcd1 is the date given in the ,journal4 ,in the ,american ,journal of ,science1 #a-be-cfb1 occurs the inevitable damnation of the ,amherst object3 ,prof4 ,edward ,hitchcock went to live in ,amherst4 ,he says that years later1 another object1 like the one said to have fallen in #ahai1 had been found at nearly the same place4 ,prof4 ,hitchcock was invited by ,prof4 ,graves to examine it4 ,exactly like the first one4 ,corresponded in size and color and consistency4 ,the chemic reactions were the same4 ,prof4 ,hitchcock recognized it in a moment4 ,it was a gelatinous fungus4 ,he did not satisfy himself as to just the exact species it belonged to1 but he predicted that similar fungi might spring up within twenty-four hours-- ,but1 before evening1 two others sprang up4 ,or we've arrived at one of the oldest of the exclusionists' conventions--or nostoc4 ,we shall have many data of gelatinous substance said to have fallen from the sky3 almost always the exclusionists argue that it was only nostoc1 an ,alga1 or1 in some respects1 a fungous growth4 ,the rival convention is spawn of frogs or of fishes4 ,these two conventions have made a strong combination4 ,in instances where testimony was not convincing that gelatinous matter had been seen to fall1 it was said that the gelatinous substance was nostoc1 and had been upon the ground in the first place3 when the testimony was too good that it had fallen1 it was said to be spawn that had been carried from one place to another in a whirlwind4 ,now1 ,i can't say that nostoc is always greenish1 any more than ,i can say that blackbirds are always black1 having seen a white one3 we shall quote a scientist who knew of flesh-colored nostoc1 when so to know was convenient4 ,when we come to reported falls of gelatinous substances1 ,i'd like it to be noticed how often they are described as whitish or grayish4 ,in looking up the subject1 myself1 ,i have read only of greenish nostoc4 ,said to be greenish1 in ,webster's ,dictionary--said to be blue-green in the ,new ,international ,encyclopedia--from bright green to olive-green 7,science ,gossip1 #aj-aad72 green 7,science ,gossip1 #g-bfj72 greenish 7,notes and ,queries1 #a-aa-bai74 ,it would seem acceptable that1 if many reports of white birds should occur1 the birds are not blackbirds1 even though there have been white blackbirds4 ,or that1 if often reported1 grayish or whitish gelatinous substance is not nostoc1 and is not spawn if occurring in times unseasonable for spawn4 ,the ,kentucky ,phenomenon4 ,so it was called1 in its day1 and now we have an occurrence that attracted a great deal of attention in its own time4 ,usually these things of the accursed have been hushed up or disregarded--suppressed like the seven black rains of ,slains--but1 upon ,march #c1 #ahgf1 something occurred1 in ,bath ,county1 ,kentucky1 that brought many newspaper correspondents to the scene4 ,the substance that looked like beef that fell from the sky4 ,upon ,march #c1 #ahgf1 at ,olympian ,springs1 ,bath ,county1 ,kentucky1 flakes of a substance that looked like beef fell from the sky--from a clear sky4 ,we'd like to emphasize that it was said that nothing but this falling substance was visible in the sky4 ,it fell in flakes of various sizes2 some two inches square1 one1 three or four inches square4 ,the flake-formation is interesting3 later we shall think of it as signifying pressure--somewhere4 ,it was a thick shower1 on the ground1 on trees1 on fences1 but it was narrowly localized3 or upon a strip of land about #ajj yards long and about #ej yards wide4 ,for the first account1 see the ,scientific ,american1 #cd-aig1 and the ,new ,york ,times1 ,march #aj1 #ahgf4 ,then the exclusionists4 ,something that looked like beef3 one flake of it the size of a square envelope4 ,if we think of how hard the exclusionists have fought to reject the coming of ordinary-looking dust from this earth's externality1 we can sympathize with them in this sensational instance1 perhaps4 ,newspaper correspondents wrote broadcast and witnesses were quoted1 and this time there is no mention of a hoax1 and1 except by one scientist1 there is no denial that the fall did take place4 ,it seems to me that the exclusionists are still more emphatically conservators4 ,it is not so much that they are inimical to all data of externally derived substances that fall upon this earth1 as that they are inimical to all data discordant with a system that does not include such phenomena-- ,or the spirit or hope or ambition of the cosmos1 which we call attempted positivism3 not to find out the new2 not to add to what is called knowledge1 but to systematize4 ,scientific ,american ,supplement1 #b-dbf3 ,that the substance reported from ,kentucky had been examined by ,leopold ,brandeis4 ,at last we have a proper explanation of this much talked of phenomenon4 ,it has been comparatively easy to identify the substance and to fix its status4 ,the ,kentucky 'wonder' is no more or less than nostoc4 ,or that it had not fallen2 that it had been upon the ground in the first place1 and had swollen in rain1 and1 attracting attention by greatly increased volume1 had been supposed by unscientific observers to have fallen in rain-- ,what rain1 ,i don't know4 ,also it is spoken of as dried several times4 ,that's one of the most important of the details4 ,but the relief of outraged propriety1 expressed in the ,supplement1 is amusing to some of us1 who1 ,i fear1 may be a little improper at times4 ,very spirit of the ,salvation ,army1 when some third-rate scientist comes out with an explanation of the vermiform appendix or the os coccygis that would have been acceptable to ,moses4 ,to give completeness to the proper explanation1 it is said that ,mr4 ,brandeis had identified the substance as flesh-colored nostoc4 ,prof4 ,lawrence ,smith1 of ,kentucky1 one of the most resolute of the exclusionists3 ,new ,york ,times1 ,march #ab1 #ahgf3 ,that the substance had been examined and analyzed by ,prof4 ,smith1 according to whom it gave every indication of being the dried spawn of some reptile1 doubtless of the frog--or up from one place and down in another4 ,as to dried1 that may refer to condition when ,prof4 ,smith received it4 ,in the ,scientific ,american ,supplement1 #b-dgc1 ,dr4 ,a4 ,mead ,edwards1 ,president of the ,newark ,scientific ,association1 writes that1 when he saw ,mr4 ,brandeis' communication1 his feeling was of conviction that propriety had been re-established1 or that the problem had been solved1 as he expresses it3 knowing ,mr4 ,brandeis well1 he had called upon that upholder of respectability1 to see the substance that had been identified as nostoc4 ,but he had also called upon ,dr4 ,hamilton1 who had a specimen1 and ,dr4 ,hamilton had declared it to be lung-tissue4 ,dr4 ,edwards writes of the substance that had so completely1 or beautifully--if beauty is completeness--been identified as nostoc--,it turned out to be lung-tissue also4 ,he wrote to other persons who had specimens1 and identified other specimens as masses of cartilage or muscular fibers4 ,as to whence it came1 ,i have no theory4 ,nevertheless he endorses the local explanation--and a bizarre thing it is3 ,a flock of gorged1 heavy-weighted buzzards1 but far up and invisible in the clear sky-- ,they had disgorged4 ,prof4 ,fassig lists the substance1 in his ,bibliography1 as fish spawn4 ,mc,atee 7,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,may1 #aiah7 lists it as a jelly-like material1 supposed to have been the dried spawn either of fishes or of some batrachian4 ,or this is why1 against the seemingly insuperable odds against all things new1 there can be what is called progress-- ,that nothing is positive1 in the aspects of homogeneity and unity3 ,if the whole world should seem to combine against you1 it is only unreal combination1 or intermediateness to unity and disunity4 ,every resistance is itself divided into parts resisting one another4 ,the simplest strategy seems to be--never bother to fight a thing3 set its own parts fighting one another4 ,we are merging away from carnal to gelatinous substance1 and here there is an abundance of instances or reports of instances4 ,these data are so improper they're obscene to the science of today1 but we shall see that science1 before it became so rigorous1 was not so prudish4 ,chladni was not1 and ,greg was not4 ,i shall have to accept1 myself1 that gelatinous substance has often fallen from the sky-- ,or that1 far up1 or far away1 the whole sky is gelatinous8 ,that meteors tear through and detach fragments8 ,that fragments are brought down by storms8 ,that the twinkling of stars is penetration of light through something that quivers8 ,i think1 myself1 that it would be absurd to say that the whole sky is gelatinous3 it seems more acceptable that only certain areas are4 ,humboldt 7,cosmos1 #a-aai7 says that all our data in this respect must be classed amongst the mythical fables of mythology4 ,he is very sure1 but just a little redundant4 ,we shall be opposed by the standard resistances3 ,there in the first place2 ,up from one place1 in a whirlwind1 and down in another4 ,we shall not bother to be very convincing one way or another1 because of the over-shadowing of the datum with which we shall end up4 ,it will mean that something had been in a stationary position for several days over a small part of a small town in ,england3 this is the revolutionary thing that we have alluded to before2 whether the substance were nostoc1 or spawn1 or some kind of a larval nexus1 doesn't matter so much4 ,if it stood in the sky for several days1 we rank with ,moses as a chronicler of improprieties--or was that story1 or datum1 we mean1 told by ,moses8 ,then we shall have so many records of gelatinous substance said to have fallen with meteorites1 that1 between the two phenomena1 some of us will have to accept connection--or that there are at least vast gelatinous areas aloft1 and that meteorites tear through1 carrying down some of the substance4 ,comptes ,rendus1 #c-eed3 ,that1 in #ahcf1 ,m4 ,vallot1 member of the ,french ,academy1 placed before the ,academy some fragments of a gelatinous substance1 said to have fallen from the sky1 and asked that they be analyzed4 ,there is no further allusion to this subject4 ,comptes ,rendus1 #bc-edb3 ,that1 in ,wilna1 ,lithuania1 ,april #d1 #ahdf1 in a rainstorm1 fell nut-sized masses of a substance that is described as both resinous and gelatinous4 ,it was odorless until burned3 then it spread a very pronounced sweetish odor4 ,it is described as like gelatine1 but much firmer3 but1 having been in water #bd hours1 it swelled out1 and looked altogether gelatinous-- ,it was grayish4 ,we are told that1 in #ahda and #ahdf1 a similar substance had fallen in ,asia ,minor4 ,in ,notes and ,queries1 #h-f-aij1 it is said that1 early in ,august1 #ahid1 thousands of jellyfish1 about the size of a shilling1 had fallen at ,bath1 ,england4 ,i think it is not acceptable that they were jellyfish3 but it does look as if this time frog spawn did fall from the sky1 and may have been translated by a whirlwind--because1 at the same time1 small frogs fell at ,wigan1 ,england4 ,nature1 #hg-aj3 ,that1 ,june #bd1 #aiaa1 at ,eton1 ,bucks1 ,england1 the ground was found covered with masses of jelly1 the size of peas1 after a heavy rainfall4 ,we are not told of nostoc1 this time3 it is said that the object contained numerous eggs of some species of ,chironomus1 from which larvae soon emerged4 ,i incline1 then1 to think that the objects that fell at ,bath were neither jellyfish nor masses of frog spawn1 but something of a larval kind-- ,this is what had occurred at ,bath1 ,england1 #bc years before4 ,london ,times1 ,april #bd1 #ahga3 ,that1 upon the #bbnd of ,april1 #ahga1 a storm of glutinous drops neither jellyfish nor masses of frog spawn1 but something of a line missing here in original text4 ,ed4 railroad station1 at ,bath4 ,many soon developed into a worm-like chrysalis1 about an inch in length4 ,the account of this occurrence in the ,zoologist1 #b-f-bfhf1 is more like the ,eton-datum3 of minute forms1 said to have been infusoria2 not forms about an inch in length4 ,trans4 ,ent4 ,soc4 of ,london1 #ahga-proc4 xxii3 ,that the phenomenon has been investigated by the ,rev4 ,l4 ,jenyns1 of ,bath4 ,his description is of minute worms in filmy envelopes4 ,he tries to account for their segregation4 ,the mystery of it is3 ,what could have brought so many of them together8 ,many other falls we shall have record of1 and in most of them segregation is the great mystery4 ,a whirlwind seems anything but a segregative force4 ,segregation of things that have fallen from the sky has been avoided as most deep-dyed of the damned4 ,mr4 ,jenyns conceives of a large pool1 in which were many of these spherical masses3 of the pool drying up and concentrating all in a small area2 of a whirlwind then scooping all up together-- ,but several days later1 more of these objects fell in the same place4 ,that such marksmanship is not attributable to whirlwinds seems to me to be what we think we mean by common sense3 ,it may not look like common sense to say that these things had been stationary over the town of ,bath1 several days-- ,the seven black rains of ,slains2 ,the four red rains of ,siena4 ,an interesting sidelight on the mechanics of orthodoxy is that ,mr4 ,jenyns dutifully records the second fall1 but ignores it in his explanation4 ,r4,p4 ,greg1 one of the most notable of cataloguers of meteoritic phenomena1 records 7,phil4 ,mag43 #d-h-dfc7 falls of viscid substance in the years #afeb1 #afhf1 #agah1 #agif1 #ahaa1 #ahai1 #ahdd4 ,he gives earlier dates1 but ,i practice exclusions1 myself4 ,in the ,report of the ,british ,association1 #ahfj-fc1 ,greg records a meteor that seemed to pass near the ground1 between ,barsdorf and ,freiburg1 ,germany3 the next day a jelly-like mass was found in the snow-- ,unseasonableness for either spawn or nostoc4 ,greg's comment in this instance is3 ,curious if true4 ,but he records without modification the fall of a meteorite at ,gotha1 ,germany1 ,sept4 #f1 #ahce1 leaving a jelly-like mass on the ground4 ,we are told that this substance fell only three feet away from an observer4 ,in the ,report of the ,british ,association1 #ahee-id1 according to a letter from ,greg to ,prof4 ,baden-,powell1 at night1 ,oct4 #h1 #ahdd1 near ,coblenz1 a ,german1 who was known to ,greg1 and another person saw a luminous body fall close to them4 ,they returned next morning and found a gelatinous mass of grayish color4 ,according to ,chladni's account 7,annals of ,philosophy1 n4s41 #ab-id7 a viscous mass fell with a luminous meteorite between ,siena and ,rome1 ,may1 #afeb2 viscous matter found after the fall of a fire ball1 in ,lusatia1 ,march1 #agif2 fall of a gelatinous substance1 after the explosion of a meteorite1 near ,heidelberg1 ,july1 #ahaa4 ,in the ,edinburgh ,philosophical ,journal1 #a-bcd1 the substance that fell at ,lusatia is said to have been of the color and odor of dried1 brown varnish4 ,in the ,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #a-bf-acc1 it is said that gelatinous matter fell with a globe of fire1 upon the island of ,lethy1 ,india1 #agah4 ,in the ,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #a-bf-cif1 in many observations upon the meteors of ,november1 #ahcc1 are reports of falls of gelatinous substance3 ,that1 according to newspaper reports1 lumps of jelly were found on the ground at ,rahway1 ,n4,j4 ,the substance was whitish1 or resembled the coagulated white of an egg3 ,that ,mr4 ,h4,h4 ,garland1 of ,nelson ,county1 ,virginia1 had found a jelly-like substance of about the circumference of a twenty-five-cent piece3 ,that1 according to a communication from ,a4,c4 ,twining to ,prof4 ,olmstead1 a woman at ,west ,point1 ,n4,y41 had seen a mass the size of a teacup4 ,it looked like boiled starch3 ,that1 according to a newspaper1 of ,newark1 ,n4,j41 a mass of gelatinous substance1 like soft soap1 had been found4 ,it possessed little elasticity1 and1 on the application of heat1 it evaporated as readily as water4 ,it seems incredible that a scientist would have such hardihood1 or infidelity1 as to accept that these things had fallen from the sky3 nevertheless1 ,prof4 ,olmstead1 who collected these lost souls1 says3 ,the fact that the supposed deposits were so uniformly described as gelatinous substance forms a presumption in favor of the supposition that they had the origin ascribed to them4 ,in contemporaneous scientific publications considerable attention was given to ,prof4 ,olmstead's series of papers upon this subject of the ,november meteors4 ,you will not find one mention of the part that treats of gelatinous matter4 #e ,i shall attempt not much of correlation of dates4 ,a mathematic-minded positivist1 with his delusion that in an intermediate state twice two are four1 whereas1 if we accept ,continuity1 we cannot accept that there are anywhere two things to start with1 would search our data for periodicities4 ,it is so obvious to me that the mathematic1 or the regular1 is the attribute of the ,universal1 that ,i have not much inclination to look for it in the local4 ,still1 in this solar system1 as a whole1 there is considerable approximation to regularity2 or the mathematic is so nearly localized that eclipses1 for instance1 can1 with rather high approximation1 be foretold1 though ,i have notes that would deflate a little the astronomers' vainglory in this respect--or would if that were possible4 ,an astronomer is poorly paid1 uncheered by crowds1 considerably isolated3 he lives upon his own inflations3 deflate a bear and it couldn't hibernate4 ,this solar system is like every other phenomenon that can be regarded as a whole--or the affairs of a ward are interfered with by the affairs of the city of which it is a part2 city by county2 county by state2 state by nation2 nation by other nations2 all nations by climatic conditions2 climatic conditions by solar circumstances2 sun by general planetary circumstances2 solar system as a whole by other solar systems--so the hopelessness of finding the phenomena of entirety in the ward of a city4 ,but positivists are those who try to find the unrelated in the ward of a city4 ,in our acceptance this is the spirit of cosmic religion4 ,objectively the state is not realizable in the ward of a city4 ,but1 if a positivist could bring himself to absolute belief that he had found it1 that would be a subjective realization of that which is unrealizable objectively4 ,of course we do not draw a positive line between the objective and the subjective--or that all phenomena called things or persons are subjective within one all-inclusive nexus1 and that thoughts within those that are commonly called persons are sub-subjective4 ,it is rather as if ,intermediateness strove for ,regularity in this solar system and failed3 then generated the mentality of astronomers1 and1 in that secondary expression1 strove for conviction that failure had been success4 ,i have tabulated all the data of this book1 and a great deal besides--card system--and several proximities1 thus emphasized1 have been revelations to me3 nevertheless1 it is only the method of theologians and scientists--worst of all1 of statisticians4 ,for instance1 by the statistic method1 ,i could prove that a black rain has fallen regularly every seven months1 somewhere upon this earth4 ,to do this1 ,i'd have to include red rains and yellow rains1 but1 conventionally1 ,i'd pick out the black particles in red substances and in yellow substances1 and disregard the rest4 ,then1 too1 if here and there a black rain should be a week early or a month late--that would be acceleration or retardation4 ,this is supposed to be legitimate in working out the periodicities of comets4 ,if black rains1 or red or yellow rains with black particles in them1 should not appear at all near some dates--we have not read ,darwin in vain--the records are not complete4 ,as to other1 interfering black rains1 they'd be either gray or brown1 or for them we'd find other periodicities4 ,still1 ,i have had to notice the year #ahai1 for instance4 ,i shall not note them all in this book1 but ,i have records of #ca extraordinary events in #ahhc4 ,someone should write a book upon the phenomena of this one year--that is1 if books should be written4 #ahdi is notable for extraordinary falls1 so far apart that a local explanation seems inadequate--not only the black rain of ,ireland1 ,may1 #ahdi1 but a red rain in ,sicily and a red rain in ,wales4 ,also1 it is said 7,timb's ,year ,book1 #ahej-bda7 that1 upon ,april #ah or #bj1 #ahdi1 shepherds near ,mt4 ,ararat1 found a substance that was not indigenous1 upon areas measuring #h to #aj miles in circumference4 ,presumably it had fallen there4 ,we have already gone into the subject of ,science and its attempted positiveness1 and its resistances in that it must have relations of service4 ,it is very easy to see that most of the theoretic science of the #aith century was only a relation of reaction against theologic dogma1 and has no more to do with ,truth than has a wave that bounds back from a shore4 ,or1 if a shop girl1 or you or ,i1 should pull out a piece of chewing gum about a yard long1 that would be quite as scientific a performance as was the stretching of this earth's age several hundred millions of years4 ,all things are not things1 but only relations1 or expressions of relations3 but all relations are striving to be the unrelated1 or have surrendered to1 and subordinated to1 higher attempts4 ,so there is a positivist aspect to this reaction that is itself only a relation1 and that is the attempt to assimilate all phenomena under the materialist explanation1 or to formulate a final1 all-inclusive system1 upon the materialist basis4 ,if this attempt could be realized1 that would be the attaining of realness2 but this attempt can be made only by disregarding psychic phenomena1 for instance--or1 if science shall eventually give in to the psychic1 it would be no more legitimate to explain the immaterial in terms of the material than to explain the material in terms of the immaterial4 ,our own acceptance is that material and immaterial are of a oneness1 merging1 for instance1 in a thought that is continuous with a physical action3 that oneness cannot be explained1 because the process of explaining is the interpreting of something in terms of something else4 ,all explanation is assimilation of something in terms of something else that has been taken as a basis3 but1 in ,continuity1 there is nothing that is any more basic than anything else--unless we think that delusion built upon delusion is less real than its pseudo-foundation4 ,in #ahbi 7,timb's ,year ,book1 #ahdh-bce7 in ,persia fell a substance that the people said they had never seen before4 ,as to what it was1 they had not a notion1 but they saw that the sheep ate it4 ,they ground it into flour and made bread1 said to have been passable enough1 though insipid4 ,that was a chance that science did not neglect4 ,manna was placed upon a reasonable basis1 or was assimilated and reconciled with the system that had ousted the older--and less nearly real--system4 ,it was said that1 likely enough1 manna had fallen in ancient times--because it was still falling--but that there was no tutelary influence behind it--that it was a lichen from the steppes of ,asia ,minor--from one place in a whirlwind and down in another place4 ,in the ,american ,almanac1 #ahcc-ga1 it is said that this substance--to the inhabitants of the region--was immediately recognized by scientists who examined it3 and that the chemical analysis also identified it as a lichen4 ,this was back in the days when ,chemical ,analysis was a god4 ,since then his devotees have been shocked and disillusioned4 ,just how a chemical analysis could so botanize1 ,i don't know--but it was ,chemical ,analysis who spoke1 and spoke dogmatically4 ,it seems to me that the ignorance of inhabitants1 contrasting with the local knowledge of foreign scientists1 is overdone3 if there's anything good to eat1 within any distance conveniently covered by a whirlwind--inhabitants know it4 ,i have data of other falls1 in ,persia and ,asiatic ,turkey1 of edible substances4 ,they are all dogmatically said to be manna2 and manna is dogmatically said to be a species of lichens from the steppes of ,asia ,minor4 ,the position that ,i take is that this explanation was evolved in ignorance of the fall of vegetable substances1 or edible substances1 in other parts of the world3 that it is the familiar attempt to explain the general in terms of the local2 that1 if we shall have data of falls of vegetable substance1 in1 say1 ,canada or ,india1 they were not of lichens from the steppes of ,asia ,minor2 that1 though all falls in ,asiatic ,turkey and ,persia are sweepingly and conveniently called showers of manna1 they have not been even all of the same substance4 ,in one instance the particles are said to have been seeds4 ,though1 in ,comptes ,rendus1 the substance that fell in #ahda and #ahdf is said to have been gelatinous1 in the ,bull4 ,sci4 ,nat4 de ,neuchatel1 it is said to have been of something1 in lumps the size of a filbert1 that had been ground into flour2 that of this flour had been made bread1 very attractive-looking1 but flavorless4 ,the great difficulty is to explain segregation in these showers-- ,but deep-sea fishes and occasional falls1 down to them1 of edible substances2 bags of grain1 barrels of sugar2 things that had not been whirled up from one part of the ocean-bottom1 in storms or submarine disturbances1 and dropped somewhere else-- ,i suppose one thinks--but grain in bags never has fallen-- ,object of ,amherst--its covering like milled cloth-- ,or barrels of corn lost from a vessel would not sink--but a host of them clashing together1 after a wreck--they burst open2 the corn sinks1 or does when saturated2 the barrel staves float longer-- ,if there be not an overhead traffic in commodities similar to our own commodities carried over this earth's oceans--,i'm not the deep-sea fish ,i think ,i am4 ,i have no data other than the mere suggestion of the ,amherst object of bags or barrels1 but my notion is that bags and barrels from a wreck on one of this earth's oceans1 would1 by the time they reached the bottom1 no longer be recognizable as bags or barrels2 that1 if we can have data of the fall of fibrous material that may have been cloth or paper or wood1 we shall be satisfactory and grotesque enough4 ,proc4 ,roy4 ,irish ,acad41 #a-cgi3 ,in the year #afhf1 some workmen1 who had been fetching water from a pond1 seven ,german miles from ,memel1 on returning to their work after dinner 7during which there had been a snowstorm7 found the flat ground around the pond covered with a coal-black1 leafy mass2 and a person who lived near said he had seen it fall like flakes with the snow4 ,some of these flake-like formations were as large as a table-top4 ,the mass was damp and smelt disagreeably1 like rotten seaweed1 but1 when dried1 the smell went off4 ,it tore fibrously1 like paper4 ,classic explanation3 ,up from one place1 and down in another4 ,but what went up1 from one place1 in a whirlwind8 ,of course1 our ,intermediatist acceptance is that had this been the strangest substance conceivable1 from the strangest other world that could be thought of2 somewhere upon this earth there must be a substance similar to it1 or from which it would1 at least subjectively1 or according to description1 not be easily distinguishable4 ,or that everything in ,new ,york ,city is only another degree or aspect of something1 or combination of things1 in a village of ,central ,africa4 ,the novel is a challenge to vulgarization3 write something that looks new to you3 someone will point out that the thrice-accursed ,greeks said it long ago4 ,existence is ,appetite3 the gnaw of being2 the one attempt of all things to assimilate all other things1 if they have not surrendered and submitted to some higher attempt4 ,it was cosmic that these scientists1 who had surrendered to and submitted to the ,scientific ,system1 should1 consistently with the principles of that system1 attempt to assimilate the substance that fell at ,memel with some known terrestrial product4 ,at the meeting of the ,royal ,irish ,academy it was brought out that there is a substance1 of rather rare occurrence1 that has been known to form in thin sheets upon marsh land4 ,it looks like greenish felt4 ,the substance of ,memel3 ,damp1 coal-black1 leafy mass4 ,but1 if broken up1 the marsh-substance is flake-like1 and it tears fibrously4 ,an elephant can be identified as a sunflower--both have long stems4 ,a camel is indistinguishable from a peanut--if only their humps be considered4 ,trouble with this book is that we'll end up a lot of intellectual roues3 we'll be incapable of being astonished with anything4 ,we knew1 to start with1 that science and imbecility are continuous2 nevertheless so many expressions of the merging-point are at first startling4 ,we did think that ,prof4 ,hitchcock's performance in identifying the ,amherst phenomenon as a fungus was rather notable as scientific vaudeville1 if we acquit him of the charge of seriousness--or that1 in a place where fungi were so common that1 before a given evening two of them sprang up1 only he1 a stranger in this very fungiferous place1 knew a fungus when he saw something like a fungus--if we disregard its quick liquefaction1 for instance4 ,it was only a monologue1 however3 now we have an all-star cast3 and they're not only ,irish2 they're royal ,irish4 ,the royal ,irishmen excluded coal-blackness and included fibrousness3 so then that this substance was marsh paper1 which had been raised into the air by storms of wind1 and had again fallen4 ,second act3 ,it was said that1 according to ,m4 ,ehrenberg1 the meteor-paper was found to consist partly of vegetable matter1 chiefly of conifervae4 ,third act3 ,meeting of the royal ,irishmen3 chairs1 tables1 ,irishmen3 ,some flakes of marsh-paper were exhibited4 ,their composition was chiefly of conifervae4 ,this was a double inclusion3 or it's the method of agreement that logicians make so much of4 ,so no logician would be satisfied with identifying a peanut as a camel1 because both have humps3 he demands accessory agreement--that both can live a long time without water1 for instance4 ,now1 it's not so very unreasonable1 at least to the free and easy vaudeville standards that1 throughout this book1 we are considering1 to think that a green substance could be snatched up from one place in a whirlwind1 and fall as a black substance somewhere else3 but the royal ,irishmen excluded something else1 and it is a datum that was as accessible to them as it is to me3 ,that1 according to ,chladni1 this was no little1 local deposition that was seen to occur by some indefinite person living near a pond somewhere4 ,it was a tremendous fall from a vast sky-area4 ,likely enough all the marsh paper in the world could not have supplied it4 ,at the same time1 this substance was falling in great quantities1 in ,norway and ,pomerania4 ,or see ,kirkwood1 ,meteoric ,astronomy1 p4 #ff3 ,substance like charred paper fell in ,norway and other parts of northern ,europe1 ,jan4 #ca1 #afhf4 ,or a whirlwind1 with a distribution as wide as that1 would not acceptably1 ,i should say1 have so specialized in the rare substance called marsh paper4 ,there'd have been falls of fence rails1 roofs of houses1 parts of trees4 ,nothing is said of the occurrence of a tornado in northern ,europe1 in ,january1 #afhf4 ,there is record only of this one substance having fallen in various places4 ,time went on1 but the conventional determination to exclude data of all falls to this earth1 except of substances of this earth1 and of ordinary meteoric matter1 strengthened4 ,annals of ,philosophy1 #af-fh3 ,the substance that fell in ,january1 #afhf1 is described as a mass of black leaves1 having the appearance of burnt paper1 but harder1 and cohering1 and brittle4 ,marsh paper is not mentioned1 and there is nothing said of the conifervae1 which seemed so convincing to the royal ,irishmen4 ,vegetable composition is disregarded1 quite as it might be by someone who might find it convenient to identify a crook-necked squash as a big fishhook4 ,meteorites are usually covered with a black crust1 more or less scale-like4 ,the substance of #afhf is black and scale-like4 ,if so be convenience1 leaf-likeness is scale-likeness4 ,in this attempt to assimilate with the conventional1 we are told that the substance is a mineral mass3 that it is like the black scales that cover meteorites4 ,the scientist who made this identification was ,von ,grotthus4 ,he had appealed to the god ,chemical ,analysis4 ,or the power and glory of mankind--with which we're not always so impressed--but the gods must tell us what we want them to tell us4 ,we see again that1 though nothing has identity of its own1 anything can be identified as anything4 ,or there's nothing that's not reasonable1 if one snoopeth not into its exclusions4 ,but here the conflict did not end4 ,berzelius examined the substance4 ,he could not find nickel in it4 ,at that time1 the presence of nickel was the positive test of meteoritic matter4 ,whereupon1 with a supposititious positive standard of judgment against him1 ,von ,grotthus revoked his identification4 7,annals and ,mag4 of ,nat4 ,hist41 #a-c-ahe47 ,this equalization of eminences permits us to project with our own expression1 which1 otherwise1 would be subdued into invisibility3 ,that it's too bad that no one ever looked to see--hieroglyphics8--something written upon these sheets of paper8 ,if we have no very great variety of substances that have fallen to this earth2 if1 upon this earth's surface there is infinite variety of substances detachable by whirlwinds1 two falls of such a rare substance as marsh paper would be remarkable4 ,a writer in the ,edinburgh ,review1 #hg-aid1 says that1 at the time of writing1 he had before him a portion of a sheet of #bjj square feet1 of a substance that had fallen at ,carolath1 ,silesia1 in #ahci--;exactly similar to cotton-felt1 of which clothing might have been made4 ,the god ,microscopic ,examination had spoken4 ,the substance consisted chiefly of conifervae4 ,jour4 ,asiatic ,soc4 of ,bengal1 #ahdg-pt4 #a-aic3 ,that ,march #af1 #ahdf--;about the time of a fall of edible substance in ,asia ,minor--an olive-gray powder fell at ,shanghai4 ,under the microscope1 it was seen to be an aggregation of hairs of two kinds1 black ones and rather thick white ones4 ,they were supposed to be mineral fibers1 but1 when burned1 they gave out the common ammoniacal smell and smoke of burnt hair or feathers4 ,the writer described the phenomenon as a cloud of #chjj square miles of fibers1 alkali1 and sand4 ,in a postscript1 he says that other investigators1 with more powerful microscopes1 gave opinion that the fibers were not hairs2 that the substance consisted chiefly of conifervae4 ,or the pathos of it1 perhaps2 or the dull and uninspired1 but courageous persistence of the scientific3 everything seemingly found out is doomed to be subverted--by more powerful microscopes and telescopes2 by more refined1 precise1 searching means and methods--the new pronouncements irrepressibly bobbing up2 their reception always as ,truth at last2 always the illusion of the final2 very little of the ,intermediatist spirit-- ,that the new that has displaced the old will itself some day be displaced2 that it1 too1 will be recognized as myth-stuff-- ,but that if phantoms climb1 spooks of ladders are good enough for them4 ,annual ,register1 #ahba-fha3 ,that1 according to a report by ,m4 ,laine1 ,french ,consul at ,pernambuco1 early in ,october1 #ahba1 there was a shower of a substance resembling silk4 ,the quantity was as tremendous as might be a whole cargo1 lost somewhere between ,jupiter and ,mars1 having drifted around perhaps for centuries1 the original fabrics slowly disintegrating4 ,in ,annales de ,chimie1 #b-ae-dbg1 it is said that samples of this substance were sent to ,france by ,m4 ,laine1 and that they proved to have some resemblances to silky filaments which1 at certain times of the year1 are carried by the wind near ,paris4 ,in the ,annals of ,philosophy1 n4s41 #ab-ic1 there is mention of a fibrous substance like blue silk that fell near ,naumberg1 ,march #bc1 #affe4 ,according to ,chladni 7,annales de ,chimie1 #b-ca-bfd71 the quantity was great4 ,he places a question mark before the date4 ,one of the advantages of ,intermediatism is that1 in the oneness of quasiness1 there can be no mixed metaphors4 ,whatever is acceptable of anything1 is1 in some degree or aspect1 acceptable of everything4 ,so it is quite proper to speak1 for instance1 of something that is as firm as a rock and that sails in a majestic march4 ,the ,irish are good monists3 they have of course been laughed at for their keener perceptions4 ,so it's a book we're writing1 or it's a procession1 or it's a museum1 with the ,chamber of ,horrors rather over-emphasized4 ,a rather horrible correlation occurs in the ,scientific ,american1 #ahei-agh4 ,what interests us is that a correspondent saw a silky substance fall from the sky--there was an aurora borealis at the time--he attributes the substance to the aurora4 ,since the time of ,darwin1 the classic explanation has been that all silky substances that fall from the sky are spider webs4 ,in #ahcb1 aboard the ,beagle1 at the mouth of ,la ,plata ,river1 #fj miles from land1 ,darwin saw an enormous number of spiders1 of the kind usually known as gossamer spiders1 little aeronauts that cast out filaments by which the wind carries them4 ,it's difficult to express that silky substances that have fallen to this earth were not spider webs4 ,my own acceptance is that spider webs are the merger2 that there have been falls of an externally derived silky substance1 and also of the webs1 or strands1 rather1 of aeronautic spiders indigenous to this earth2 that in some instances it is impossible to distinguish one from the other4 ,of course1 our expression upon silky substances will merge away into expressions upon other seeming textile substances1 and ,i don't know how much better off we'll be-- ,except that1 if fabricable materials have fallen from the sky-- ,simply to establish acceptance of that may be doing well enough in this book of first and tentative explorations4 ,in ,all the ,year ,round1 #h-bed1 is described a fall that took place in ,england1 ,sept4 #ba1 #agda1 in the towns of ,bradly1 ,selborne1 and ,alresford1 and in a triangular space included by these three towns4 ,the substance is described as cobwebs--but it fell in flake-formation1 or in flakes or rags about one inch broad and five or six inches long4 ,also these flakes were of a relatively heavy substance--they fell with some velocity4 ,the quantity was great--the shortest side of the triangular space is eight miles long4 ,in the ,wernerian ,nat4 ,hist4 ,soc4 ,trans41 #e-chf1 it is said that there were two falls--that they were some hours apart--a datum that is becoming familiar to us--a datum that cannot be taken into the fold1 unless we find it repeated over and over and over again4 ,it is said that the second fall lasted from nine o'clock in the morning until night4 ,now the hypnosis of the classic--that what we call intelligence is only an expression of inequilibrium2 that when mental adjustments are made1 intelligence ceases--or1 of course1 that intelligence is the confession of ignorance4 ,if you have intelligence upon any subject1 that is something you're still learning--if we agree that that which is learned is always mechanically done--in quasi-terms1 of course1 because nothing is ever finally learned4 ,it was decided that this substance was spiders' web4 ,that was adjustment4 ,but it's not adjustment to me2 so ,i'm afraid ,i shall have some intelligence in this matter4 ,if ,i ever arrive at adjustment upon this subject1 then1 upon this subject1 ,i shall be able to have no thoughts1 except routine-thoughts4 ,i haven't yet quite decided absolutely everything1 so ,i am able to point out3 ,that this substance was of quantity so enormous that it attracted wide attention when it came down-- ,that it would have been equally noteworthy when it went up-- ,that there is no record of anyone1 in ,england or elsewhere1 having seen tons of spider webs going up1 ,september1 #agda4 ,further confession of intelligence upon my part3 ,that1 if it be contested1 then1 that the place of origin may have been far away1 but still terrestrial-- ,then it's that other familiar matter of incredible marksmanship again--hitting a small1 triangular space for hours--interval of hours--then from nine in the morning until night3 same small triangular space4 ,these are the disregards of the classic explanation4 ,there is no mention of spiders having been seen to fall1 but a good inclusion is that1 though this substance fell in good-sized flakes of considerable weight1 it was viscous4 ,in this respect it was like cobwebs3 dogs nosing it on grass1 were blindfolded with it4 ,this circumstance does strongly suggest cobwebs-- ,unless we can accept that1 in regions aloft1 there are vast viscous or gelatinous areas1 and that things passing through become daubed4 ,or perhaps we clear up the confusion in the descriptions of the substance that fell in #ahda and #ahdf1 in ,asia ,minor1 described in one publication as gelatinous1 and in another as a cereal--that it was a cereal that had passed through a gelatinous region4 ,that the paper-like substance of ,memel may have had such an experience may be indicated in that ,ehrenberg found in it gelatinous matter1 which he called nostoc4 7,annals and ,mag4 of ,nat4 ,hist41 #a-c-ahe47 ,scientific ,american1 #de-ccg3 ,fall of a substance described as cobwebs1 latter part of ,october1 #ahha1 in ,milwaukee1 ,wis41 and other towns3 other towns mentioned are ,green ,bay1 ,vesburge1 ,fort ,howard1 ,sheboygan1 and ,ozaukee4 ,the aeronautic spiders are known as gossamer spiders1 because of the extreme lightness of the filaments that they cast out to the wind4 ,of the substance that fell in ,wisconsin1 it is said3 ,in all instances the webs were strong in texture and very white4 ,the ,editor says3 ,curiously enough1 there is no mention in any of the reports that we have seen1 of the presence of spiders4 ,so our attempt to divorce a possible external product from its terrestrial merger3 then our joy of the prospector who thinks he's found something3 ,the ,monthly ,weather ,review1 #bf-eff1 quotes the ,montgomery 7,ala47 ,advertiser3 ,that1 upon ,nov4 #ba1 #ahih1 numerous batches of spider-web-like substance fell in ,montgomery1 in strands and in occasional masses several inches long and several inches broad4 ,according to the writer1 it was not spiders' web1 but something like asbestos2 also that it was phosphorescent4 ,the ,editor of the ,review says that he sees no reason for doubting that these masses were cobwebs4 ,la ,nature1 #ahhc-cdb3 ,a correspondent writes that he sends a sample of a substance said to have fallen at ,montussan 7,gironde71 ,oct4 #af1 #ahhc4 ,according to a witness1 quoted by the correspondent1 a thick cloud1 accompanied by rain and a violent wind1 had appeared4 ,this cloud was composed of a woolly substance in lumps the size of a fist1 which fell to the ground4 ,the ,editor 7,tissandier7 says of this substance that it was white1 but was something that had been burned4 ,it was fibrous4 ,m4 ,tissandier astonishes us by saying that he cannot identify this substance4 ,we thought that anything could be identified as anything4 ,he can say only that the cloud in question must have been an extraordinary conglomeration4 ,annual ,register1 #ahcb-ddg3 ,that1 ,march1 #ahcb1 there fell1 in the fields of ,kourianof1 ,russia1 a combustible yellowish substance1 covering1 at least two inches thick1 an area of #fjj or #gjj square feet4 ,it was resinous and yellowish3 so one inclines to the conventional explanation that it was pollen from pine trees--but1 when torn1 it had the tenacity of cotton4 ,when placed in water1 it had the consistency of resin4 ,this resin had the color of amber1 was elastic1 like ,india rubber1 and smelled like prepared oil mixed with wax4 ,so in general our notion of cargoes--and our notion of cargoes of food supplies3 ,in ,philosophical ,transactions1 #ai-bbd1 is an extract from a letter by ,mr4 ,robert ,vans1 of ,kilkenny1 ,ireland1 dated ,nov4 #ae1 #afie3 that there had been of late1 in the counties of ,limerick and ,tipperary1 showers of a sort of matter like butter or grease444 having a very stinking smell4 ,there follows an extract from a letter by the ,bishop of ,cloyne1 upon a very odd phenomenon1 which was observed in ,munster and ,leinster3 that for a good part of the spring of #afie there fell a substance which the country people called butter--soft1 clammy1 and of a dark yellow--that cattle fed indifferently in fields where this substance lay4 ,it fell in lumps as big as the end of one's finger4 ,it had a strong ill scent4 ,his ,grace calls it a stinking dew4 ,in ,mr4 ,vans' letter1 it is said that the butter was supposed to have medicinal properties1 and was gathered in pots and other vessels by some of the inhabitants of this place4 ,and3 ,in all the following volumes of ,philosophical ,transactions there is no speculation upon this extraordinary subject4 ,ostracism4 ,the fate of this datum is a good instance of damnation1 not by denial1 and not by explaining away1 but by simple disregard4 ,the fall is listed by ,chladni1 and is mentioned in other catalogues1 but1 from the absence of all inquiry1 and of all but formal mention1 we see that it has been under excommunication as much as was ever anything by the preceding system4 ,the datum has been buried alive4 ,it is as irreconcilable with the modern system of dogmas as ever were geologic strata and vermiform appendix with the preceding system-- ,if1 intermittently1 or for a good part of the spring1 this substance fell in two ,irish provinces1 and nowhere else1 we have1 stronger than before1 a sense of a stationary region overhead1 or a region that receives products like this earth's products1 but from external sources1 a region in which this earth's gravitational and meteorological forces are relatively inert--if for many weeks a good part of this substance did hover before finally falling4 ,we suppose that1 in #afhe1 ,mr4 ,vans and the ,bishop of ,cloyne could describe what they saw as well as could witnesses in #ahhe3 nevertheless1 it is going far back2 we shall have to have many modern instances before we can accept4 ,as to other falls1 or another fall1 it is said in the ,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #a-bh-cfa1 that1 ,april #aa1 #ahcb--;about a month after the fall of the substance of ,kourianof--fell a substance that was wine-yellow1 transparent1 soft1 and smelling like rancid oil4 ,m4 ,herman1 a chemist who examined it1 named it sky oil4 ,for analysis and chemic reactions1 see the ,journal4 ,the ,edinburgh ,new ,philosophical ,journal1 #ac-cfh1 mentions an unctuous substance that fell near ,rotterdam1 in #ahcb4 ,in ,comptes ,rendus1 #ac-bae1 there is an account of an oily1 reddish matter that fell at ,genoa1 ,february1 #ahda4 ,whatever it may have been-- ,altogether1 most of our difficulties are problems that we should leave to later developers of super-geography1 ,i think4 ,a discoverer of ,america should leave ,long ,island to someone else4 ,if there be1 plying back and forth from ,jupiter and ,mars and ,venus1 super-constructions that are sometimes wrecked1 we think of fuel as well as cargoes4 ,of course the most convincing data would be of coal falling from the sky3 nevertheless1 one does suspect that oil-burning engines were discovered ages ago in more advanced worlds--but1 as ,i say1 we should leave something to our disciples--so we'll not especially wonder whether these butter-like or oily substances were food or fuel4 ,so we merely note that in the ,scientific ,american1 #bd-cbc1 is an account of hail that fell1 in the middle of ,april1 #ahga1 in ,mississippi1 in which was a substance described as turpentine4 ,something that tasted like orange water1 in hailstones1 about the first of ,june1 #ahdb1 near ,nimes1 ,france2 identified as nitric acid 7,jour4 de ,pharmacie1 #ahde-bgc74 ,hail and ashes1 in ,ireland1 #agee 7,sci4 ,amer41 #e-afh74 ,that1 at ,elizabeth1 ,n4,j41 ,june #i1 #ahgd1 fell hail in which was a substance1 said1 by ,prof4 ,leeds1 of ,stevens ,institute1 to be carbonate of soda 7,sci4 ,amer41 #cj-bfb74 ,we are getting a little away from the lines of our composition1 but it will be an important point later that so many extraordinary falls have occurred with hail4 ,or--if they were of substances that had had origin upon some other part of this earth's surface--had the hail1 too1 that origin8 ,our acceptance here will depend upon the number of instances4 ,reasonably enough1 some of the things that fall to this earth should coincide with falls of hail4 ,as to vegetable substances in quantities so great as to suggest lost cargoes1 we have a note in the ,intellectual ,observer1 #c-dfh3 that1 upon the first of ,may1 #ahfc1 a rain fell at ,perpignan1 bringing down with it a red substance1 which proved on examination to be a red meal mixed with fine sand4 ,at various points along the ,mediterranean1 this substance fell4 ,there is1 in ,philosophical ,transactions1 #af-bha1 an account of a seeming cereal1 said to have fallen in ,wiltshire1 in #afhf--said that some of the wheat fell enclosed in hailstones--but the writer in ,transactions1 says that he had examined the grains1 and that they were nothing but seeds of ivy berries dislodged from holes and chinks where birds had hidden them4 ,if birds still hide ivy seeds1 and if winds still blow1 ,i don't see why the phenomenon has not repeated in more than two hundred years since4 ,or the red matter in rain1 at ,siena1 ,italy1 ,may1 #ahcj2 said1 by ,arago1 to have been vegetable matter 7,arago1 ,o,euvres1 #ab-dfh74 ,somebody should collect data of falls at ,siena alone4 ,in the ,monthly ,weather ,review1 #bi-dfe1 a correspondent writes that1 upon ,feb4 #af1 #aija1 at ,pawpaw1 ,michigan1 upon a day that was so calm that his windmill did not run1 fell a brown dust that looked like vegetable matter4 ,the ,editor of the ,review concludes that this was no widespread fall from a tornado1 because it had been reported from nowhere else4 ,rancidness--putridity--decomposition--a note that has been struck many times4 ,in a positive sense1 of course1 nothing means anything1 or every meaning is continuous with all other meanings3 or that all evidences of guilt1 for instance1 are just as good evidences of innocence--but this condition seems to mean--things lying around among the stars a long time4 ,horrible disaster in the time of ,julius ,caesar2 remains from it not reaching this earth till the time of the ,bishop of ,cloyne3 we leave to later research the discussion of bacterial action and decomposition1 and whether bacteria could survive in what we call space1 of which we know nothing-- ,chemical ,news1 #ce-ahc3 ,dr4 ,a4,t4 ,machattie1 ,f4,c4,s41 writes that1 at ,london1 ,ontario1 ,feb4 #bd1 #ahfh1 in a violent storm1 fell1 with snow1 a dark-colored substance1 estimated at #ejj tons1 over a belt #ej miles by #aj miles4 ,it was examined under a microscope1 by ,dr4 ,machattie1 who found it to consist mainly of vegetable matter far advanced in decomposition4 ,the substance was examined by ,dr4 ,james ,adams1 of ,glasgow1 who gave his opinion that it was the remains of cereals4 ,dr4 ,machattie points out that for months before this fall the ground of ,canada had been frozen1 so that in this case a more than ordinarily remote origin has to be thought of4 ,dr4 ,machattie thinks of origin to the south4 ,however1 he says1 this is mere conjecture4 ,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #ahda-dj3 ,that1 ,march #bd1 #ahdj--;during a thunderstorm--at ,rajkit1 ,india1 occurred a fall of grain4 ,it was reported by ,col4 ,sykes1 of the ,british ,association4 ,the natives were greatly excited--because it was grain of a kind unknown to them4 ,usually comes forward a scientist who knows more of the things that natives know best than the natives know--but it so happens that the usual thing was not done definitely in this instance3 ,the grain was shown to some botanists1 who did not immediately recognize it1 but thought it to be either a spartium or a vicia4 #f ,lead1 silver1 diamonds1 glass4 ,they sound like the accursed1 but they're not3 they're now of the chosen--that is1 when they occur in metallic or stony masses that ,science has recognized as meteorites4 ,we find that resistance is to substances not so mixed in or incorporated4 ,of accursed data1 it seems to me that punk is pretty damnable4 ,in the ,report of the ,british ,association1 #ahgh-cgf1 there is mention of a light chocolate-brown substance that has fallen with meteorites4 ,no particulars given2 not another mention anywhere else that ,i can find4 ,in this ,english publication1 the word punk is not used2 the substance is called amadou4 ,i suppose1 if the datum has anywhere been admitted to ,french publications1 the word amadou has been avoided1 and punk used4 ,or oneness of allness3 scientific works and social registers3 a ,goldstein who can't get in as ,goldstein1 gets in as ,jackson4 ,the fall of sulphur from the sky has been especially repulsive to the modern orthodoxy--largely because of its associations with the superstitions or principles of the preceding orthodoxy--stories of devils3 sulphurous exhalations4 ,several writers have said that they have had this feeling4 ,so the scientific reactionists1 who have rabidly fought the preceding1 because it was the preceding3 and the scientific prudes1 who1 in sheer exclusionism1 have held lean hands over pale eyes1 denying falls of sulphur4 ,i have many notes upon the sulphurous odor of meteorites1 and many notes upon phosphorescence of things that come from externality4 ,some day ,i shall look over old stories of demons that have appeared sulphurously upon this earth1 with the idea of expressing that we have often had undesirable visitors from other worlds2 or that an indication of external derivation is sulphurousness4 ,i expect some day to rationalize demonology1 but just at present we are scarcely far enough advanced to go so far back4 ,for a circumstantial account of a mass of burning sulphur1 about the size of a man's fist1 that fell at ,pultusk1 ,poland1 ,jan4 #cj1 #ahfh1 upon a road1 where it was stamped out by a crowd of villagers1 see ,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahgd-bgb4 ,the power of the exclusionists lies in that in their stand are combined both modern and archaic systematists4 ,falls of sandstone and limestone are repulsive to both theologians and scientists4 ,sandstone and limestone suggest other worlds upon which occur processes like geological processes2 but limestone1 as a fossiliferous substance1 is of course especially of the unchosen4 ,in ,science1 ,march #i1 #ahhh1 we read of a block of limestone1 said to have fallen near ,middleburg1 ,florida4 ,it was exhibited at the ,sub-tropical ,exposition1 at ,jacksonville4 ,the writer1 in ,science1 denies that it fell from the sky4 ,his reasoning is3 ,there is no limestone in the sky2 ,therefore this limestone did not fall from the sky4 ,better reasoning ,i cannot conceive of--because we see that a final major premise--universal--true--would include all things3 that1 then1 would leave nothing to reason about--so then that all reasoning must be based upon something not universal1 or only a phantom intermediate to the two finalities of nothingness and allness1 or negativeness and positiveness4 ,la ,nature1 #ahij-b-abg3 ,fall1 at ,pel-et-,der 7,l',aube71 ,france1 ,june #f1 #ahij1 of limestone pebbles4 ,identified with limestone at ,chateau-,landon--or up and down in a whirlwind4 ,but they fell with hail--which1 in ,june1 could not very well be identified with ice from ,chateau-,landon4 ,coincidence1 perhaps4 ,upon page #gj1 ,science ,gossip1 #ahhg1 the ,editor says1 of a stone that was reported to have fallen at ,little ,lever1 ,england1 that a sample had been sent to him4 ,it was sandstone4 ,therefore it had not fallen1 but had been on the ground in the first place4 ,but1 upon page #adj1 ,science ,gossip1 #ahhg1 is an account of a large1 smooth1 water-worn1 gritty sandstone pebble that had been found in the wood of a full-grown beech tree4 ,looks to me as if it had fallen red-hot1 and had penetrated the tree with high velocity4 ,but ,i have never heard of anything falling red-hot from a whirlwind-- ,the wood around this sandstone pebble was black1 as if charred4 ,dr4 ,farrington1 for instance1 in his books1 does not even mention sandstone4 ,however1 the ,british ,association1 though reluctant1 is less exclusive3 ,report of #ahfj1 p4 #aig3 substance about the size of a duck's egg1 that fell at ,raphoe1 ,ireland1 ,june #i1 #ahfj--;date questioned4 ,it is not definitely said that this substance was sandstone1 but that it resembled friable sandstone4 ,falls of salt have occurred often4 ,they have been avoided by scientific writers1 because of the dictum that only water and not substances held in solution1 can be raised by evaporation4 ,however1 falls of salty water have received attention from ,dalton and others1 and have been attributed to whirlwinds from the sea4 ,this is so reasonably contested--quasi-reasonably--as to places not far from the sea-- ,but the fall of salt that occurred high in the mountains of ,switzerland-- ,we could have predicted that that datum could be found somewhere4 ,let anything be explained in local terms of the coast of ,england--but also has it occurred high in the mountains of ,switzerland4 ,large crystals of salt fell--in a hailstorm--,aug4 #bj1 #ahgj1 in ,switzerland4 ,the orthodox explanation is a crime3 whoever made it1 should have had his finger-prints taken4 ,we are told 7,an4 ,rec4 ,sci41 #ahgb7 that these objects of salt came over the ,mediterranean from some part of ,africa4 ,or the hypnosis of the conventional--provided it be glib4 ,one reads such an assertion1 and provided it be suave and brief and conventional1 one seldom questions--or thinks very strange and then forgets4 ,one has an impression from geography lessons3 ,mediterranean not more than three inches wide1 on the map2 ,switzerland only a few more inches away4 ,these sizable masses of salt are described in the ,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #c-c-bci1 as essentially imperfect cubic crystals of common salt4 ,as to occurrence with hail--that can in one1 or ten1 or twenty1 instances be called a coincidence4 ,another datum3 extraordinary year #ahhc3 ,london ,times1 ,dec4 #be1 #ahhc3 ,translation from a ,turkish newspaper2 a substance that fell at ,scutari1 ,dec4 #b1 #ahhc2 described as an unknown substance1 in particles--or flakes8--like snow4 ,it was found to be saltish to the taste1 and to dissolve readily in water4 ,miscellaneous3 ,black1 capillary matter that fell1 ,nov4 #af1 #aheg1 at ,charleston1 ,s4,c4 7,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #b-ca-dei74 ,fall of small1 friable1 vesicular masses1 from size of a pea to size of a walnut1 at ,lobau1 ,jan4 #ah1 #ahce 7,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahfj-he74 ,objects that fell at ,peshawur1 ,india1 ,june1 #ahic1 during a storm3 substance that looked like crystallized niter1 and that tasted like sugar 7,nature1 ,july #ac1 #ahic74 ,i suppose sometimes deep-sea fishes have their noses bumped by cinders4 ,if their regions be subjacent to ,cunard or ,white ,star routes1 they're especially likely to be bumped4 ,i conceive of no inquiry3 they're deep-sea fishes4 ,or the slag of ,slains4 ,that it was a furnace-product4 ,the ,rev4 ,james ,rust seemed to feel bumped4 ,he tried in vain to arouse inquiry4 ,as to a report1 from ,chicago1 ,april #i1 #ahgi1 that slag had fallen from the sky1 ,prof4 ,e4,s4 ,bastian 7,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #c-ah-gh7 says that the slag had been on the ground in the first place4 ,it was furnace-slag4 ,a chemical examination of the specimens has shown that they possess none of the characteristics of true meteorites4 ,over and over and over again1 the universal delusion2 hope and despair of attempted positivism2 that there can be real criteria1 or distinct characteristics of anything4 ,if anybody can define--not merely suppose1 like ,prof4 ,bastian1 that he can define--the true characteristics of anything1 or so localize trueness anywhere1 he makes the discovery for which the cosmos is laboring4 ,he will be instantly translated1 like ,elijah1 into the ,positive ,absolute4 ,my own notion is that1 in a moment of super-concentration1 ,elijah became so nearly a real prophet that he was translated to heaven1 or to the ,positive ,absolute1 with such velocity that he left an incandescent train behind him4 ,as we go along1 we shall find the true test of meteoritic material1 which in the past has been taken as an absolute1 dissolving into almost utmost nebulosity4 ,prof4 ,bastian explains mechanically1 or in terms of the usual reflexes to all reports of unwelcome substances3 that near where the slag had been found1 telegraph wires had been struck by lightning2 that particles of melted wire had been seen to fall near the slag--which had been on the ground in the first place4 ,but1 according to the ,new ,york ,times1 ,april #ad1 #ahgi1 about two bushels of this substance had fallen4 ,something that was said to have fallen at ,darmstadt1 ,june #g1 #ahdf2 listed by ,greg 7,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahfg-daf7 as only slag4 ,philosophical ,magazine1 #d-aj-cha3 ,that1 in #ahee1 a large stone was found far in the interior of a tree1 in ,battersea ,fields4 ,sometimes cannon balls are found embedded in trees4 ,doesn't seem to be anything to discuss2 doesn't seem discussable that any one would cut a hole in a tree and hide a cannon ball1 which one could take to bed1 and hide under one's pillow1 just as easily4 ,so with the stone of ,battersea ,fields4 ,what is there to say1 except that it fell with high velocity and embedded in the tree8 ,nevertheless1 there was a great deal of discussion-- ,because1 at the foot of the tree1 as if broken off the stone1 fragments of slag were found4 ,i have nine other instances4 ,slag and cinders and ashes1 and you won't believe1 and neither will ,i1 that they came from the furnaces of vast aerial super-constructions4 ,we'll see what looks acceptable4 ,as to ashes1 the difficulties are great1 because we'd expect many falls of terrestrially derived ashes--volcanoes and forest fires4 ,in some of our acceptances1 ,i have felt a little radical-- ,i suppose that one of our main motives is to show that there is1 in quasi-existence1 nothing but the preposterous--or something intermediate to absolute preposterousness and final reasonableness--that the new is the obviously preposterous2 that it becomes the established and disguisedly preposterous2 that it is displaced1 after a while1 and is again seen to be the preposterous4 ,or that all progress is from the outrageous to the academic or sanctified1 and back to the outrageous--modified1 however1 by a trend of higher and higher approximation to the impreposterous4 ,sometimes ,i feel a little more uninspired than at other times1 but ,i think we're pretty well accustomed now to the oneness of allness2 or that the methods of science in maintaining its system are as outrageous as the attempts of the damned to break in4 ,in the ,annual ,record of ,science1 #ahge-bda1 ,prof4 ,daubree is quoted3 that ashes that had fallen in the ,azores had come from the ,chicago fire-- ,or the damned and the saved1 and there's little to choose between them2 and angels are beings that have not obviously barbed tails to them--or never have such bad manners as to stroke an angel below the waist-line4 ,however this especial outrage was challenged3 the ,editor of the ,record returns to it1 in the issue of #ahgf3 considers it in the highest degree improper to say that the ashes of ,chicago were landed in the ,azores4 ,bull4 ,soc4 ,astro4 de ,france1 #bb-bde3 ,account of a white substance1 like ashes1 that fell at ,annoy1 ,france1 ,march #bg1 #aijh3 simply called a curious phenomenon2 no attempt to trace to a terrestrial source4 ,flake formations1 which may signify passage through a region of pressure1 are common2 but spherical formations--as if of things that have rolled and rolled along planar regions somewhere--are commoner3 ,nature1 ,jan4 #aj1 #ahhd1 quotes a ,kimberley newspaper3 ,that1 toward the close of ,november1 #ahhc1 a thick shower of ashy matter fell at ,queenstown1 ,south ,africa4 ,the matter was in marble-sized balls1 which were soft and pulpy1 but which1 upon drying1 crumbled at touch4 ,the shower was confined to one narrow streak of land4 ,it would be only ordinarily preposterous to attribute this substance to ,krakatoa-- ,but1 with the fall1 loud noises were heard-- ,but ,i'll omit many notes upon ashes3 if ashes should sift down upon deep-sea fishes1 that is not to say that they came from steamships4 ,data of falls of cinders have been especially damned by ,mr4 ,symons1 the meteorologist1 some of whose investigations we'll investigate later--nevertheless-- ,notice of a fall1 in ,victoria1 ,australia1 ,april #ad1 #ahge 7,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahge-bdb7--;at least we are told1 in the reluctant way1 that someone thought he saw matter fall near him at night1 and the next day found something that looked like cinders4 ,in the ,proc4 of the ,london ,roy4 ,soc41 #ai-abb1 there is an account of cinders that fell on the deck of a lightship1 ,jan4 #i1 #ahgc4 ,in the ,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #b-bd-ddi1 there is a notice that the ,editor had received a specimen of cinders said to have fallen--in showery weather--upon a farm1 near ,ottowa1 ,ill41 ,jan4 #ag1 #aheg4 ,but after all1 ambiguous things they are1 cinders or ashes or slag or clinkers1 the high priest of the accursed that must speak aloud for us is--coal that has fallen from the sky4 ,or coke3 ,the person who thought he saw something like cinders1 also thought he saw something like coke1 we are told4 ,nature1 #cf-aai3 ,something that looked exactly like coke that fell--during a thunderstorm--in the ,orne1 ,france1 ,april #bd1 #ahhg4 ,or charcoal3 ,dr4 ,angus ,smith1 in the ,lit4 and ,phil4 ,soc4 of ,manchester ,memoirs1 #b-i-adf1 says that1 about #ahbg--like a great deal in ,lyell's ,principles and ,darwin's ,origin1 this account is from hearsay--something fell from the sky1 near ,allport1 ,england4 ,it fell luminously1 with a loud report1 and scattered in a field4 ,a fragment that was seen by ,dr4 ,smith1 is described by him as having the appearance of a piece of common wood charcoal4 ,nevertheless1 the reassured feeling of the faithful1 upon reading this1 is burdened with data of differences3 the substance was so uncommonly heavy that it seemed as if it had iron in it2 also there was a sprinkling of sulphur4 ,this material is said1 by ,prof4 ,baden-,powell1 to be totally unlike that of any other meteorite4 ,greg1 in his catalogue 7,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahfj-gc71 calls it a more than doubtful substance--but again1 against reassurance1 that is not doubt of authenticity4 ,greg says that it is like compact charcoal1 with particles of sulphur and iron pyrites embedded4 ,reassurance rises again3 ,prof4 ,baden-,powell says3 ,it contains also charcoal1 which might perhaps be acquired from matter among which it fell4 ,this is a common reflex with the exclusionists3 that substances not truly meteoritic did not fall from the sky1 but were picked up by truly meteoritic things1 of course only on their surfaces1 by impact with this earth4 ,rhythm of reassurances and their declines3 ,according to ,dr4 ,smith1 this substance was not merely coated with charcoal2 his analysis gives #dc4ei per cent carbon4 ,our acceptance that coal has fallen from the sky will be via data of resinous substances and bituminous substances1 which merge so that they cannot be told apart4 ,resinous substance said to have fallen at ,kaba1 ,hungary1 ,april #ae1 #ahhg 7,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahfj-id74 ,a resinous substance that fell after a fireball8 at ,neuhaus1 ,bohemia1 ,dec4 #ag1 #ahbd 7,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahfj-gj74 ,fall1 ,july #bh1 #ahhe1 at ,luchon1 during a storm1 of a brownish substance2 very friable1 carbonaceous matter2 when burned it gave out a resinous odor 7,comptes ,rendus1 #ajc-hcg74 ,substance that fell1 ,feb4 #ag1 #ah1 #ai1 #ahda1 at ,genoa1 ,italy1 said to have been resinous2 said by ,arago 7,o,euvres1 #ab-dfi7 to have been bituminous matter and sand4 ,fall--during a thunderstorm--,july1 #afha1 near ,cape ,cod1 upon the deck of an ,english vessel1 the ,albemarle1 of burning1 bituminous matter 7,edin4 ,new ,phil4 ,jour41 #bf-hf72 a fall1 at ,christiania1 ,norway1 ,june #ac1 #ahbb1 of bituminous matter1 listed by ,greg as doubtful2 fall of bituminous matter1 in ,germany1 ,march #h1 #agih1 listed by ,greg4 ,lockyer 7,the ,meteoric ,hypothesis1 p4 #bd7 says that the substance that fell at the ,cape of ,good ,hope1 ,oct4 #ac1 #ahch--;about five cubic feet of it3 substance so soft that it was cuttable with a knife--after being experimented upon1 it left a residue1 which gave out a very bituminous smell4 ,and this inclusion of ,lockyer's--so far as findable in all books that ,i have read--is1 in books1 about as close as we can get to our desideratum--that coal has fallen from the sky4 ,dr4 ,farrington1 except with a brief mention1 ignores the whole subject of the fall of carbonaceous matter from the sky4 ,proctor1 in all of his books that ,i have read--is1 in books1 about as close as we can get to the admission that carbonaceous matter has been found in meteorites in very minute quantities--or my own suspicion is that it is possible to damn something else only by losing one's own soul--quasi-soul1 of course4 ,sci4 ,amer41 #ce-abj3 ,that the substance that fell at the ,cape of ,good ,hope resembled a piece of anthracite coal more than anything else4 ,it's a mistake1 ,i think3 the resemblance is to bituminous coal--but it is from the periodicals that we must get our data4 ,to the writers of books upon meteorites1 it would be as wicked--by which we mean departure from the characters of an established species--quasi-established1 of course--to say that coal has fallen from the sky1 as would be1 to something in a barnyard1 a temptation that it climb a tree and catch a bird4 ,domestic things in a barnyard3 and how wild things from forests outside seem to them4 ,or the homeopathist--but we shall shovel data of coal4 ,and1 if over and over1 we shall learn of masses of soft coal that have fallen upon this earth1 if in no instance has it been asserted that the masses did not fall1 but were upon the ground in the first place2 if we have many instances1 this time we turn down good and hard the mechanical reflex that these masses were carried from one place to another in whirlwinds1 because we find it too difficult to accept that whirlwinds could so select1 or so specialize in a peculiar substance4 ,among writers of books1 the only one ,i know of who makes more than brief mention is ,sir ,robert ,ball4 ,he represents a still more antique orthodoxy1 or is an exclusionist of the old type1 still holding out against even meteorites4 ,he cites several falls of carbonaceous matter1 but with disregards that make for reasonableness that earthy matter may have been caught up by whirlwinds and flung down somewhere else4 ,if he had given a full list1 he would be called upon to explain the special affinity of whirlwinds for a special kind of coal4 ,he does not give a full list4 ,we shall have all that's findable1 and we shall see that against this disease we're writing1 the homeopathist's prescription availeth not4 ,another exclusionist was ,prof4 ,lawrence ,smith4 ,his psycho-tropism was to respond to all reports of carbonaceous matter falling from the sky1 by saying that this damned matter had been deposited upon things of the chosen by impact with this earth4 ,most of our data antedate him1 or were contemporaneous with him1 or were as accessible to him as to us4 ,in his attempted positivism it is simply--and beautifully--disregarded that1 according to ,berthelot1 ,berzelius1 ,cloez1 ,wohler and others these masses are not merely coated with carbonaceous matter1 but are carbonaceous throughout1 or are permeated throughout4 ,how anyone could so resolutely and dogmatically and beautifully and blindly hold out would puzzle us were it not for our acceptance that only to think is to exclude and include2 and to exclude some things that have as much right to come in as have the included--that to have an opinion upon any subject is to be a ,lawrence ,smith--because there is no definite subject4 ,dr4 ,walter ,flight 7,eclectic ,magazine1 #hi-ga7 says1 of the substance that fell near ,alais1 ,france1 ,march #ae1 #ahjf1 that it emits a faint bituminous substance when heated1 according to the observations of ,bergelius and a commission appointed by the ,french ,academy4 ,this time we have not the reluctances expressed in such words as like and resembling4 ,we are told that this substance is an earthy kind of coal4 ,as to minute quantities we are told that the substance that fell at the ,cape of ,good ,hope has in it a little more than a quarter of organic matter1 which1 in alcohol1 gives the familiar reaction of yellow1 resinous matter4 ,other instances given by ,dr4 ,flight are3 ,carbonaceous matter that fell in #ahdj1 in ,tennessee2 ,cranbourne1 ,australia1 #ahfa2 ,montauban1 ,france1 ,may #ad1 #ahfd 7twenty masses1 some of them as large as a human head1 of a substance that resembled a dull-colored earthy lignite72 ,goalpara1 ,india1 about #ahfg 7about #h per cent of a hydrocarbon72 at ,ornans1 ,france1 ,july #aa1 #ahfh2 substance with an organic1 combustible ingredient1 at ,hessle1 ,sweden1 ,jan4 #a1 #ahfj4 ,knowledge1 #d-acd3 ,that1 according to ,m4 ,daubree1 the substance that had fallen in the ,argentine ,republic1 resembled certain kinds of lignite and boghead coal4 ,in ,comptes ,rendus1 #if-agfd1 it is said that this mass fell1 ,june #cj1 #ahhj1 in the province ,entre ,rios1 ,argentina3 that it is like brown coal2 that it resembles all the other carbonaceous masses that have fallen from the sky4 ,something that fell at ,grazac1 ,france1 ,aug4 #aj1 #ahhe3 when burned1 it gave out a bituminous odor 7,comptes ,rendus1 #ajd-agga74 ,carbonaceous substance that fell at ,rajpunta1 ,india1 ,jan4 #bb1 #aiaa3 very friable3 #ej per cent of its soluble in water 7,records ,geol4 ,survey of ,india1 #dd-pt4 #a-da74 ,a combustible carbonaceous substance that fell with sand at ,naples1 ,march #ad1 #ahah 7,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #a-a-cji74 ,sci4 ,amer4 ,sup41 #bi-aagih3 ,that1 ,june #i1 #ahhi1 a very friable substance1 of a deep1 greenish black1 fell at ,mighei1 ,russia4 ,it contained #e per cent organic matter1 which1 when powdered and digested in alcohol1 yielded1 after evaporation1 a bright yellow resin4 ,in this mass was #b per cent of an unknown mineral4 ,cinders and ashes and slag and coke and charcoal and coal4 ,and the things that sometimes deep-sea fishes are bumped by4 ,reluctances and the disguises or covered retreats of such words as like and resemble--or that conditions of ,intermediateness forbid abrupt transitions--but that the spirit animating all ,intermediateness is to achieve abrupt transitions--because1 if anything could finally break away from its origin and environment1 that would be a real thing--something not merging away indistinguishably with the surrounding4 ,so all attempt to be original2 all attempt to invent something that is more than mere extension or modification of the preceding1 is positivism--or that if one could conceive of a device to catch flies1 positively different from1 or unrelated to1 all other devices--up he'd shoot to heaven1 or the ,positive ,absolute--leaving behind such an incandescent train that in one age it would be said that he had gone aloft in a fiery chariot1 and in another age that he had been struck by lightning-- ,i'm collecting notes upon persons supposed to have been struck by lightning4 ,i think that high approximation to positivism has often been achieved--instantaneous translation--residue of negativeness left behind1 looking much like effects of a stroke of lightning4 ,some day ,i shall tell the story of the ,marie ,celeste--properly1 as the ,scientific ,american ,supplement would say--mysterious disappearance of a sea captain1 his family1 and the crew-- ,of positivists1 by the route of ,abrupt ,transition1 ,i think that ,manet was notable--but that his approximation was held down by his intense relativity to the public--or that it is quite as impositive to flout and insult and defy as it is to crawl and placate4 ,of course1 ,manet began with continuity with ,courbet and others1 and then1 between him and ,manet there were mutual influences--but the spirit of abrupt difference is the spirit of positivism1 and ,manet's stand was against the dictum that all lights and shades must merge away suavely into one another and prepare for one another4 ,so a biologist like ,de ,vries represents positivism1 or the breaking of ,continuity1 by trying to conceive of evolution by mutation--against the dogma of indistinguishable gradations by minute variations4 ,a ,copernicus conceives of helio-centricity4 ,continuity is against him4 ,he is not permitted to break abruptly with the past4 ,he is permitted to publish his work1 but only as an interesting hypothesis4 ,continuity--and that all that we call evolution or progress is attempt to break away from it-- ,that our whole solar system was at one time attempt by planets to break away from a parental nexus and set up as individualities1 and1 failing1 move in quasi-regular orbits that are expressions of relations with the sun and with one another1 all having surrendered1 being now quasi-incorporated in a higher approximation to system3 ,intermediateness in its mineralogic aspect of positivism--or ,iron that strove to break away from ,sulphur and ,oxygen1 and be real1 homogeneous ,iron--failing1 inasmuch as elemental iron exists only in text-book chemistry3 ,intermediateness in its biologic aspect of positivism--or the wild1 fantastic1 grotesque1 monstrous things it conceived of1 sometimes in a frenzy of effort to break away abruptly from all preceding types--but failing1 in the giraffe-effort1 for instance1 or only caricaturing an antelope-- ,all things break one relation only by the establishing of some other relation-- ,all things cut an umbilical cord only to clutch a breast4 ,so the fight of the exclusionists to maintain the traditional--or to prevent abrupt transition from the quasi-established--fighting so that here1 more than a century after meteorites were included1 no other notable inclusion has been made1 except that of cosmic dust1 data of which ,nordenskiold made more nearly real than data in opposition4 ,so ,proctor1 for instance1 fought and expressed his feeling of the preposterous1 against ,sir ,w4,h4 ,thomson's notions of arrival upon this earth of organisms on meteorites-- ,i can only regard it as a jest 7,knowledge1 #a-cjb74 ,or that there is nothing but jest--or something intermediate to jest and tragedy3 ,that ours is not an existence but an utterance2 ,that ,momus is imagining us for the amusement of the gods1 often with such success that some of us seem almost alive--like characters in something a novelist is writing2 which often to considerable degree take their affairs away from the novelist-- ,that ,momus is imagining us and our arts and sciences and religions1 and is narrating or picturing us as a satire upon the gods' real existence4 ,because--with many of our data of coal that has fallen from the sky as accessible then as they are now1 and with the scientific pronouncement that coal is fossil1 how1 in a real existence1 by which we mean a consistent existence1 or a state in which there is real intelligence1 or a form of thinking that does not indistinguishably merge away with imbecility1 could there have been such a row as that which was raised about forty years ago over ,dr4 ,hahn's announcement that he had found fossils in meteorites8 ,accessible to anybody at that time3 ,philosophical ,magazine1 #d-ag-dbe3 ,that the substance that fell at ,kaba1 ,hungary1 ,april #ae1 #aheg1 contained organic matter analagous to fossil waxes4 ,or limestone3 ,of the block of limestone which was reported to have fallen at ,middleburg1 ,florida1 it is said 7,science1 #aa-aah7 that1 though something had been seen to fall in an old cultivated field1 the witnesses who ran to it picked up something that had been upon the ground in the first place4 ,the writer who tells us this1 with the usual exclusion-imagination known as stupidity1 but unjustly1 because there is no real stupidity1 thinks he can think of a good-sized stone that had for many years been in a cultivated field1 but that had never been seen before--had never interfered with plowing1 for instance4 ,he is earnest and unjarred when he writes that this stone weighs #bjj pounds4 ,my own notion1 founded upon my own experience in seeing1 is that a block of stone weighing #ejj pounds might be in one's parlor twenty years1 virtually unseen--but not in an old cultivated field1 where it interfered with plowing--not anywhere--if it interfered4 ,dr4 ,hahn said that he had found fossils in meteorites4 ,there is a description of the corals1 sponges1 shells1 and crinoids1 all of them microscopic1 which he photographed1 in ,popular ,science1 #bj-hc4 ,dr4 ,hahn was a well-known scientist4 ,he was better known after that4 ,anybody may theorize upon other worlds and conditions upon them that are similar to our own conditions3 if his notions be presented undisguisedly as fiction1 or only as an interesting hypothesis1 he'll stir up no prude rages4 ,but ,dr4 ,hahn said definitely that he had found fossils in specified meteorites3 also he published photographs of them4 ,his book is in the ,new ,york ,public ,library4 ,in the reproductions every feature of some of the little shells is plainly marked4 ,if they're not shells1 neither are things under an oyster-counter4 ,the striations are very plain3 one sees even the hinges where bivalves are joined4 ,prof4 ,lawrence ,smith 7,knowledge1 #a-beh73 ,dr4 ,hahn is a kind of half-insane man1 whose imagination has run away with him4 ,conservation of ,continuity4 ,then ,dr4 ,weinland examined ,dr4 ,hahn's specimens4 ,he gave his opinion that they are fossils and that they are not crystals of enstatite1 as asserted by ,prof4 ,smith1 who had never seen them4 ,the damnation of denial and the damnation of disregard3 ,after the publication of ,dr4 ,weinland's findings--silence4 #g ,the living things that have come down to this earth3 ,attempts to preserve the system3 ,that small frogs and toads1 for instance1 never have fallen from the sky1 but were--on the ground1 in the first place2 or that there have been such falls--up from one place in a whirlwind1 and down in another4 ,were there some especially froggy place near ,europe1 as there is an especially sandy place1 the scientific explanation would of course be that all small frogs falling from the sky in ,europe come from that center of frogeity4 ,to start with1 ,i'd like to emphasize something that ,i am permitted to see because ,i am still primitive or intelligent or in a state of maladjustment3 ,that there is not one report findable of a fall of tadpoles from the sky4 ,as to there in the first place3 ,see ,leisure ,hours1 #c-ggi1 for accounts of small frogs1 or toads1 said to have been seen to fall from the sky4 ,the writer says that all observers were mistaken3 that the frogs or toads must have fallen from trees or other places overhead4 ,tremendous number of little toads1 one or two months old1 that were seen to fall from a great thick cloud that appeared suddenly in a sky that had been cloudless1 ,august1 #ahjd1 near ,toulouse1 ,france1 according to a letter from ,prof4 ,pontus to ,m4 ,arago4 7,comptes ,rendus1 #c-ed47 ,many instances of frogs that were seen to fall from the sky4 7,notes and ,queries1 #h-f-ajd72 accounts of such falls1 signed by witnesses4 7,notes and ,queries1 #h-f-aij47 ,scientific ,american1 ,july #ab1 #ahgc3 ,a shower of frogs which darkened the air and covered the ground for a long distance is the reported result of a recent rainstorm at ,kansas ,city1 ,mo4 ,as to having been there in the first place3 ,little frogs found in ,london1 after a heavy storm1 ,july #cj1 #ahch4 7,notes and ,queries1 #h-g-dcg72 ,little toads found in a desert1 after a rainfall 7,notes and ,queries1 #h-h-dic74 ,to start with ,i do not deny--positively--the conventional explanation of up and down4 ,i think that there may have been such occurrences4 ,i omit many notes that ,i have upon indistinguishables4 ,in the ,london ,times1 ,july #d1 #ahhc1 there is an account of a shower of twigs and leaves and tiny toads in a storm upon the slopes of the ,apennines4 ,these may have been the ejectamenta of a whirlwind4 ,i add1 however1 that ,i have notes upon two other falls of tiny toads1 in #ahhc1 one in ,france and one in ,tahiti2 also of fish in ,scotland4 ,but in the phenomenon of the ,apennines1 the mixture seems to me to be typical of the products of a whirlwind4 ,the other instances seem to me to be typical of--something like migration8 ,their great numbers and their homogeneity4 ,over and over in these annals of the damned occurs the datum of segregation4 ,but a whirlwind is thought of as a condition of chaos--quasi-chaos3 not final negativeness1 of course-- ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,july1 #ahha3 ,a small pond in the track of the cloud was sucked dry1 the water being carried over the adjoining fields together with a large quantity of soft mud1 which was scattered over the ground for half a mile around4 ,it is so easy to say that small frogs that have fallen from the sky had been scooped up by a whirlwind2 but here are the circumstances of a scoop2 in the exclusionist-imagination there is no regard for mud1 debris from the bottom of a pond1 floating vegetation1 loose things from the shores--but a precise picking out of frogs only4 ,of all instances ,i have that attribute the fall of small frogs or toads to whirlwinds1 only one definitely identifies or places the whirlwind4 ,also1 as has been said before1 a pond going up would be quite as interesting as frogs coming down4 ,whirlwinds we read of over and over--but where and what whirlwind8 ,it seems to me that anybody who had lost a pond would be heard from4 ,in ,symons' ,meteorological ,magazine1 #cb-ajf1 a fall of small frogs1 near ,birmingham1 ,england1 ,june #cj1 #ahib1 is attributed to a specific whirlwind--but not a word as to any special pond that had contributed4 ,and something that strikes my attention here is that these frogs are described as almost white4 ,i'm afraid there is no escape for us3 we shall have to give to civilization upon this earth--some new worlds4 ,places with white frogs in them4 ,upon several occasions we have had data of unknown things that have fallen from--somewhere4 ,but something not to be overlooked is that if living things have landed alive upon this earth--in spite of all we think we know of the accelerative velocity of falling bodies--and have propagated--why the exotic becomes the indigenous1 or from the strangest of places we'd expect the familiar4 ,or if hosts of living frogs have come here--from somewhere else--every living thing upon this earth may1 ancestrally1 have come from--somewhere else4 ,i find that ,i have another note upon a specific hurricane3 ,annals and ,mag4 of ,nat4 ,hist41 #a-c-ahe3 ,after one of the greatest hurricanes in the history of ,ireland1 some fish were found as far as #ae yards from the edge of a lake4 ,have another3 this is a good one for the exclusionists3 ,fall of fish in ,paris3 said that a neighboring pond had been blown dry4 7,living ,age1 #eb-ahf47 ,date not given1 but ,i have seen it recorded somewhere else4 ,the best-known fall of fishes from the sky is that which occurred at ,mountain ,ash1 in the ,valley of ,abedare1 ,glamorganshire1 ,feb4 #aa1 #ahei4 ,the ,editor of the ,zoologist1 #b-fgg1 having published a report of a fall of fishes1 writes3 ,i am continually receiving similar accounts of frogs and fishes4 ,but1 in all the volumes of the ,zoologist1 ,i can find only two reports of such falls4 ,there is nothing to conclude other than that hosts of data have been lost because orthodoxy does not look favorably upon such reports4 ,the ,monthly ,weather ,review records several falls of fishes in the ,united ,states2 but accounts of these reported occurrences are not findable in other ,american publications4 ,nevertheless1 the treatment by the ,zoologist of the fall reported from ,mountain ,ash is fair4 ,first appears1 in the issue of #ahei-fdic1 a letter from the ,rev4 ,john ,griffith1 ,vicar of ,abedare1 asserting that the fall had occurred1 chiefly upon the property of ,mr4 ,nixon1 of ,mountain ,ash4 ,upon page #fedj1 ,dr4 ,gray1 of the ,british ,museum1 bristling with exclusionism1 writes that some of these fishes1 which had been sent to him alive1 were very young minnows4 ,he says3 ,on reading the evidence1 it seems to me most probably only a practical joke3 that one of ,mr4 ,nixon's employees had thrown a pailful of water upon another1 who had thought fish in it had fallen from the sky--had dipped up a pailful from a brook4 ,those fishes--still alive--were exhibited at the ,zoological ,gardens1 ,regent's ,park4 ,the ,editor says that one was a minnow and that the rest were sticklebacks4 ,he says that ,dr4 ,gray's explanation is no doubt right4 ,but1 upon page #fefd1 he publishes a letter from another correspondent1 who apologizes for opposing so high an authority as ,dr4 ,gray1 but says that he had obtained some of these fishes from persons who lived at a considerable distance apart1 or considerably out of range of the playful pail of water4 ,according to the ,annual ,register1 #ahei-ad1 the fishes themselves had fallen by pailfuls4 ,if these fishes were not upon the ground in the first place1 we base our objections to the whirlwind explanation upon two data3 ,that they fell in no such distribution as one could attribute to the discharge of a whirlwind1 but upon a narrow strip of land3 about #hj yards long and #ab yards wide-- ,the other datum is again the suggestion that at first seemed so incredible1 but for which support is piling up1 a suggestion of a stationary source overhead-- ,that ten minutes later another fall of fishes occurred upon this same narrow strip of land4 ,even arguing that a whirlwind may stand still axially1 it discharges tangentially4 ,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 minute1 then falling directly after the first to fall4 ,because of these evil circumstances the best adaptation was to laugh the whole thing off and say that someone had soused someone else with a pailful of water in which a few very young minnows had been caught up4 ,in the ,london ,times1 ,march #b1 #ahei1 is a letter from ,mr4 ,aaron ,roberts1 curate of ,st4 ,peter's1 ,carmathon4 ,in this letter the fishes are said to have been about four inches long1 but there is some question of species4 ,i think1 myself1 that they were minnows and sticklebacks4 ,some persons1 thinking them to be sea fishes1 placed them in salt water1 according to ,mr4 ,roberts4 ,the effect is stated to have been almost instantaneous death4 ,some were placed in fresh water4 ,these seemed to thrive well4 ,as to narrow distribution1 we are told that the fishes fell in and about the premises of ,mr4 ,nixon4 ,it was not observed at the time that any fish fell in any other part of the neighborhood1 save in the particular spot mentioned4 ,in the ,london ,times1 ,march #aj1 #ahei1 ,vicar ,griffith writes an account3 ,the roofs of some houses were covered with them4 ,in this letter it is said that the largest fishes were five inches long1 and that these did not survive the fall4 ,report of the ,british ,association1 #ahei-aeh3 ,the evidence of the fall of fish on this occasion was very conclusive4 ,a specimen of the fish was exhibited and was found to be the ,gasterosteus leirus4 ,gasterosteus is the stickleback4 ,altogether ,i think we have not a sense of total perdition1 when we're damned with the explanation that someone soused someone else with a pailful of water in which were thousands of fishes four or five inches long1 some of which covered roofs of houses1 and some of which remained ten minutes in the air4 ,by way of contrast we offer our own acceptance3 ,that the bottom of a super-geographical pond had dropped out4 ,i have a great many notes upon the fall of fishes1 despite the difficulty these records have in getting themselves published1 but ,i pick out the instances that especially relate to our super-geographical acceptances1 or to the ,principles of ,super-,geography3 or data of things that have been in the air longer than acceptably could a whirlwind carry them2 that have fallen with a distribution narrower than is attributable to a whirlwind2 that have fallen for a considerable length of time upon the same narrow area of land4 ,these three factors indicate1 somewhere not far aloft1 a region of inertness to this earth's gravitation1 of course1 however1 a region that1 by the flux and variation of all things1 must at times be susceptible--but1 afterward1 our heresy will bifurcate-- ,in amiable accommodation to the crucifixion it'll get1 ,i think-- ,but so impressed are we with the datum that1 though there have been many reports of small frogs that have fallen from the sky1 not one report upon a fall of tadpoles is findable1 that to these circumstances another adjustment must be made4 ,apart from our three factors of indication1 an extraordinary observation is the fall of living things without injury to them4 ,the devotees of ,st4 ,isaac explain that they fall upon thick grass and so survive3 but ,sir ,james ,emerson ,tennant1 in his ,history of ,ceylon1 tells of a fall of fishes upon gravel1 by which they were seemingly uninjured4 ,something else apart from our three main interests is a phenomenon that looks like what one might call an alternating series of falls of fishes1 whatever the significance may be3 ,meerut1 ,india1 ,july1 #ahbd 7,living ,age1 #eb-ahf72 ,fifeshire1 ,scotland1 summer of #ahbd 7,wernerian ,nat4 ,hist4 ,soc4 ,trans41 #e-ege72 ,moradabad1 ,india1 ,july1 #ahbf 7,living ,age1 #eb-ahf72 ,ross-shire1 ,scotland1 #ahbh 7,living ,age1 #eb-ahf72 ,moradabad1 ,india1 ,july #bj1 #ahbi 7,lin4 ,soc4 ,trans41 #af-gfd72 ,perthshire1 ,scotland 7,living ,age1 #eb-ahf72 ,argyleshire1 ,scotland1 #ahcj1 ,march #i1 #ahcj 7,recreative ,science1 #c-cci72 ,feridpoor1 ,india1 ,feb4 #ai1 #ahcj 7,jour4 ,asiatic ,soc4 of ,bengal1 #b-fej74 ,a psycho-tropism that arises here--disregarding serial significance--or mechanical1 unintelligent1 repulsive reflex--is that the fishes of ,india did not fall from the sky2 that they were found upon the ground after torrential rains1 because streams had overflowed and had then receded4 ,in the region of ,inertness that we think we can conceive of1 or a zone that is to this earth's gravitation very much like the neutral zone of a magnet's attraction1 we accept that there are bodies of water and also clear spaces--bottoms of ponds dropping out--very interesting ponds1 having no earth at bottom--vast drops of water afloat in what is called space--fishes and deluges of water falling-- ,but also other areas1 in which fishes--however they got there3 a matter that we'll consider--remain and dry1 or even putrefy1 then sometimes falling by atmospheric dislodgment4 ,after a tremendous deluge of rain1 one of the heaviest falls on record 7,all the ,year ,round1 #h-bee7 at ,rajkote1 ,india1 ,july #be1 #ahej1 the ground was found literally covered with fishes4 ,the word found is agreeable to the repulsions of the conventionalists and their concept of an overflowing stream--but1 according to ,dr4 ,buist1 some of these fishes were found on the tops of haystacks4 ,ferrel 7,a ,popular ,treatise1 p4 #dad7 tells of a fall of living fishes--some of them having been placed in a tank1 where they survived--that occurred in ,india1 about #bj miles south of ,calcutta1 ,sept4 #bj1 #ahci4 ,a witness of this fall says3 ,the most strange thing which ever struck me was that the fish did not fall helter-skelter1 or here and there1 but they fell in a straight line1 not more than a cubit in breadth4 ,see ,living ,age1 #eb-ahf4 ,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #a-cb-aii3 ,that1 according to testimony taken before a magistrate1 a fall occurred1 ,feb4 #ai1 #ahcj1 near ,feridpoor1 ,india1 of many fishes1 of various sizes--some whole and fresh and others mutilated and putrefying4 ,our reflex to those who would say that1 in the climate of ,india1 it would not take long for fishes to putrefy1 is--that high in the air1 the climate of ,india is not torrid4 ,another peculiarity of this fall is that some of the fishes were much larger than others4 ,or to those who hold out for segregation in a whirlwind1 or that objects1 say1 twice as heavy as others would be separated from the lighter1 we point out that some of these fishes were twice as heavy as others4 ,in the ,journal of the ,asiatic ,society of ,bengal1 #b-fej1 depositions of witnesses are given3 ,some of the fish were fresh1 but others were rotten and without heads4 ,among the number which ,i got1 five were fresh and the rest stinking and headless4 ,they remind us of ,his ,grace's observation of some pages back4 ,according to ,dr4 ,buist1 some of these fishes weighed one and a half pounds each and others three pounds4 ,a fall of fishes at ,futtepoor1 ,india1 ,may #af1 #ahcc3 ,they were all dead and dry4 7,dr4 ,buist1 ,living ,age1 #eb-ahf47 ,india is far away3 about #ahcj was long ago4 ,nature1 ,sept4 #ai1 #aiah-df3 ,a correspondent writes1 from the ,dove ,marine ,laboratory1 ,cuttercoats1 ,england1 that1 at ,hindon1 a suburb of ,sunderland1 ,aug4 #bd1 #aiah1 hundreds of small fishes1 identified as sand eels1 had fallen-- ,again the small area3 about #fj by #cj yards4 ,the fall occurred during a heavy rain that was accompanied by thunder--or indications of disturbance aloft--but by no visible lightning4 ,the sea is close to ,hindon1 but if you try to think of these fishes having described a trajectory in a whirlwind from the ocean1 consider this remarkable datum3 ,that1 according to witnesses1 the fall upon this small area occupied ten minutes4 ,i cannot think of a clearer indication of a direct fall from a stationary source4 ,and3 ,the fish were all dead1 and indeed stiff and hard1 when picked up1 immediately after the occurrence4 ,by all of which ,i mean that we have only begun to pile up our data of things that fall from a stationary source overhead3 we'll have to take up the subject from many approaches before our acceptance1 which seems quite as rigorously arrived at as ever has been a belief1 can emerge from the accursed4 ,i don't know how much the horse and the barn will help us to emerge3 but1 if ever anything did go up from this earth's surface and stay up--those damned things may have3 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,may1 #ahgh3 ,in a tornado1 in ,wisconsin1 ,may #bc1 #ahgh1 a barn and a horse were carried completely away1 and neither horse nor barn1 nor any portion of either have since been found4 ,after that1 which would be a little strong were it not for a steady improvement in our digestions that ,i note as we go along1 there is little of the bizarre or the unassimilable in the turtle that hovered six months or so over a small town in ,mississippi3 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,may1 #ahid3 ,that1 ,may #aa1 #ahid1 at ,vicksburg1 ,miss41 fell a small piece of alabaster2 that1 at ,bovina1 eight miles from ,vicksburg1 fell a gopher turtle4 ,they fell in a hailstorm4 ,this item was widely copied at the time3 for instance1 ,nature1 one of the volumes of #ahid1 page #dcj1 and ,jour4 ,roy4 ,met4 ,soc41 #bj-bgc4 ,as to discussion--not a word4 ,or ,science and its continuity with ,presbyterianism--data like this are damned at birth4 ,the ,weather ,review does sprinkle1 or baptize1 or attempt to save1 this infant--but in all the meteorological literature that ,i have gone through1 after that date--not a word1 except mention once or twice4 ,the ,editor of the ,review says3 ,an examination of the weather map shows that these hailstorms occur on the south side of a region of cold northerly winds1 and were but a small part of a series of similar storms2 apparently some special local whirls or gusts carried heavy objects from this earth's surface up to the cloud regions4 ,of all incredibilities that we have to choose from1 ,i give first place to a notion of a whirlwind pouncing upon a region and scrupulously selecting a turtle and a piece of alabaster4 ,this time1 the other mechanical thing there in the first place cannot rise in response to its stimulus3 it is resisted in that these objects were coated with ice--month of ,may in a southern state4 ,if a whirlwind at all1 there must have been very limited selection3 there is no record of the fall of other objects4 ,but there is no attempt in the ,review to specify a whirlwind4 ,these strangely associated things were remarkably separated4 ,they fell eight miles apart4 ,then--as if there were real reasoning--they must have been high to fall with such divergence1 or one of them must have been carried partly horizontally eight miles farther than the other4 ,but either supposition argues for power more than that of a local whirl or gust1 or argues for a great1 specific disturbance1 of which there is no record--for the month of ,may1 #ahid4 ,nevertheless--as if ,i really were reasonable--,i do feel that ,i have to accept that this turtle had been raised from this earth's surface1 somewhere near ,vicksburg--because the gopher turtle is common in the southern states4 ,then ,i think of a hurricane that occurred in the state of ,mississippi weeks or months before ,may #aa1 #ahid4 ,no--,i don't look for it--and inevitably find it4 ,or that things can go up so high in hurricanes that they stay up indefinitely--but may1 after a while1 be shaken down by storms4 ,over and over have we noted the occurrence of strange falls in storms4 ,so then that the turtle and the piece of alabaster may have had far different origins--from different worlds1 perhaps--have entered a region of suspension over this earth--wafting near each other--long duration--final precipitation by atmospheric disturbance--with hail--or that hailstones1 too1 when large1 are phenomena of suspension of long duration3 that it is highly unacceptable that the very large ones could become so great only in falling from the clouds4 ,over and over has the note of disagreeableness1 or of putrefaction1 been struck--long duration4 ,other indications of long duration4 ,i think of a region somewhere above this earth's surface in which gravitation is inoperative and is not governed by the square of the distance--quite as magnetism is negligible at a very short distance from a magnet4 ,theoretically the attraction of a magnet should decrease with the square of the distance1 but the falling-off is found to be almost abrupt at a short distance4 ,i think that things raised from this earth's surface to that region have been held there until shaken down by storms-- ,the ,super-,sargasso ,sea4 ,derelicts1 rubbish1 old cargoes from inter-planetary wrecks2 things cast out into what is called space by convulsions of other planets1 things from the times of the ,alexanders1 ,caesars and ,napoleons of ,mars and ,jupiter and ,neptune2 things raised by this earth's cyclones3 horses and barns and elephants and flies and dodoes1 moas1 and pterodactyls2 leaves from modern trees and leaves of the ,carboniferous era--all1 however1 tending to disintegrate into homogeneous-looking muds or dusts1 red or black or yellow--treasure-troves for the palaeontologists and for the archaeologists--accumulations of centuries--cyclones of ,egypt1 ,greece1 and ,assyria--fishes dried and hard1 there a short time3 others there long enough to putrefy-- ,but the omnipresence of ,heterogeneity--or living fishes1 also--ponds of fresh water3 oceans of salt water4 ,as to the ,law of ,gravitation1 ,i prefer to take one simple stand3 ,orthodoxy accepts the correlation and equivalence of forces3 ,gravitation is one of these forces4 ,all other forces have phenomena of repulsion and of inertness irrespective of distance1 as well as of attraction4 ,but ,newtonian ,gravitation admits attraction only3 ,then ,newtonian ,gravitation can be only one-third acceptable even to the orthodox1 or there is denial of the correlation and equivalence of forces4 ,or still simpler3 ,here are the data4 ,make what you will1 yourself1 of them4 ,in our ,intermediatist revolt against homogeneous1 or positive1 explanations1 or our acceptance that the all-sufficing cannot be less than universality1 besides which1 however1 there would be nothing to suffice1 our expression upon the ,super-,sargasso ,sea1 though it harmonizes with data of fishes that fall as if from a stationary source--and1 of course1 with other data1 too--is inadequate to account for two peculiarities of the falls of frogs3 ,that never has a fall of tadpoles been reported2 ,that never has a fall of full-grown frogs been reported-- ,always frogs a few months old4 ,it sounds positive1 but if there be such reports they are somewhere out of my range of reading4 ,but tadpoles would be more likely to fall from the sky than would frogs1 little or big1 if such falls be attributed to whirlwinds2 and more likely to fall from the ,super-,sargasso ,sea if1 though very tentatively and provisionally1 we accept the ,super-,sargasso ,sea4 ,before we take up an especial expression upon the fall of immature and larval forms of life to this earth1 and the necessity then of conceiving of some factor besides mere stationariness or suspension or stagnation1 there are other data that are similar to data of falls of fishes4 ,science ,gossip1 #ahhf-bch3 ,that small snails1 of a land species1 had fallen near ,redruth1 ,cornwall1 ,july #h1 #ahhf1 during a heavy thunderstorm3 roads and fields strewn with them1 so that they were gathered up by the hatful3 none seen to fall by the writer of this account3 snails said to be quite different to any previously known in this district4 ,but1 upon page #bhb1 we have better orthodoxy4 ,another correspondent writes that he had heard of the supposed fall of snails3 that he had supposed that all such stories had gone the way of witch stories2 that1 to his astonishment1 he had read an account of this absurd story in a local newspaper of great and deserved repute4 ,i thought ,i should for once like to trace the origin of one of these fabulous tales4 ,our own acceptance is that justice cannot be in an intermediate existence1 in which there can be approximation only to justice or to injustice2 that to be fair is to have no opinion at all2 that to be honest is to be uninterested2 that to investigate is to admit prejudice2 that nobody has ever really investigated anything1 but has always sought positively to prove or to disprove something that was conceived of1 or suspected1 in advance4 ,as ,i suspected1 says this correspondent1 ,i found that the snails were of a familiar land-species--that they had been upon the ground in the first place4 ,he found that the snails had appeared after the rain3 that astonished rustics had jumped to the conclusion that they had fallen4 ,he met one person who said that he had seen the snails fall4 ,this was his error1 says the investigator4 ,in the ,philosophical ,magazine1 #eh-caj1 there is an account of snails said to have fallen at ,bristol in a field of three acres1 in such quantities that they were shoveled up4 ,it is said that the snails may be considered as a local species4 ,upon page #deg1 another correspondent says that the numbers had been exaggerated1 and that in his opinion they had been upon the ground in the first place4 ,but that there had been some unusual condition aloft comes out in his observation upon the curious azure-blue appearance of the sun1 at the time4 ,nature1 #dg-bgh3 ,that1 according to ,das ,wetter1 ,december1 #ahib1 upon ,aug4 #i1 #ahib1 a yellow cloud appeared over ,paderborn1 ,germany4 ,from this cloud1 fell a torrential rain1 in which were hundreds of mussels4 ,there is no mention of whatever may have been upon the ground in the first place1 nor of a whirlwind4 ,lizards--said to have fallen on the sidewalks of ,montreal1 ,canada1 ,dec4 #bh1 #aheg4 7,notes and ,queries1 #h-f-ajd47 ,in the ,scientific ,american1 #c-aab1 a correspondent writes1 from ,south ,granville1 ,n4,y41 that1 during a heavy shower1 ,july #c1 #ahfj1 he heard a peculiar sound at his feet1 and looking down1 saw a snake lying as if stunned by a fall4 ,it then came to life4 ,gray snake1 about a foot long4 ,these data have any meaning or lack of meaning or degree of damnation you please3 but1 in the matter of the fall that occurred at ,memphis1 ,tennessee1 occur some strong significances4 ,our quasi-reasoning upon this subject applies to all segregations so far considered4 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,jan4 #ae1 #ahgg3 ,that1 in ,memphis1 ,tenn41 ,jan4 #ae1 #ahgg1 rather strictly localized1 or in a space of two blocks1 and after a violent storm in which the rain fell in torrents1 snakes were found4 ,they were crawling on sidewalks1 in yards1 and in streets1 and in masses--but none were found on roofs or any other elevation above ground and none were seen to fall4 ,if you prefer to believe that the snakes had always been there1 or had been upon the ground in the first place1 and that it was only that something occurred to call special attention to them1 in the streets of ,memphis1 ,jan4 #ae1 #ahgg--why1 that's sensible3 that's the common sense that has been against us from the first4 ,it is not said whether the snakes were of a known species or not1 but that when first seen1 they were of a dark brown1 almost black4 ,blacksnakes1 ,i suppose4 ,if we accept that these snakes did fall1 even though not seen to fall by all the persons who were out sight-seeing in a violent storm1 and had not been in the streets crawling loose or in thick tangled masses1 in the first place3 ,if we try to accept that these snakes had been raised from some other part of this earth's surface in a whirlwind3 ,if we try to accept that a whirlwind could segregate them-- ,we accept the segregation of other objects raised in that whirlwind4 ,then1 near the place of origin1 there would have been a fall of heavier objects that had been snatched up with the snakes--stones1 fence rails1 limbs of trees4 ,say that the snakes occupied the next gradation1 and would be the next to fall4 ,still farther would there have been separate falls of lightest objects3 leaves1 twigs1 tufts of grass4 ,in the ,monthly ,weather ,review there is no mention of other falls said to have occurred anywhere in ,january1 #ahgg4 ,again ours is the objection against such selectiveness by a whirlwind4 ,conceivably a whirlwind could scoop out a den of hibernating snakes1 with stones and earth and an infinitude of other debris1 snatching up dozens of snakes--,i don't know how many to a den--hundreds maybe--but1 according to the account of this occurrence in the ,new ,york ,times1 there were thousands of them2 alive2 from one foot to eighteen inches in length4 ,the ,scientific ,american1 #cf-hf1 records the fall1 and says that there were thousands of them4 ,the usual whirlwind-explanation is given--but in what locality snakes exist in such abundance is yet a mystery4 ,this matter of enormousness of numbers suggests to me something of a migratory nature--but that snakes in the ,united ,states do not migrate in the month of ,january1 if ever4 ,as to falls or flutterings of winged insects from the sky1 prevailing notions of swarming would seem explanatory enough3 nevertheless1 in instances of ants1 there are some peculiar circumstances4 ,l',astronomie1 #ahhi-cec3 ,fall of fishes1 ,june #ac1 #ahhi1 in ,holland2 ants1 ,aug4 #a1 #ahhi1 ,strasbourg2 little toads1 ,aug4 #b1 #ahhi1 ,savoy4 ,fall of ants1 ,cambridge1 ,england1 summer of #ahgd--some were wingless4 7,scientific ,american1 #cj-aic47 ,enormous fall of ants1 ,nancy1 ,france1 ,july #ba1 #ahhg--most of them were wingless4 7,nature1 #cf-cdi47 ,fall of enormous1 unknown ants--size of wasps--,manitoba1 ,june1 #ahie4 7,sci4 ,amer41 #gb-che47 ,however1 our expression will be3 ,that wingless1 larval forms of life1 in numbers so enormous that migration from some place external to this earth is suggested1 have fallen from the sky4 ,that these migrations--if such can be our acceptance--have occurred at a time of hibernation and burial far in the ground of larvae in the northern latitudes of this earth2 that there is significance in recurrence of these falls in the last of ,january--or that we have the square of an incredibility in such a notion as that of selection of larvae by whirlwinds1 compounded with selection of the last of ,january4 ,i accept that there are snow worms upon this earth--whatever their origin may have been4 ,in the ,proc4 ,acad4 ,nat4 ,sci4 of ,philadelphia1 #ahii-abe1 there is a description of yellow worms and black worms that have been found together on glaciers in ,alaska4 ,almost positively were there no other forms of insect-life upon these glaciers1 and there was no vegetation to support insect-life1 except microscopic organisms4 ,nevertheless the description of this probably polymorphic species fits a description of larvae said to have fallen in ,switzerland1 and less definitely fits another description4 ,there is no opposition here1 if our data of falls are clear4 ,frogs of every-day ponds look like frogs said to have fallen from the sky--except the whitish frogs of ,birmingham4 ,however1 all falls of larvae have not positively occurred in the last of ,january3 ,london ,times1 ,april #ad1 #ahcg3 ,that1 in the parish of ,bramford ,speke1 ,devonshire1 a large number of black worms1 about three-quarters of an inch in length1 had fallen in a snowstorm4 ,in ,timb's ,year ,book1 #ahgg-bf1 it is said that1 in the winter of #ahgf1 at ,christiania1 ,norway1 worms were found crawling upon the ground4 ,the occurrence is considered a great mystery1 because the worms could not have come up from the ground1 inasmuch as the ground was frozen at the time1 and because they were reported from other places1 also1 in ,norway4 ,immense number of black insects in a snowstorm1 in #ahbg1 at ,pakroff1 ,russia4 7,scientific ,american1 #cj-aic47 ,fall1 with snow1 at ,orenburg1 ,russia1 ,dec4 #ad1 #ahcj1 of a multitude of small1 black insects1 said to have been gnats1 but also said to have had flea-like motions4 7,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #a-bb-cge47 ,large number of worms found in a snowstorm1 upon the surface of snow about four inches thick1 near ,sangerfield1 ,n4,y41 ,nov4 #ah1 #ahej 7,scientific ,american1 #f-if74 ,the writer thinks that the worms had been brought to the surface of the ground by rain1 which had fallen previously4 ,scientific ,american1 ,feb4 #ba1 #ahia3 ,a puzzling phenomenon has been noted frequently in some parts of the ,valley ,bend ,district1 ,randolph ,county1 ,va41 this winter4 ,the crust of the snow has been covered two or three times with worms resembling the ordinary cut worms4 ,where they come from1 unless they fall with the snow is inexplicable4 ,in the ,scientific ,american1 ,march #g1 #ahia1 the ,editor says that similar worms had been seen upon the snow near ,utica1 ,n4,y41 and in ,oneida and ,herkimer ,counties2 that some of the worms had been sent to the ,department of ,agriculture at ,washington4 ,again two species1 or polymorphism4 ,according to ,prof4 ,riley1 it was not polymorphism1 but two distinct species--which1 because of our data1 we doubt4 ,one kind was larger than the other3 color-differences not distinctly stated4 ,one is called the larvae of the common soldier beetle and the other seems to be a variety of the bronze cut worm4 ,no attempt to explain the occurrence in snow4 ,fall of great numbers of larvae of beetles1 near ,mortagne1 ,france1 ,may1 #aheh4 ,the larvae were inanimate as if with cold4 7,annales ,societe ,entomologique de ,france1 #aheh47 ,trans4 ,ent4 ,soc4 of ,london1 #ahga-ahc1 records snowing of larvae1 in ,silesia1 #ahjf2 appearance of many larvae on the snow1 in ,saxony1 #ahaa2 larvae found alive on the snow1 #ahbh2 larvae and snow which fell together1 in the ,eifel1 ,jan4 #cj1 #ahdg2 fall of insects1 ,jan4 #bd1 #ahdi1 in ,lithuania2 occurrence of larvae estimated at #cjj1jjj on the snow in ,switzerland1 in #ahef4 ,the compiler says that most of these larvae live underground1 or at the roots of trees2 that whirlwinds uproot trees1 and carry away the larvae--conceiving of them as not held in masses of frozen earth--all as neatly detachable as currants in something4 ,in the ,revue et ,magasin de ,zoologie1 #ahdi-gb1 there is an account of the fall in ,lithuania1 ,jan4 #bd1 #ahdi--that black larvae had fallen in enormous numbers4 ,larvae thought to have been of beetles1 but described as caterpillars1 not seen to fall1 but found crawling on the snow1 after a snowstorm1 at ,warsaw1 ,jan4 #bj1 #ahej4 7,all the ,year ,round1 #h-bec47 ,flammarion 7,the ,atmosphere1 p4 #dad7 tells of a fall of larvae that occurred ,jan4 #cj1 #ahfi1 in a snowstorm1 in ,upper ,savoy3 ,they could not have been hatched in the neighborhood1 for1 during the days preceding1 the temperature had been very low2 said to have been of a species common in the south of ,france4 ,in ,la ,science ,pour ,tous1 #ad-ahc1 it is said that with these larvae there were developed insects4 ,l',astronomie1 #ahij-cac3 ,that1 upon the last of ,january1 #ahij1 there fell1 in a great tempest1 in ,switzerland1 incalculable numbers of larvae3 some black and some yellow2 numbers so great that hosts of birds were attracted4 ,altogether we regard this as one of our neatest expressions for external origins and against the whirlwind explanation4 ,if an exclusionist says that1 in ,january1 larvae were precisely and painstakingly picked out of frozen ground1 in incalculable numbers1 he thinks of a tremendous force--disregarding its refinements3 then if origin and precipitation be not far apart1 what becomes of an infinitude of other debris1 conceiving of no time for segregation8 ,if he thinks of a long translation--all the way from the south of ,france to ,upper ,savoy1 he may think then of a very fine sorting over by differences of specific gravity--but in such a fine selection1 larvae would be separated from developed insects4 ,as to differences in specific gravity--the yellow larvae that fell in ,switzerland ,january1 #ahij1 were three times the size of the black larvae that fell with them4 ,in accounts of this occurrence1 there is no denial of the fall4 ,or that a whirlwind never brought them together and held them together and precipitated them and only them together-- ,that they came from ,genesistrine4 ,there's no escape from it4 ,we'll be persecuted for it4 ,take it or leave it-- ,genesistrine4 ,the notion is that there is somewhere aloft a place of origin of life relatively to this earth4 ,whether it's the planet ,genesistrine1 or the moon1 or a vast amorphous region super-jacent to this earth1 or an island in the ,super-,sargasso ,sea1 should perhaps be left to the researches of other super--or extra--geographers4 ,that the first unicellular organisms may have come here from ,genesistrine--or that men or anthropomorphic beings may have come here before amoebae3 that1 upon ,genesistrine1 there may have been an evolution expressible in conventional biologic terms1 but that evolution upon this earth has been--like evolution in modern ,japan--induced by external influences2 that evolution1 as a whole1 upon this earth1 has been a process of population by immigration or by bombardment4 ,some notes ,i have upon remains of men and animals encysted1 or covered with clay or stone1 as if fired here as projectiles1 ,i omit now1 because it seems best to regard the whole phenomenon as a tropism--as a geotropism--probably atavistic1 or vestigial1 as it were1 or something still continuing long after expiration of necessity2 that1 once upon a time1 all kinds of things came here from ,genesistrine1 but that now only a few kinds of bugs and things1 at long intervals1 feel the inspiration4 ,not one instance have we of tadpoles that have fallen to this earth4 ,it seems reasonable that a whirlwind could scoop up a pond1 frogs and all1 and cast down the frogs somewhere else3 but1 then1 more reasonable that a whirlwind could scoop up a pond1 tadpoles and all--because tadpoles are more numerous in their season than are the frogs in theirs3 but the tadpole-season is earlier in the spring1 or in a time that is more tempestuous4 ,thinking in terms of causation--as if there were real causes--our notion is that1 if ,x is likely to cause ,y1 but is more likely to cause ,z1 but does not cause ,z1 ,x is not the cause of ,y4 ,upon this quasi-sorites1 we base our acceptance that the little frogs that have fallen to this earth are not products of whirlwinds3 that they came from externality1 or from ,genesistrine4 ,i think of ,genesistrine in terms of biologic mechanics3 not that somewhere there are persons who collect bugs in or about the last of ,january and frogs in ,july and ,august1 and bombard this earth1 any more than do persons go through northern regions1 catching and collecting birds1 every autumn1 then casting them southward4 ,but atavistic1 or vestigial1 geotropism in ,genesistrine--or a million larvae start crawling1 and a million little frogs start hopping--knowing no more what it's all about than we do when we crawl to work in the morning and hop away at night4 ,i should say1 myself1 that ,genesistrine is a region in the ,super-,sargasso ,sea1 and that parts of the ,super-,sargasso ,sea have rhythms of susceptibility to this earth's attraction4 #h ,i accept that1 when there are storms1 the damnedest of excluded1 excommunicated things--things that are leprous to the faithful--are brought down--from the ,super-,sargasso ,sea--or from what for convenience we call the ,super-,sargasso ,sea--which by no means has been taken into full acceptance yet4 ,that things are brought down by storms1 just as1 from the depths of the sea things are brought up by storms4 ,to be sure it is orthodoxy that storms have little1 if any1 effect below the waves of the ocean--but--of course--only to have an opinion is to be ignorant of1 or to disregard a contradiction1 or something else that modifies an opinion out of distinguishability4 ,symons' ,meteorological ,magazine1 #dg-ahj3 ,that1 along the coast of ,new ,zealand1 in regions not subject to submarine volcanic action1 deep-sea fishes are often brought up by storms4 ,iron and stones that fall from the sky2 and atmospheric disturbances3 ,there is absolutely no connection between the two phenomena4 7,symons47 ,the orthodox belief is that objects moving at planetary velocity would1 upon entering this earth's atmosphere1 be virtually unaffected by hurricanes2 might as well think of a bullet swerved by someone fanning himself4 ,the only trouble with the orthodox reasoning is the usual trouble--its phantom-dominant--its basing upon a myth--data we've had1 and more we'll have1 of things in the sky having no independent velocity4 ,there are so many storms and so many meteors and meteorites that it would be extraordinary if there were no concurrences4 ,nevertheless so many of these concurrences are listed by ,prof4 ,baden-,powell 7,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahej-ed7 that one--notices4 ,see ,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahfj--other instances4 ,the famous fall of stones at ,siena1 ,italy1 #agid--;in a violent storm4 ,see ,greg's ,catalogues--many instances4 ,one that stands out is--bright ball of fire and light in a hurricane in ,england1 ,sept4 #b1 #aghf4 ,the remarkable datum here is that this phenomenon was visible forty minutes4 ,that's about #hjj times the duration that the orthodox give to meteors and meteorites4 ,see the ,annual ,register--many instances4 ,in ,nature1 ,oct4 #be1 #ahgg1 and the ,london ,times1 ,oct4 #ae1 #ahgg1 something that fell in a gale of ,oct4 #ad1 #ahgg1 is described as a huge ball of green fire4 ,this phenomenon is described by another correspondent1 in ,nature1 #ag-aj1 and an account of it by another correspondent was forwarded to ,nature by ,w4,f4 ,denning4 ,there are so many instances that some of us will revolt against the insistence of the faithful that it is only coincidence1 and accept that there is connection of the kind called causal4 ,if it is too difficult to think of stones and metallic masses swerved from their courses by storms1 if they move at high velocity1 we think of low velocity1 or of things having no velocity at all1 hovering a few miles above this earth1 dislodged by storms1 and falling luminously4 ,but the resistance is so great here1 and coincidence so insisted upon that we'd better have some more instances3 ,aerolite in a storm at ,st4 ,leonards-on-sea1 ,england1 ,sept4 #ag1 #ahhe--no trace of it found 7,annual ,register1 #ahhe72 meteorite in a gale1 ,march #a1 #ahhf1 described in the ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,march1 #ahhf2 meteorite in a thunderstorm1 off coast of ,greece1 ,nov4 #ai1 #ahii 7,nature1 #fa-aaa72 fall of a meteorite in a storm1 ,july #g1 #ahhc1 near ,lachine1 ,quebec 7,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,july1 #ahhc72 same phenomenon noted in ,nature1 #bh-cai2 meteorite in a whirlwind1 ,sweden1 ,sept4 #bd1 #ahhc 7,nature1 #bi-ae74 ,london ,roy4 ,soc4 ,proc41 #f-bgf3 ,a triangular cloud that appeared in a storm1 ,dec4 #ag1 #aheb2 a red nucleus1 about half the apparent diameter of the moon1 and a long tail2 visible #ac minutes2 explosion of the nucleus4 ,nevertheless1 in ,science ,gossip1 n4s41 #f-fe1 it is said that1 though meteorites have fallen in storms1 no connection is supposed to exist between the two phenomena1 except by the ignorant peasantry4 ,but some of us peasants have gone through the ,report of the ,british ,association1 #aheb4 ,upon page #bci1 ,dr4 ,buist1 who had never heard of the ,super-,sargasso ,sea1 says that1 though it is difficult to trace connection between the phenomena1 three aerolites had fallen in five months1 in ,india1 during thunderstorms1 in #ahea 7may have been #aheb74 ,for accounts by witnesses1 see page #bbi of the ,report4 ,or--we are on our way to account for thunderstones4 ,it seems to me that1 very strikingly here1 is borne out the general acceptance that ours is only an intermediate existence1 in which there is nothing fundamental1 or nothing final to take as a positive standard to judge by4 ,peasants believed in meteorites4 ,scientists excluded meteorites4 ,peasants believe in thunderstones4 ,scientists exclude thunderstones4 ,it is useless to argue that peasants are out in the fields1 and that scientists are shut up in laboratories and lecture rooms4 ,we cannot take for a real base that1 as to phenomena with which they are more familiar1 peasants are more likely to be right than are scientists3 a host of biologic and meteorologic fallacies of peasants rises against us4 ,i should say that our existence is like a bridge--except that that comparison is in static terms--but like the ,brooklyn ,bridge1 upon which multitudes of bugs are seeking a fundamental--coming to a girder that seems firm and final--but the girder is built upon supports4 ,a support then seems final4 ,but it is built upon underlying structures4 ,nothing final can be found in all the bridge1 because the bridge itself is not a final thing in itself1 but is a relationship between ,manhattan and ,brooklyn4 ,if our existence is a relationship between the ,positive ,absolute and the ,negative ,absolute1 the quest for finality in it is hopeless3 everything in it must be relative1 if the whole is not a whole1 but is1 itself1 a relation4 ,in the attitude of ,acceptance1 our pseudo-base is3 ,cells of an embryo are in the reptilian era of the embryo2 ,some cells feel stimuli to take on new appearances4 ,if it be of the design of the whole that the next era be mammalian1 those cells that turn mammalian will be sustained against resistance1 by inertia1 of all the rest1 and will be relatively right1 though not finally right1 because they1 too1 in time will have to give way to characters of other eras of higher development4 ,if we are upon the verge of a new era1 in which ,exclusionism must be overthrown1 it will avail thee not to call us base-born and frowsy peasants4 ,in our crude1 bucolic way1 we now offer an outrage upon common sense that we think will some day be an unquestioned commonplace3 ,that manufactured objects of stone and iron have fallen from the sky3 ,that they have been brought down from a state of suspension1 in a region of inertness to this earth's attraction1 by atmospheric disturbances4 ,the thunderstone is usually a beautifully polished1 wedge-shaped piece of greenstone1 says a writer in the ,cornhill ,magazine1 #ej-eag4 ,it isn't3 it's likely to be of almost any kind of stone1 but we call attention to the skill with which some of them have been made4 ,of course this writer says it's all superstition4 ,otherwise he'd be one of us crude and simple sons of the soil4 ,conventional damnation is that stone implements1 already on the ground--on the ground in the first place--are found near where lightning was seen to strike3 that are supposed by astonished rustics1 or by intelligence of a low order1 to have fallen in or with lightning4 ,throughout this book1 we class a great deal of science with bad fiction4 ,when is fiction bad1 cheap1 low8 ,if coincidence is overworked4 ,that's one way of deciding4 ,but with single writers coincidence seldom is overworked3 we find the excess in the subject at large4 ,such a writer as the one of the ,cornhill ,magazine tells us vaguely of beliefs of peasants3 there is no massing of instance after instance after instance4 ,here ours will be the method of mass-formation4 ,conceivably lightning may strike the ground near where there was a wedge-shaped object in the first place3 again and again and again3 lightning striking ground near wedge-shaped object in ,china2 lightning striking ground near wedge-shaped object in ,scotland2 lightning striking ground near wedge-shaped object in ,central ,africa3 coincidence in ,france2 coincidence in ,java2 coincidence in ,south ,america-- ,we grant a great deal but note a tendency to restlessness4 ,nevertheless this is the psycho-tropism of science to all thunderstones said to have fallen luminously4 ,as to greenstone1 it is in the island of ,jamaica1 where the notion is general that axes of a hard greenstone fall from the sky--during the rains4 7,jour4 ,inst4 ,jamaica1 #b-d47 ,some other time we shall inquire into this localization of objects of a specific material4 ,they are of a stone nowhere else to be found in ,jamaica4 7,notes and ,queries1 #b-h-bd47 ,in my own tendency to exclude1 or in the attitude of one peasant or savage who thinks he is not to be classed with other peasants or savages1 ,i am not very much impressed with what natives think4 ,it would be hard to tell why4 ,if the word of a ,lord ,kelvin carries no more weight1 upon scientific subjects1 than the word of a ,sitting ,bull1 unless it be in agreement with conventional opinion--,i think it must be because savages have bad table manners4 ,however1 my snobbishness1 in this respect1 loosens up somewhat before very widespread belief by savages and peasants4 ,and the notion of thunderstones is as wide as geography itself4 ,the natives of ,burma1 ,china1 ,japan1 according to ,blinkenberg 7,thunder ,weapons1 p4 #ajj7--not1 of course1 that ,blinkenberg accepts one word of it--think that carved stone objects have fallen from the sky1 because they think they have seen such objects fall from the sky4 ,such objects are called thunderbolts in these countries4 ,they are called thunderstones in ,moravia1 ,holland1 ,belgium1 ,france1 ,cambodia1 ,sumatra1 and ,siberia4 ,they're called storm stones in ,lausitz2 sky arrows in ,slavonia2 thunder axes in ,england and ,scotland2 lightning stones in ,spain and ,portugal2 sky axes in ,greece2 lightning flashes in ,brazil2 thunder teeth in ,amboina4 ,the belief is as widespread as is belief in ghosts and witches1 which only the superstitious deny today4 ,as to beliefs by ,north ,american ,indians1 ,tyler gives a list of references 7,primitive ,culture1 #b-bcg74 ,as to ,south ,american ,indians--,certain stone hatchets are said to have fallen from the heavens4 7,jour4 ,amer4 ,folk ,lore1 #ag-bjc47 ,if you1 too1 revolt against coincidence after coincidence after coincidence1 but find our interpretation of thunderstones just a little too strong or rich for digestion1 we recommend the explanation of one1 ,tallius1 written in #afdi3 ,the naturalists say they are generated in the sky by fulgurous exhalation conglobed in a cloud by the circumfused humor4 ,of course the paper in the ,cornhill ,magazine was written with no intention of trying really to investigate this subject1 but to deride the notion that worked-stone objects have ever fallen from the sky4 ,a writer in the ,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #a-ba-cbe1 read this paper and thinks it remarkable that any man of ordinary reasoning powers should write a paper to prove that thunderbolts do not exist4 ,i confess that we're a little flattered by that4 ,over and over3 ,it is scarcely necessary to suggest to the intelligent reader that thunderstones are a myth4 ,we contend that there is a misuse of a word here3 we admit that only we are intelligent upon this subject1 if by intelligence is meant the inquiry of inequilibrium1 and that all other intellection is only mechanical reflex--of course that intelligence1 too1 is mechanical1 but less orderly and confined3 less obviously mechanical--that as an acceptance of ours becomes firmer and firmer-established1 we pass from the state of intelligence to reflexes in ruts4 ,an odd thing is that intelligence is usually supposed to be creditable4 ,it may be in the sense that it is mental activity trying to find out1 but it is confession of ignorance4 ,the bees1 the theologians1 the dogmatic scientists are the intellectual aristocrats4 ,the rest of us are plebeians1 not yet graduated to ,nirvana1 or to the instinctive and suave as differentiated from the intelligent and crude4 ,blinkenberg gives many instances of the superstition of thunderstones which flourishes only where mentality is in a lamentable state--or universally4 ,in ,malacca1 ,sumatra1 and ,java1 natives say that stone axes have often been found under trees that have been struck by lightning4 ,blinkenberg does not dispute this1 but says it is coincidence3 that the axes were of course upon the ground in the first place3 that the natives jumped to the conclusion that these carved stones had fallen in or with lightning4 ,in ,central ,africa1 it is said that often have wedge-shaped1 highly polished objects of stone1 described as axes1 been found sticking in trees that have been struck by lightning--or by what seemed to be lightning4 ,the natives1 rather like the unscientific persons of ,memphis1 ,tenn41 when they saw snakes after a storm1 jumped to the conclusion that the axes had not always been sticking in the trees4 ,livingstone 7,last ,journal1 pages #hc1 #hi1 #ddb1 #ddh7 says that he had never heard of stone implements used by natives of ,africa4 ,a writer in the ,report of the ,smithsonian ,institution1 #ahgg-cjh1 says that there are a few4 ,that they are said1 by the natives1 to have fallen in thunderstorms4 ,as to luminosity1 it is my lamentable acceptance that bodies falling through this earth's atmosphere1 if not warmed even1 often fall with a brilliant light1 looking like flashes of lightning4 ,this matter seems important3 we'll take it up later1 with data4 ,in ,prussia1 two stone axes were found in the trunks of trees1 one under the bark4 7,blinkenberg1 ,thunder ,weapons1 p4 #ajj47 ,the finders jumped to the conclusion that the axes had fallen there4 ,another stone ax--or wedge-shaped object of worked stone--said to have been found in a tree that had been struck by something that looked like lightning4 7,thunder ,weapons1 p4 #ga47 ,the finder jumped to the conclusion4 ,story told by ,blinkenberg1 of a woman1 who lived near ,kulsbjaergene1 ,sweden1 who found a flint near an old willow--near her house4 ,i emphasize near her house because that means familiar ground4 ,the willow had been split by something4 ,she jumped4 ,cow killed by lightning1 or by what looked like lightning 7,isle of ,sark1 near ,guernsey74 ,the peasant who owned the cow dug up the ground at the spot and found a small greenstone ax4 ,blinkenberg says that he jumped to the conclusion that it was this object that had fallen luminously1 killing the cow4 ,reliquary1 #ahfg-bjh3 ,a flint ax found by a farmer1 after a severe storm--described as a fearful storm--by a signal staff1 which had been split by something4 ,i should say that nearness to a signal staff may be considered familiar ground4 ,whether he jumped1 or arrived at the conclusion by a more leisurely process1 the farmer thought that the flint object had fallen in the storm4 ,in this instance we have a lamentable scientist with us4 ,it's impossible to have positive difference between orthodoxy and heresy3 somewhere there must be a merging into each other1 or an overlapping4 ,nevertheless1 upon such a subject as this1 it does seem a little shocking4 ,in most works upon meteorites1 the peculiar1 sulphurous odor of things that fall from the sky is mentioned4 ,sir ,john ,evans 7,stone ,implements1 p4 #eg7 says--with extraordinary reasoning powers1 if he could never have thought such a thing with ordinary reasoning powers--that this flint object proved to have been the bolt1 by its peculiar smell when broken4 ,if it did so prove to be1 that settles the whole subject4 ,if we prove that only one object of worked stone has fallen from the sky1 all piling up of further reports is unnecessary4 ,however1 we have already taken the stand that nothing settles anything2 that the disputes of ancient ,greece are no nearer solution now than they were several thousand years ago--all because1 in a positive sense1 there is nothing to prove or solve or settle4 ,our object is to be more nearly real than our opponents4 ,wideness is an aspect of the ,universal4 ,we go on widely4 ,according to us the fat man is nearer godliness than is the thin man4 ,eat1 drink1 and approximate to the ,positive ,absolute4 ,beware of negativeness1 by which we mean indigestion4 ,the vast majority of thunderstones are described as axes1 but ,meunier 7,la ,nature1 #ahib-b-cha7 tells of one that was in his possession2 said to have fallen at ,ghardia1 ,algeria1 contrasting profoundment 7pear-shaped7 with the angular outlines of ordinary meteorites4 ,the conventional explanation that it had been formed as a drop of molten matter from a larger body seems reasonable to me2 but with less agreeableness ,i note its fall in a thunderstorm1 the datum that turns the orthodox meteorologist pale with rage1 or induces a slight elevation of his eyebrows1 if you mention it to him4 ,meunier tells of another thunderstone said to have fallen in ,north ,africa4 ,meunier1 too1 is a little lamentable here3 he quotes a soldier of experience that such objects fall most frequently in the deserts of ,africa4 ,rather miscellaneous now3 ,thunderstone said to have fallen in ,london1 ,april1 #ahgf3 weight about #h pounds3 no particulars as to shape 7,timb's ,year ,book1 #ahgg-bdf74 ,thunderstone said to have fallen at ,cardiff1 ,sept4 #bf1 #aiaf 7,london ,times1 ,sept4 #bh1 #aiaf74 ,according to ,nature1 #ih-ie1 it was coincidence2 only a lightning flash had been seen4 ,stone that fell in a storm1 near ,st4 ,albans1 ,england3 accepted by the ,museum of ,st4 ,albans2 said1 at the ,british ,museum1 not to be of true meteoritic material4 7,nature1 #hj-cd47 ,london ,times1 ,april #bf1 #ahgf3 ,that1 ,april #bj1 #ahgf1 near ,wolverhampton1 fell a mass of meteoritic iron during a heavy fall of rain4 ,an account of this phenomenon in ,nature1 #ad-bgb1 by ,h4,s4 ,maskelyne1 who accepts it as authentic4 ,also1 see ,nature1 #ac-eca4 ,for three other instances1 see the ,scientific ,american1 #dg-aid2 #eb-hc2 #fh-cbe4 ,as to wedge-shape larger than could very well be called an ax3 ,nature1 #cj-cjj3 ,that1 ,may #bg1 #ahhd1 at ,tysnas1 ,norway1 a meteorite had fallen3 that the turf was torn up at the spot where the object had been supposed to have fallen2 that two days later a very peculiar stone was found near by4 ,the description is--in shape and size very like the fourth part of a large ,stilton cheese4 ,it is our acceptance that many objects and different substances have been brought down by atmospheric disturbance from what--only as a matter of convenience now1 and until we have more data--we call the ,super-,sargasso ,sea2 however1 our chief interest is in objects that have been shaped by means similar to human handicraft4 ,description of the thunderstones of ,burma 7,proc4 ,asiatic ,soc4 of ,bengal1 #ahfi-ahc73 said to be of a kind of stone unlike any other found in ,burma2 called thunderbolts by the natives4 ,i think there's a good deal of meaning in such expressions as unlike any other found in ,burma--but that if they had said anything more definite1 there would have been unpleasant consequences to writers in the #aith century4 ,more about the thunderstones of ,burma1 in the ,proc4 ,soc4 ,antiq4 of ,london1 #b-c-ig4 ,one of them1 described as an adze1 was exhibited by ,captain ,duff1 who wrote that there was no stone like it in its neighborhood4 ,of course it may not be very convincing to say that because a stone is unlike neighboring stones it had foreign origin--also we fear it is a kind of plagiarism3 we got it from the geologists1 who demonstrate by this reasoning the foreign origin of erratics4 ,we fear we're a little gross and scientific at times4 ,but it's my acceptance that a great deal of scientific literature must be read between the lines4 ,it's not everyone who has the lamentableness of a ,sir ,john ,evans4 ,just as a great deal of ,voltaire's meaning was inter-linear1 we suspect that a ,captain ,duff merely hints rather than to risk having a ,prof4 ,lawrence ,smith fly at him and call him a half-insane man4 ,whatever ,captain ,duff's meaning may have been1 and whether he smiled like a ,voltaire when he wrote it1 ,captain ,duff writes of the extremely soft nature of the stone1 rendering it equally useless as an offensive or defensive weapon4 ,story1 by a correspondent1 in ,nature1 #cd-ec1 of a ,malay1 of considerable social standing--and one thing about our data is that1 damned though they be1 they do so often bring us into awful good company--who knew of a tree that had been struck1 about a month before1 by something in a thunderstorm4 ,he searched among the roots of this tree and found a thunderstone4 ,not said whether he jumped or leaped to the conclusion that it had fallen3 process likely to be more leisurely in tropical countries4 ,also ,i'm afraid his way of reasoning was not very original3 just so were fragments of the ,bath-furnace meteorite1 accepted by orthodoxy1 discovered4 ,we shall now have an unusual experience4 ,we shall read of some reports of extraordinary circumstances that were investigated by a man of science--not of course that they were really investigated by him1 but that his phenomena occupied a position approximating higher to real investigation than to utter neglect4 ,over and over we read of extraordinary occurrences--no discussion2 not even a comment afterward findable2 mere mention occasionally--burial and damnation4 ,the extraordinary and how quickly it is hidden away4 ,burial and damnation1 or the obscurity of the conspicuous4 ,we did read of a man who1 in the matter of snails1 did travel some distance to assure himself of something that he had suspected in advance2 and we remember ,prof4 ,hitchcock1 who had only to smite ,amherst with the wand of his botanical knowledge1 and lo6 two fungi sprang up before night2 and we did read of ,dr4 ,gray and his thousands of fishes from one pailful of water--but these instances stand out2 more frequently there was no investigation4 ,we now have a good many reported occurrences that were investigated4 ,of things said to have fallen from the sky1 we make1 in the usual scientific way1 two divisions3 miscellaneous objects and substances1 and symmetric objects attributable to beings like human beings1 sub-dividing into--wedges1 spheres1 and disks4 ,jour4 ,roy4 ,met4 ,soc41 #ad-bjg3 ,that1 ,july #b1 #ahff1 a correspondent to a ,london newspaper wrote that something had fallen from the sky1 during a thunderstorm of ,june #cj1 #ahff1 at ,netting ,hill4 ,mr4 ,g4,t4 ,symons1 of ,symons' ,meteorological ,magazine1 investigated1 about as fairly1 and with about as unprejudiced a mind1 as anything ever has been investigated4 ,he says that the object was nothing but a lump of coal3 that next door to the home of the correspondent coal had been unloaded the day before4 ,with the uncanny wisdom of the stranger upon unfamiliar ground that we have noted before1 ,mr4 ,symons saw that the coal reported to have fallen from the sky1 and the coal unloaded more prosaically the day before1 were identical4 ,persons in the neighborhood1 unable to make this simple identification1 had bought from the correspondent pieces of the object reported to have fallen from the sky4 ,as to credulity1 ,i know of no limits for it--but when it comes to paying out money for credulity--oh1 no standards to judge by1 of course--just the same-- ,the trouble with efficiency is that it will merge away into excess4 ,with what seems to me to be super-abundance of convincingness1 ,mr4 ,symons then lugs another character into his little comedy3 ,that it was all a hoax by a chemist's pupil1 who had filled a capsule with an explosive1 and during the storm had thrown the burning mass into the gutter1 so making an artificial thunderbolt4 ,or even ,shakespeare1 with all his inartistry1 did not lug in ,king ,lear to make ,hamlet complete4 ,whether ,i'm lugging in something that has no special meaning1 myself1 or not1 ,i find that this storm of ,june #cj1 #ahff1 was peculiar4 ,it is described in the ,london ,times1 ,july #b1 #ahff3 that during the storm1 the sky in many places remained partially clear while hail and rain were falling4 ,that may have more meaning when we take up the possible extra-mundane origin of some hailstones1 especially if they fall from a cloudless sky4 ,mere suggestion1 not worth much1 that there may have been falls of extra-mundane substances1 in ,london1 ,june #cj1 #ahff4 ,clinkers1 said to have fallen1 during a storm1 at ,kilburn1 ,july #e1 #ahgg3 ,according to the ,kilburn ,times1 ,july #g1 #ahgg1 quoted by ,mr4 ,symons1 a street had been literally strewn1 during the storm1 with a mass of clinkers1 estimated at about two bushels3 sizes from that of a walnut to that of a man's hand--pieces of the clinkers can be seen at the ,kilburn ,times office4 ,if these clinkers1 or cinders1 were refuse from one of the super-mercantile constructions from which coke and coal and ashes occasionally fall to this earth1 or1 rather1 to the ,super-,sargasso ,sea1 from which dislodgment by tempests occurs1 it is intermediatistic to accept that they must merge away somewhere with local phenomena of the scene of precipitation4 ,if a red-hot stove should drop from a cloud into ,broadway1 someone would find that at about the time of the occurrence1 a moving van had passed1 and that the moving men had tired of the stove1 or something--that it had not been really red-hot1 but had been rouged instead of blacked1 by some absent-minded housekeeper4 ,compared with some of the scientific explanations that we have encountered1 there's considerable restraint1 ,i think1 in that one4 ,mr4 ,symons learned that in the same street--he emphasizes that it was a short street--there was a fire-engine station4 ,i had such an impression of him hustling and bustling around at ,notting ,hill1 searching cellars until he found one with newly arrived coal in it2 ringing door bells1 exciting a whole neighborhood1 calling up to second-story windows1 stopping people in the streets1 hotter and hotter on the trail of a wretched imposter of a chemist's pupil4 ,after his efficiency at ,notting ,hill1 we'd expect to hear that he went to the station1 and--something like this3 ,it is said that clinkers fell1 in your street1 at about ten minutes past four o'clock1 afternoon of ,july fifth4 ,will you look over your records and tell me where your engine was at about ten minutes past four1 ,july fifth8 ,mr4 ,symons says3 ,i think that most probably they had been raked out of the steam fire-engine4 ,june #bj1 #ahhj1 it was reported that a thunderstone had struck the house at #ahj ,oakley ,street1 ,chelsea1 falling down the chimney1 into the kitchen grate4 ,mr4 ,symons investigated4 ,he describes the thunderstone as an agglomeration of brick1 soot1 unburned coal1 and cinder4 ,he says that1 in his opinion1 lightning had flashed down the chimney1 and had fused some of the brick of it4 ,he does think it remarkable that the lightning did not then scatter the contents of the grate1 which were disturbed only as if a heavy body had fallen4 ,if we admit that climbing up the chimney to find out is too rigorous a requirement for a man who may have been large1 dignified and subject to expansions1 the only unreasonableness we find in what he says--as judged by our more modern outlook1 is3 ,i suppose that no one would suggest that bricks are manufactured in the atmosphere4 ,sounds a little unreasonable to us1 because it is so of the positivistic spirit of former times1 when it was not so obvious that the highest incredibility and laughability must merge away with the proper--as the ,sci4 ,am4 ,sup4 would say4 ,the preposterous is always interpretable in terms of the proper1 with which it must be continuous--or--clay-like masses such as have fallen from the sky--tremendous heat generated by their velocity--they bake--bricks4 ,we begin to suspect that ,mr4 ,symons exhausted himself at ,notting ,hill4 ,it's a warning to efficiency-fanatics4 ,then the instance of three lumps of earthy matter1 found upon a well-frequented path1 after a thunderstorm1 at ,reading1 ,july #c1 #ahhc4 ,there are so many records of the fall of earthy matter from the sky that it would seem almost uncanny to find resistance here1 were we not so accustomed to the uncompromising stands of orthodoxy--which1 in our metaphysics1 represent good1 as attempts1 but evil in their insufficiency4 ,if ,i thought it necessary1 ,i'd list one hundred and fifty instances of earthy matter said to have fallen from the sky4 ,it is his antagonism to atmospheric disturbance associated with the fall of things from the sky that blinds and hypnotizes a ,mr4 ,symons here4 ,this especial ,mr4 ,symons rejects the ,reading substance because it was not of true meteoritic material4 ,it's uncanny--or it's not uncanny at all1 but universal--if you don't take something for a standard of opinion1 you can't have any opinion at all3 but1 if you do take a standard1 in some of its applications it must be preposterous4 ,the carbonaceous meteorites1 which are unquestioned--though avoided1 as we have seen--by orthodoxy1 are more glaringly of untrue meteoritic material than was this substance of ,reading4 ,mr4 ,symons says that these three lumps were upon the ground in the first place4 ,whether these data are worth preserving or not1 ,i think that the appeal that this especial ,mr4 ,symons makes is worthy of a place in the museum we're writing4 ,he argues against belief in all external origins for our credit as ,englishmen4 ,he is a patriot1 but ,i think that these foreigners had a small chance in the first place for hospitality from him4 ,then comes a small lump of iron 7two inches in diameter7 said to have fallen1 during a thunderstorm1 at ,brixton1 ,aug4 #ag1 #ahhg4 ,mr4 ,symons says3 ,at present ,i cannot trace it4 ,he was at his best at ,notting ,hill3 there's been a marked falling off in his later manner3 ,in the ,london ,times1 ,feb4 #a1 #ahhh1 it is said that a roundish object of iron had been found1 after a violent thunderstorm1 in a garden at ,brixton1 ,aug4 #ag1 #ahhg4 ,it was analyzed by a chemist1 who could not identify it as true meteoritic material4 ,whether a product of workmanship like human workmanship or not1 this object is described as an oblate spheroid1 about two inches across its major diameter4 ,the chemist's name and address are given3 ,mr4 ,j4 ,james ,morgan3 ,ebbw ,vale4 ,garden--familiar ground--,i suppose that in ,mr4 ,symons' opinion this symmetric object had been upon the ground in the first place1 though he neglects to say this4 ,but we do note that he described this object as a lump1 which does not suggest the spheroidal or symmetric4 ,it is our notion that the word lump was1 because of its meaning of amorphousness1 used purposely to have the next datum stand alone1 remote1 without similars4 ,if ,mr4 ,symons had said that there had been a report of another round object that had fallen from the sky1 his readers would be attracted by an agreement4 ,he distracts his readers by describing in terms of the unprecedented-- ,iron cannon ball4 ,it was found in a manure heap1 in ,sussex1 after a thunderstorm4 ,however1 ,mr4 ,symons argues pretty reasonably1 it seems to me1 that1 given a cannon ball in a manure heap1 in the first place1 lightning might be attracted by it1 and1 if seen to strike there1 the untutored mind1 or mentality below the average1 would leap or jump1 or proceed with less celerity1 to the conclusion that the iron object had fallen4 ,except that--if every farmer isn't upon very familiar ground--or if every farmer doesn't know his own manure heap as well as ,mr4 ,symons knew his writing desk-- ,then comes the instance of a man1 his wife1 and his three daughters1 at ,casterton1 ,westmoreland1 who were looking out at their lawn1 during a thunderstorm1 when they considered1 as ,mr4 ,symons expresses it1 that they saw a stone fall from the sky1 kill a sheep1 and bury itself in the ground4 ,they dug4 ,they found a stone ball4 ,symons3 ,coincidence4 ,it had been there in the first place4 ,this object was exhibited at a meeting of the ,royal ,meteorological ,society by ,mr4 ,c4 ,carus-,wilson4 ,it is described in the ,journal's list of exhibits as a sandstone ball4 ,it is described as sandstone by ,mr4 ,symons4 ,now a round piece of sandstone may be almost anywhere in the ground--in the first place--but1 by our more or less discreditable habit of prying and snooping1 we find that this object was rather more complex and of material less commonplace4 ,in snooping through ,knowledge1 ,oct4 #i1 #ahhe1 we read that this thunderstone was in the possession of ,mr4 ,c4 ,carus-,wilson1 who tells the story of the witness and his family--the sheep killed1 the burial of something in the earth1 the digging1 and the finding4 ,mr4 ,c4 ,carus-,wilson describes the object as a ball of hard1 ferruginous quartzite1 about the size of a cocoanut1 weight about twelve pounds4 ,whether we're feeling around for significance or not1 there is a suggestion not only of symmetry but of structure in this object3 it had an external shell1 separated from a loose nucleus4 ,mr4 ,carus-,wilson attributes this cleavage to unequal cooling of the mass4 ,my own notion is that there is very little deliberate misrepresentation in the writings of scientific men3 that they are quite as guiltless in intent as are other hypnotic subjects4 ,such a victim of induced belief reads of a stone ball said to have fallen from the sky4 ,mechanically in his mind arise impressions of globular lumps1 or nodules1 of sandstone1 which are common almost everywhere4 ,he assimilates the reported fall with his impressions of objects in the ground1 in the first place4 ,to an intermediatist1 the phenomena of intellection are only phenomena of universal process localized in human minds4 ,the process called explanation is only a local aspect of universal assimilation4 ,it looks like materialism3 but the intermediatist holds that interpretation of the immaterial1 as it is called1 in terms of the material1 as it is called1 is no more rational than interpretation of the material in terms of the immaterial3 that there is in quasi-existence neither the material nor the immaterial1 but approximations one way or the other4 ,but so hypnotic quasi-reasons3 that globular lumps of sandstone are common4 ,whether he jumps or leaps1 or whether only the frowsy and base-born are so athletic1 his is the impression1 by assimilation1 that this especial object is a ball of sandstone4 ,or human mentality3 its inhabitants are conveniences4 ,it may be that ,mr4 ,symons' paper was written before this object was exhibited to the members of the ,society1 and with the charity with which1 for the sake of diversity1 we intersperse our malices1 we are willing to accept that he investigated something that he had never seen4 ,but whoever listed this object was uncareful3 it is listed as sandstone4 ,we're making excuses for them4 ,really--as it were--you know1 we're not quite so damned as we were4 ,one does not apologize for the gods and at the same time feel quite utterly prostrate before them4 ,if this were a real existence1 and all of us real persons1 with real standards to judge by1 ,i'm afraid we'd have to be a little severe with some of these ,mr4 ,symonses4 ,as it is1 of course1 seriousness seems out of place4 ,we note an amusing little touch in the indefinite allusion to a man1 who with his un-named family1 had considered that he had seen a stone fall4 ,the man was the ,rev4 ,w4 ,carus-,wilson1 who was well-known in his day4 ,the next instance was reported by ,w4,b4 ,tripp1 ,f4,r4,m4,s4--that1 during a thunderstorm1 a farmer had seen the ground in front of him plowed up by something that was luminous4 ,dug4 ,bronze ax4 ,my own notion is that an expedition to the ,north ,pole could not be so urgent as that representative scientists should have gone to that farmer and there spent a summer studying this one reported occurrence4 ,as it is--un-named farmer--somewhere--no date4 ,the thing must stay damned4 ,another specimen for our museum is a comment in ,nature upon these objects3 that they are of an amusing character1 thus clearly showing that they were of terrestrial1 and not a celestial1 character4 ,just why celestiality1 or that of it which1 too1 is only of ,intermediateness should not be quite as amusing as terrestriality is beyond our reasoning powers1 which we have agreed are not ordinary4 ,of course there is nothing amusing about wedges and spheres at all--or ,archimedes and ,euclid are humorists4 ,it is that they were described derisively4 ,if you'd like a little specimen of the standardization of orthodox opinion-- ,amer4 ,met4 ,jour41 #d-ehi3 ,they are of an amusing character1 thus clearly showing that they were of a terrestrial and not a celestial character4 ,i'm sure--not positively1 of course--that we've tried to be as easygoing and lenient with ,mr4 ,symons as his obviously scientific performance would permit4 ,of course it may be that sub-consciously we were prejudiced against him1 instinctively classing him with ,st4 ,augustine1 ,darwin1 ,st4 ,jerome1 and ,lyell4 ,as to the thunderstones1 ,i think that he investigated them mostly for the credit of ,englishmen1 or in the spirit of the ,royal ,krakatoa ,committee1 or about as the commission from the ,french ,academy investigated meteorites4 ,according to a writer in ,knowledge1 #e-dah1 the ,krakatoa ,committee attempted not in the least to prove what had caused the atmospheric effects of #ahhc1 but to prove--that ,krakatoa did it4 ,altogether ,i should think that the following quotation should be enlightening to anyone who still thinks that these occurrences were investigated not to support an opinion formed in advance3 ,in opening his paper1 ,mr4 ,symons says that he undertook his investigation as to the existence of thunderstones1 or thunderbolts as he calls them--feeling certain that there was a weak point somewhere1 inasmuch as 'thunderbolts' have no existence4 ,we have another instance of the reported fall of a cannon ball4 ,it occurred prior to ,mr4 ,symons' investigations1 but is not mentioned by him4 ,it was investigated1 however4 ,in the ,proc4 ,roy4 ,soc4 ,edin41 #c-adg1 is the report of a thunderstone1 supposed to have fallen in ,hampshire1 ,sept41 #aheb4 ,it was an iron cannon ball1 or it was a large nodule of iron pyrites or bisulphuret of iron4 ,no one had seen it fall4 ,it had been noticed1 upon a garden path1 for the first time1 after a thunderstorm4 ,it was only a supposed thing1 because--,it had not the character of any known meteorite4 ,in the ,london ,times1 ,sept4 #af1 #aheb1 appears a letter from ,mr4 ,george ,e4 ,bailey1 a chemist of ,andover1 ,hants4 ,he says that1 in a very heavy thunderstorm1 of the first week of ,september1 #aheb1 this iron object1 had fallen in the garden of ,mr4 ,robert ,dowling1 of ,andover2 that it had fallen upon a path within six yards of the house4 ,it had been picked up immediately after the storm by ,mrs4 ,dowling4 ,it was about the size of a cricket ball3 weight four pounds4 ,no one had seen it fall4 ,in the ,times1 ,sept4 #ae1 #aheb1 there is an account of this thunderstorm1 which was of unusual violence4 ,there are some other data relative to the ball of quartz of ,westmoreland4 ,they're poor things4 ,there's so little to them that they look like ghosts of the damned4 ,however1 ghosts1 when multiplied1 take on what is called substantiality--if the solidest thing conceivable1 in quasi-existence1 is only concentrated phantomosity4 ,it is not only that there have been other reports of quartz that has fallen from the sky2 there is another agreement4 ,the round quartz object of ,westmoreland1 if broken open and separated from its loose nucleus1 would be a round1 hollow1 quartz object4 ,my pseudo-position is that two reports of similar extraordinary occurrences1 one from ,england and one from ,canada--are interesting4 ,proc4 ,canadian ,institute1 #c-g-h3 ,that1 at the meeting of the ,institute1 of ,dec4 #a1 #ahhh1 one of the members1 ,mr4 ,j4,a4 ,livingstone1 exhibited a globular quartz body which he asserted had fallen from the sky4 ,it had been split open4 ,it was hollow4 ,but the other members of the ,institute decided that the object was spurious1 because it was not of true meteoritic material4 ,no date2 no place mentioned2 we note the suggestion that it was only a geode1 which had been upon the ground in the first place4 ,its crystalline lining was geode-like4 ,quartz is upon the index prohibitory of ,science4 ,a monk who would read ,darwin would sin no more than would a scientist who would admit that1 except by the up and down process1 quartz has ever fallen from the sky--but ,continuity3 it is not excommunicated if part of or incorporated in a baptized meteorite--,st4 ,catherine's of ,mexico1 ,i think4 ,it's as epicurean a distinction as any ever made by theologians4 ,fassig lists a quartz pebble1 found in a hailstone 7,bibliography1 part #b-cee74 ,up and down1 of course4 ,another object of quartzite was reported to have fallen1 in the autumn of #ahhj1 at ,schroon ,lake1 ,n4,y4--said in the ,scientific ,american1 #dc-bgb to be a fraud--it was not--the usual4 ,about the first of ,may1 #ahii1 the newspapers published a story of a snow-white meteorite that had fallen1 at ,vincennes1 ,indiana4 ,the ,editor of the ,monthly ,weather ,review 7issue of ,april1 #ahii7 requested the local observer1 at ,vincennes1 to investigate4 ,the ,editor says that the thing was only a fragment of a quartz boulder4 ,he says that anyone with at least a public school education should know better than to write that quartz has ever fallen from the sky4 ,notes and ,queries1 #b-h-ib3 ,that1 in the ,leyden ,museum of ,antiquities1 there is a disk of quartz3 #f centimeters by #e millimeters by about #e centimeters2 said to have fallen upon a plantation in the ,dutch ,west ,indies1 after a meteoric explosion4 ,bricks4 ,i think this is a vice we're writing4 ,i recommend it to those who have hankered for a new sin4 ,at first some of our data were of so frightful or ridiculous mien as to be hated1 or eyebrowed1 was only to be seen4 ,then some pity crept in8 ,i think that we can now embrace bricks4 ,the baked-clay-idea was all right in its place1 but it rather lacks distinction1 ,i think4 ,with our minds upon the concrete boats that have been building terrestrially lately1 and thinking of wrecks that may occur to some of them1 and of a new material for the deep-sea fishes to disregard-- ,object that fell at ,richland1 ,south ,carolina--yellow to gray--said to look like a piece of brick4 7,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #b-cd-bih47 ,pieces of furnace-made brick said to have fallen--in a hailstorm--at ,padua1 ,august1 #ahcd4 7,edin4 ,new ,phil4 ,jour41 #ai-hg47 ,the writer offered an explanation that started another convention3 that the fragments of brick had been knocked from buildings by the hailstones4 ,but there is here a concomitant that will be disagreeable to anyone who may have been inclined to smile at the now digestible--enough notion that furnace-made bricks have fallen from the sky4 ,it is that in some of the hailstones--two per cent of them--that were found with the pieces of brick1 was a light grayish powder4 ,monthly ,notices of the ,royal ,astronomical ,society1 #ccg-cfe3 ,padre ,sechi explains that a stone said to have fallen1 in a thunderstorm1 at ,supino1 ,italy1 ,september1 #ahge1 had been knocked from a roof4 ,nature1 #cc-aec3 ,that it had been reported that a good-sized stone1 of form clearly artificial1 had fallen at ,naples1 ,november1 #ahhe4 ,the stone was described by two professors of ,naples1 who had accepted it as inexplicable but veritable4 ,they were visited by ,dr4 ,h4 ,johnstone-,lavis1 the correspondent to ,nature1 whose investigations had convinced him that the object was a shoemaker's lapstone4 ,now to us of the initiated1 or to us of the wider outlook1 there is nothing incredible in the thought of shoemakers in other worlds--but ,i suspect that this characterization is tactical4 ,this object of worked stone1 or this shoemaker's lapstone1 was made of ,vesuvian lava1 ,dr4 ,johnstone-,lavis thinks3 most probably of lava of the flow of #afca1 from the ,la ,scala quarries4 ,we condemn most probably as bad positivism4 ,as to the men of position1 who had accepted that this thing had fallen from the sky--,i have now obliged them to admit their mistake1 says ,dr4 ,johnstone-,lavis--or it's always the stranger in ,naples who knows ,la ,scala lava better than the natives know it4 ,explanation3 ,that the thing had been knocked from1 or thrown from1 a roof4 ,as to attempt to trace the occurrence to any special roof--nothing said upon that subject4 ,or that ,dr4 ,johnstone-,lavis called a carved stone a lapstone1 quite as ,mr4 ,symons called a spherical object a cannon ball3 bent upon a discrediting incongruity3 ,shoemaking and celestiality4 ,it is so easy to say that axes1 or wedge-shaped stones found on the ground1 were there in the first place1 and that it is only coincidence that lightning should strike near one--but the credibility of coincidences decreases as the square root of their volume1 ,i think4 ,our massed instances speak too much of coincidences of coincidences4 ,but the axes1 or wedge-shaped objects that have been found in trees1 are more difficult for orthodoxy4 ,for instance1 ,arago accepts that such finds have occurred1 but he argues that1 if wedge-shaped stones have been found in tree trunks1 so have toads been found in tree trunks--did the toads fall there8 ,not at all bad for a hypnotic4 ,of course1 in our acceptance1 the ,irish are the ,chosen ,people4 ,it's because they are characteristically best in accord with the underlying essence of quasi-existence4 ,m4 ,arago answers a question by asking another question4 ,that's the only way a question can be answered in our ,hibernian kind of an existence4 ,dr4 ,bodding argued with the natives of the ,santal ,parganas1 ,india1 who said that cut and shaped stones had fallen from the sky1 some of them lodging in tree trunks4 ,dr4 ,bodding1 with orthodox notions of velocity of falling bodies1 having missed1 ,i suppose1 some of the notes ,i have upon large hailstones1 which1 for size1 have fallen with astonishingly low velocity1 argued that anything falling from the sky would be smashed to atoms4 ,he accepts that objects of worked stone have been found in tree trunks1 but he explains3 ,that the ,santals often steal trees1 but do not chop them down in the usual way1 because that would be to make too much noise3 they insert stone wedges1 and hammer them instead3 then1 if they should be caught1 wedges would not be the evidence against them that axes would be4 ,or that a scientific man can't be desperate and reasonable too4 ,or that a pickpocket1 for instance1 is safe1 though caught with his hand in one's pocket1 if he's gloved1 say3 because no court in the land would regard a gloved hand in the same way in which a bare hand would be regarded4 ,that there's nothing but intermediateness to the rational and the preposterous3 that this status of our own ratiocinations is perceptible wherein they are upon the unfamiliar4 ,dr4 ,bodding collected #ej of these shaped stones1 said to have fallen from the sky1 in the course of many years4 ,he says that the ,santals are a highly developed race1 and for ages have not used stone implements--except in this one nefarious convenience to him4 ,all explanations are localizations4 ,they fade away before the universal4 ,it is difficult to express that black rains in ,england do not originate in the smoke of factories--less difficult to express that black rains of ,south ,africa do not4 ,we utter little stress upon the absurdity of ,dr4 ,bedding's explanation1 because1 if anything's absurd everything's absurd1 or1 rather1 has in it some degree or aspect of absurdity1 and we've never had experience with any state except something somewhere between ultimate absurdity and final reasonableness4 ,our acceptance is that ,dr4 ,bedding's elaborate explanation does not apply to cut-stone objects found in tree trunks in other lands3 we accept that for the general1 a local explanation is inadequate4 ,as to thunderstones not said to have fallen luminously1 and not said to have been found sticking in trees1 we are told by faithful hypnotics that astonished rustics come upon prehistoric axes that have been washed into sight by rains1 and jump to the conclusion that the things have fallen from the sky4 ,but simple rustics come upon many prehistoric things3 scrapers1 pottery1 knives1 hammers4 ,we have no record of rusticity coming upon old pottery after a rain1 reporting the fall of a bowl from the sky4 ,just now1 my own acceptance is that wedge-shaped stone objects1 formed by means similar to human workmanship1 have often fallen from the sky4 ,maybe there are messages upon them4 ,my acceptance is that they have been called axes to discredit them3 or the more familiar a term1 the higher the incongruity with vague concepts of the vast1 remote1 tremendous1 unknown4 ,in ,notes and ,queries1 #b-h-ib1 a writer says that he had a thunderstone1 which he had brought from ,jamaica4 ,the description is of a wedge-shaped object2 not of an ax3 ,it shows no mark of having been attached to a handle4 ,of ten thunderstones1 figured upon different pages in ,blinkenberg's book1 nine show no sign of ever having been attached to a handle3 one is perforated4 ,but in a report by ,dr4 ,c4 ,leemans1 ,director of the ,leyden ,museum of ,antiquities1 objects1 said by the ,japanese to have fallen from the sky1 are alluded to throughout as wedges4 ,in the ,archaeologic ,journal1 #aa-aah1 in a paper upon the thunderstones of ,java1 the objects are called wedges and not axes4 ,our notion is that rustics and savages call wedge-shaped objects that fall from the sky1 axes3 that scientific men1 when it suits their purposes1 can resist temptations to prolixity and pedantry1 and adopt the simple3 that they can be intelligible when derisive4 ,all of which lands us in a confusion1 worse1 ,i think1 than we were in before we so satisfactorily emerged from the distresses of--butter and blood and ink and paper and punk and silk4 ,now it's cannon balls and axes and disks--if a lapstone be a disk--it's a flat stone1 at any rate4 ,a great many scientists are good impressionists3 they snub the impertinences of details4 ,had he been of a coarse1 grubbing nature1 ,i think ,dr4 ,bodding could never have so simply and beautifully explained the occurrence of stone wedges in tree trunks4 ,but to a realist1 the story would be something like this3 ,a man who needed a tree1 in a land of jungles1 where1 for some unknown reason1 everyone's very selfish with his trees1 conceives that hammering stone wedges makes less noise than does the chopping of wood3 he and his descendants1 in a course of many years1 cut down trees with wedges1 and escape penalty1 because it never occurs to a prosecutor that the head of an ax is a wedge4 ,the story is like every other attempted positivism--beautiful and complete1 until we see what it excludes or disregards2 whereupon it becomes the ugly and incomplete--but not absolutely1 because there is probably something of what is called foundation for it4 ,perhaps a mentally incomplete ,santal did once do something of the kind4 ,story told to ,dr4 ,bodding3 in the usual scientific way1 he makes a dogma of an aberration4 ,or we did have to utter a little stress upon this matter1 after all4 ,they're so hairy and attractive1 these scientists of the #aith century4 ,we feel the zeal of a ,sitting ,bull when we think of their scalps4 ,we shall have to have an expression of our own upon this confusing subject4 ,we have expressions3 we don't call them explanations3 we've discarded explanations with beliefs4 ,though everyone who scalps is1 in the oneness of allness1 himself likely to be scalped1 there is such a discourtesy to an enemy as the wearing of wigs4 ,cannon balls and wedges1 and what may they mean8 ,bombardments of this earth-- ,attempts to communicate-- ,or visitors to this earth1 long ago--explorers from the moon--taking back with them1 as curiosities1 perhaps1 implements of this earth's prehistoric inhabitants--a wreck--a cargo of such things held for ages in suspension in the ,super-,sargasso ,sea--falling1 or shaken1 down occasionally by storms-- ,but1 by preponderance of description1 we cannot accept that thunderstones ever were attached to handles1 or are prehistoric axes-- ,as to attempts to communicate with this earth by means of wedge-shaped objects especially adapted to the penetration of vast1 gelatinous areas spread around this earth-- ,in the ,proc4 ,roy4 ,irish ,acad41 #i-ccg1 there is an account of a stone wedge that fell from the sky1 near ,cashel1 ,tipperary1 ,aug4 #b1 #ahfe4 ,the phenomenon is not questioned1 but the orthodox preference is to call it1 not ax-like1 nor wedge-shaped1 but pyramidal4 ,for data of other pyramidal stones said to have fallen from the sky1 see ,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahfa-cd4 ,one fell at ,segowolee1 ,india1 ,march #f1 #ahec4 ,of the object that fell at ,cashel1 ,dr4 ,haughton says in the ,proceedings3 ,a singular feature is observable in this stone1 that ,i have never seen in any other3--the rounded edges of the pyramid are sharply marked by lines on the black crust1 as perfect as if made by a ruler4 ,dr4 ,haughton's idea is that the marks may have been made by some peculiar tension in the cooling4 ,it must have been very peculiar1 if in all aerolites not wedge-shaped1 no such phenomenon had ever been observed4 ,it merges away with one or two instances known1 after ,dr4 ,haughton's time1 of seeming stratification in meteorites4 ,stratification in meteorites1 however1 is denied by the faithful4 ,i begin to suspect something else4 ,a whopper is coming4 ,later it will be as reasonable1 by familiarity1 as anything else ever said4 ,if someone should study the stone of ,cashel1 as ,champollion studied the ,rosetta stone1 he might--or1 rather1 would inevitably--find meaning in those lines1 and translate them into ,english-- ,nevertheless ,i begin to suspect something else3 something more subtle and esoteric than graven characters upon stones that have fallen from the sky1 in attempts to communicate4 ,the notion that other worlds are attempting to communicate with this world is widespread3 my own notion is that it is not attempt at all--that it was achievement centuries ago4 ,i should like to send out a report that a thunderstone had fallen1 say1 somewhere in ,new ,hampshire-- ,and keep track of every person who came to examine that stone--trace down his affiliations--keep track of him-- ,then send out a report that a thunderstone had fallen at ,stockholm1 say-- ,would one of the persons who had gone to ,new ,hampshire1 be met again in ,stockholm8 ,but--what if he had no anthropological1 lapidarian1 or meteorological affiliations--but did belong to a secret society-- ,it is only a dawning credulity4 ,of the three forms of symmetric objects that have1 or haven't1 fallen from the sky1 it seems to me that the disk is the most striking4 ,so far1 in this respect1 we have been at our worst--possibly that's pretty bad--but lapstones are likely to be of considerable variety of form1 and something that is said to have fallen at sometime somewhere in the ,dutch ,west ,indies is profoundly of the unchosen4 ,now we shall have something that is high up in the castes of the accursed3 ,comptes ,rendus1 #ahhg-ahb3 ,that1 upon ,june #bj1 #ahhg1 in a violent storm--two months before the reported fall of the symmetric iron object of ,brixton--a small stone had fallen from the sky at ,tarbes1 ,france3 #ac millimeters in diameter2 #e millimeters thick2 weight #b grammes4 ,reported to the ,french ,academy by ,m4 ,sudre1 professor of the ,normal ,school1 ,tarbes4 ,this time the old convenience there in the first place is too greatly resisted--the stone was covered with ice4 ,this object had been cut and shaped by means similar to human hands and human mentality4 ,it was a disk of worked stone--tres regulier4 ,il a ete assurement travaille4 ,there's not a word as to any known whirlwind anywhere3 nothing of other objects or debris that fell at or near this date1 in ,france4 ,the thing had fallen alone4 ,but as mechanically as any part of a machine responds to its stimulus1 the explanation appears in ,comptes ,rendus that this stone had been raised by a whirlwind and then flung down4 ,it may be that in the whole nineteenth century no event more important than this occurred4 ,in ,la ,nature1 #ahhg1 and in ,l',annee ,scientifique1 #ahhg1 this occurrence is noted4 ,it is mentioned in one of the summer numbers of ,nature1 #ahhg4 ,fassig lists a paper upon it in the ,annuaire de ,soc4 ,met41 #ahhg4 ,not a word of discussion4 ,not a subsequent mention can ,i find4 ,our own expression3 ,what matters it how we1 the ,french ,academy1 or the ,salvation ,army may explain8 ,a disk of worked stone fell from the sky1 at ,tarbes1 ,france1 ,june #bj1 #ahhg4 #i ,my own pseudo-conclusion3 ,that we've been damned by giants sound asleep1 or by great scientific principles and abstractions that cannot realize themselves3 that little harlots have visited their caprices upon us2 that clowns1 with buckets of water from which they pretend to cast thousands of good-sized fishes have anathematized us for laughing disrespectfully1 because1 as with all clowns1 underlying buffoonery is the desire to be taken seriously2 that pale ignorances1 presiding over microscopes by which they cannot distinguish flesh from nostoc or fishes' spawn or frogs' spawn1 have visited upon us their wan solemnities4 ,we've been damned by corpses and skeletons and mummies1 which twitch and totter with pseudo-life derived from conveniences4 ,or there is only hypnosis4 ,the accursed are those who admit they're the accursed4 ,if we be more nearly real we are reasons arraigned before a jury of dream-phantasms4 ,of all meteorites in museums1 very few were seen to fall4 ,it is considered sufficient grounds for admission if specimens can't be accounted for in any way other than that they fell from the sky--as if in the haze of uncertainty that surrounds all things1 or that is the essence of everything1 or in the merging away of everything into something else1 there could be anything that could be accounted for in only one way4 ,the scientist and the theologian reason that if something can be accounted for in only one way1 it is accounted for in that way--or logic would be logical1 if the conditions that it imposes1 but1 of course1 does not insist upon1 could anywhere be found in quasi-existence4 ,in our acceptance1 logic1 science1 art1 religion are1 in our existence1 premonitions of a coming awakening1 like dawning awarenesses of surroundings in the mind of a dreamer4 ,any old chunk of metal that measures up to the standard of true meteoritic material is admitted by the museums4 ,it may seem incredible that modern curators still have this delusion1 but we suspect that the date on one's morning newspaper hasn't much to do with one's modernity all day long4 ,in reading ,fletcher's catalogue1 for instance1 we learn that some of the best-known meteorites were found in draining a field--found in making a road--turned up by the plow occurs a dozen times4 ,someone fishing in ,lake ,okeechobee1 brought up an object in his fishing net4 ,no meteorite had ever been seen to fall near it4 ,the ,u4,s4 ,national ,museum accepts it4 ,if we have accepted only one of the data of untrue meteoritic material--one instance of carbonaceous matter--if it be too difficult to utter the word coal--we see that in this inclusion-exclusion1 as in every other means of forming an opinion1 false inclusion and false exclusion have been practiced by curators of museums4 ,there is something of ultra-pathos--of cosmic sadness--in this universal search for a standard1 and in belief that one has been revealed by either inspiration or analysis1 then the dogged clinging to a poor sham of a thing long after its insufficiency has been shown--or renewed hope and search for the special that can be true1 or for something local that could also be universal4 ,it's as if true meteoritic material were a rock of ages to some scientific men4 ,they cling4 ,but clingers cannot hold out welcoming arms4 ,the only seemingly conclusive utterance1 or seemingly substantial thing to cling to1 is a product of dishonesty1 ignorance1 or fatigue4 ,all sciences go back and back1 until they're worn out with the process1 or until mechanical reaction occurs3 then they move forward--as it were4 ,then they become dogmatic1 and take for bases1 positions that were only points of exhaustion4 ,so chemistry divided and sub-divided down to atoms2 then1 in the essential insecurity of all quasi-constructions1 it built up a system1 which1 to anyone so obsessed by his own hypnoses that he is exempt to the chemist's hypnoses1 is perceptibly enough an intellectual anaemia built upon infinitesimal debilities4 ,in ,science1 n4s41 #ca-bih1 ,e4,d4 ,hovey1 of the ,american ,museum of ,natural ,history1 asserts or confesses that often have objects of material such as fossiliferous limestone and slag been sent to him ,he says that these things have been accompanied by assurances that they have been seen to fall on lawns1 on roads1 in front of houses4 ,they are all excluded4 ,they are not of true meteoritic material4 ,they were on the ground in the first place4 ,it is only by coincidence that lightning has struck1 or that a real meteorite1 which was unfindable1 has struck near objects of slag and limestone4 ,mr4 ,hovey says that the list might be extended indefinitely4 ,that's a tantalizing suggestion of some very interesting stuff-- ,he says3 ,but it is not worth while4 ,i'd like to know what strange1 damned1 excommunicated things have been sent to museums by persons who have felt convinced that they had seen what they may have seen1 strongly enough to risk ridicule1 to make up bundles1 go to express offices1 and write letters4 ,i accept that over the door of every museum1 into which such things enter1 is written3 ,abandon ,hope4 ,if a ,mr4 ,symons mentions one instance of coal1 or of slag or cinders1 said to have fallen from the sky1 we are not--except by association with the carbonaceous meteorites--strong in our impression that coal sometimes falls to this earth from coal-burning super-constructions up somewhere-- ,in ,comptes ,rendus1 #ia-aig1 ,m4 ,daubree tells the same story4 ,our acceptance1 then1 is that other curators could tell this same story4 ,then the phantomosity of our impression substantiates proportionately to its multiplicity4 ,m4 ,daubree says that often have strange damned things been sent to the ,french museums1 accompanied by assurances that they had been seen to fall from the sky4 ,especially to our interest1 he mentions coal and slag4 ,excluded4 ,buried un-named and undated in ,science's potter's field4 ,i do not say that the data of the damned should have the same rights as the data of the saved4 ,that would be justice4 ,that would be of the ,positive ,absolute1 and1 though the ideal of1 a violation of1 the very essence of quasi-existence1 wherein only to have the appearance of being is to express a preponderance of force one way or another--or inequilibrium1 or inconsistency1 or injustice4 ,our acceptance is that the passing away of exclusionism is a phenomenon of the twentieth century3 that gods of the twentieth century will sustain our notions be they ever so unwashed and frowsy4 ,but1 in our own expressions1 we are limited1 by the oneness of quasiness1 to the very same methods by which orthodoxy established and maintains its now sleek1 suave preposterousnesses4 ,at any rate1 though we are inspired by an especial subtle essence--or imponderable1 ,i think--that pervades the twentieth century1 we have not the superstition that we are offering anything as a positive fact4 ,rather often we have not the delusion that we're any less superstitious and credulous than any logician1 savage1 curator1 or rustic4 ,an orthodox demonstration1 in terms of which we shall have some heresies1 is that if things found in coal could have got there only by falling there--they fell there4 ,so1 in the ,manchester ,lit4 and ,phil4 ,soc4 ,mems41 #b-i-cjf1 it is argued that certain roundish stones that have been found in coal are fossil aerolites3 that they had fallen from the sky1 ages ago1 when the coal was soft1 because the coal had closed around them1 showing no sign of entrance4 ,proc4 ,soc4 of ,antiq4 of ,scotland1 #a-a-aba3 ,that1 in a lump of coal1 from a mine in ,scotland1 an iron instrument had been found-- ,the interest attaching to this singular relic arises from the fact of its having been found in the heart of a piece of coal1 seven feet under the surface4 ,if we accept that this object of iron was of workmanship beyond the means and skill of the primitive men who may have lived in ,scotland when coal was forming there-- ,the instrument was considered to be modern4 ,that our expression has more of realness1 or higher approximation to realness1 than has the attempt to explain that is made in the ,proceedings3 ,that in modern times someone may have bored for coal1 and that his drill may have broken off in the coal it had penetrated4 ,why he should have abandoned such easily accessible coal1 ,i don't know4 ,the important point is that there was no sign of boring3 that this instrument was in a lump of coal that had closed around it so that its presence was not suspected1 until the lump of coal was broken4 ,no mention can ,i find of this damned thing in any other publication4 ,of course there is an alternative here3 the thing may not have fallen from the sky3 if in coal-forming times1 in ,scotland1 there were1 indigenous to this earth1 no men capable of making such an iron instrument1 it may have been left behind by visitors from other worlds4 ,in an extraordinary approximation to fairness and justice1 which is permitted to us1 because we are quite as desirous to make acceptable that nothing can be proved as we are to sustain our own expressions1 we note3 ,that in ,notes and ,queries1 #aa-a-djh1 there is an account of an ancient copper seal1 about the size of a penny1 found in chalk1 at a depth of from five to six feet1 near ,bredenstone1 ,england4 ,the design upon it is said to be of a monk kneeling before a virgin and child3 a legend upon the margin is said to be3 ,st4 ,jordanis ,monachi ,spaldingie4 ,i don't know about that4 ,it looks very desirable--undesirable to us4 ,there's a wretch of an ultra-frowsy thing in the ,scientific ,american1 #g-bih1 which we condemn ourselves1 if somewhere1 because of the oneness of allness1 the damned must also be the damning4 ,it's a newspaper story3 that about the first of ,june1 #ahea1 a powerful blast1 near ,dorchester1 ,mass41 cast out from a bed of solid rock a bell-shaped vessel of an unknown metal3 floral designs inlaid with silver2 art of some cunning workman4 ,the opinion of the ,editor of the ,scientific ,american is that the thing had been made by ,tubal ,cain1 who was the first inhabitant of ,dorchester4 ,though ,i fear that this is a little arbitrary1 ,i am not disposed to fly rabidly at every scientific opinion4 ,nature1 #ce-cf3 ,a block of metal found in coal1 in ,austria1 #ahhe4 ,it is now in the ,salsburg museum4 ,this time we have another expression4 ,usually our intermediatist attack upon provincial positivism is3 ,science1 in its attempted positivism takes something such as true meteoritic material as a standard of judgment2 but carbonaceous matter1 except for its relative infrequency1 is just as veritable a standard of judgment2 carbonaceous matter merges away into such a variety of organic substances1 that all standards are reduced to indistinguishability3 if1 then1 there is no real standard against us1 there is no real resistance to our own acceptances4 ,now our intermediatism is3 ,science takes true meteoritic material as a standard of admission2 but now we have an instance that quite as truly makes true meteoritic material a standard of exclusion2 or1 then1 a thing that denies itself is no real resistance to our own acceptances--this depending upon whether we have a datum of something of true meteoritic material that orthodoxy can never accept fell from the sky4 ,we're a little involved here4 ,our own acceptance is upon a carved1 geometric thing that1 if found in a very old deposit1 antedates human life1 except1 perhaps1 very primitive human life1 as an indigenous product of this earth3 but we're quite as much interested in the dilemma it made for the faithful4 ,it is of true meteoritic material4 ,l',astronomie1 #ahhg-aad1 it is said that1 though so geometric1 its phenomena so characteristic of meteorites exclude the idea that it was the work of man4 ,as to the deposit--,tertiary coal4 ,composition--iron1 carbon1 and a small quantity of nickel4 ,it has the pitted surface that is supposed by the faithful to be characteristic of meteorites4 ,for a full account of this subject1 see ,comptes ,rendus1 #ajc-gjb4 ,the scientists who examined it could reach no agreement4 ,they bifurcated3 then a compromise was suggested2 but the compromise is a product of disregard3 ,that it was of true meteoritic material1 and had not been shaped by man2 ,that it was not of true meteoritic material1 but telluric iron that had been shaped by man3 ,that it was true meteoritic material that had fallen from the sky1 but had been shaped by man1 after its fall4 ,the data1 one or more of which must be disregarded by each of these three explanations1 are3 true meteoritic material and surface markings of meteorites2 geometric form2 presence in an ancient deposit2 material as hard as steel2 absence upon this earth1 in ,tertiary times1 of men who could work in material as hard as steel4 ,it is said that1 though of true meteoritic material1 this object is virtually a steel object4 ,st4 ,augustine1 with his orthodoxy1 was never in--well1 very much worse--difficulties than are the faithful here4 ,by due disregard of a datum or so1 our own acceptance that it was a steel object that had fallen from the sky to this earth1 in ,tertiary times1 is not forced upon one4 ,we offer ours as the only synthetic expression4 ,for instance1 in ,science ,gossip1 #ahhg-eh1 it is described as a meteorite3 in this account there is nothing alarming to the pious1 because1 though everything else is told1 its geometric form is not mentioned4 ,it's a cube4 ,there is a deep incision all around it4 ,of its faces1 two that are opposite are rounded4 ,though ,i accept that our own expression can only rather approximate to ,truth1 by the wideness of its inclusions1 and because it seems1 of four attempts1 to represent the only complete synthesis1 and can be nullified or greatly modified by data that we1 too1 have somewhere disregarded1 the only means of nullification that ,i can think of would be demonstration that this object is a mass of iron pyrites1 which sometimes forms geometrically4 ,but the analysis mentions not a trace of sulphur4 ,of course our weakness1 or impositiveness1 lies in that1 by anyone to whom it would be agreeable to find sulphur in this thing1 sulphur would be found in it--by our own intermediatism there is some sulphur in everything1 or sulphur is only a localization or emphasis of something that1 unemphasized1 is in all things4 ,so there have1 or haven't1 been found upon this earth things that fell from the sky1 or that were left behind by extra-mundane visitors to this earth-- ,a yarn in the ,london ,times1 ,june #bb1 #ahdd3 that some workmen1 quarrying rock1 close to the ,tweed1 about a quarter of a mile below ,rutherford ,mills1 discovered a gold thread embedded in the stone at a depth of #h feet3 that a piece of the gold thread had been sent to the office of the ,kelso ,chronicle4 ,pretty little thing2 not at all frowsy2 rather damnable4 ,london ,times1 ,dec4 #bd1 #ahea3 ,that ,hiram ,de ,witt1 of ,springfield1 ,mass41 returning from ,california1 had brought with him a piece of auriferous quartz about the size of a man's fist4 ,it was accidentally dropped--split open--nail in it4 ,there was a cut-iron nail1 size of a six-penny nail1 slightly corroded4 ,it was entirely straight and had a perfect head4 ,or--,california--ages ago1 when auriferous quartz was forming--super-carpenter1 million of miles or so up in the air--drops a nail4 ,to one not an intermediatist1 it would seem incredible that this datum1 not only of the damned1 but of the lowest of the damned1 or of the journalistic caste of the accursed1 could merge away with something else damned only by disregard1 and backed by what is called highest scientific authority-- ,communication by ,sir ,david ,brewster 7,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahde-ea73 ,that a nail had been found in a block of stone from ,kingoodie ,quarry1 ,north ,britain4 ,the block in which the nail was found was nine inches thick1 but as to what part of the quarry it had come from1 there is no evidence--except that it could not have been from the surface4 ,the quarry had been worked about twenty years4 ,it consisted of alternate layers of hard stone and a substance called till4 ,the point of the nail1 quite eaten with rust1 projected into some till1 upon the surface of the block of stone4 ,the rest of the nail lay upon the surface of the stone to within an inch of the head--that inch of it was embedded in the stone4 ,although its caste is high1 this is a thing profoundly of the damned--sort of a ,brahmin as regarded by a ,baptist4 ,its case was stated fairly2 ,brewster related all circumstances available to him--but there was no discussion at the meeting of the ,british ,association3 no explanation was offered-- ,nevertheless the thing can be nullified-- ,but the nullification that we find is as much against orthodoxy in one respect as it is against our own expression that inclusion in quartz or sandstone indicates antiquity--or there would have to be a revision of prevailing dogmas upon quartz and sandstone and age indicated by them1 if the opposing data should be accepted4 ,of course it may be contended by both the orthodox and us heretics that the opposition is only a yarn from a newspaper4 ,by an odd combination1 we find our two lost souls that have tried to emerge1 chucked back to perdition by one blow3 ,pop4 ,sci4 ,news1 #ahhd-da3 ,that1 according to the ,carson ,appeal1 there had been found in a mine1 quartz crystals that could have had only #ae years in which to form3 that1 where a mill had been built1 sandstone had been found1 when the mill was torn down1 that had hardened in #ab years3 that in this sandstone was a piece of wood with a nail in it4 ,annals of ,scientific ,discovery1 #ahec-ga3 ,that1 at the meeting of the ,british ,association1 #ahec1 ,sir ,david ,brewster had announced that he had to bring before the meeting an object of so incredible a nature that nothing short of the strongest evidence was necessary to render the statement at all probable4 ,a crystal lens had been found in the treasure-house at ,nineveh4 ,in many of the temples and treasure houses of old civilizations upon this earth have been preserved things that have fallen from the sky--or meteorites4 ,again we have a ,brahmin4 ,this thing is buried alive in the heart of propriety3 it is in the ,british ,museum4 ,carpenter1 in ,the ,microscope and ,its ,revelations1 gives two drawings of it4 ,carpenter argues that it is impossible to accept that optical lenses had ever been made by the ancients4 ,never occurred to him--someone a million miles or so up in the air--looking through his telescope--lens drops out4 ,this does not appeal to ,carpenter3 he says that this object must have been an ornament4 ,according to ,brewster1 it was not an ornament1 but a true optical lens4 ,in that case1 in ruins of an old civilization upon this earth1 has been found an accursed thing that was1 acceptably1 not a product of any old civilization indigenous to this earth4 #aj ,early explorers have ,florida mixed up with ,newfoundland4 ,but the confusion is worse than that still earlier4 ,it arises from simplicity4 ,very early explorers think that all land westward is one land1 ,india3 awareness of other lands as well as ,india comes as a slow process4 ,i do not now think of things arriving upon this earth from some especial other world4 ,that was my notion when ,i started to collect our data4 ,or1 as is a commonplace of observation1 all intellection begins with the illusion of homogeneity4 ,it's one of ,spencer's data3 we see homogeneousness in all things distant1 or with which we have small acquaintance4 ,advance from the relatively homogeneous to the relatively heterogeneous is ,spencerian ,philosophy--like everything else1 so-called3 not that it was really ,spencer's discovery1 but was taken from von ,baer1 who1 in turn1 was continuous with preceding evolutionary speculation4 ,our own expression is that all things are acting to advance to the homogeneous1 or are trying to localize ,homogeneousness4 ,homogeneousness is an aspect of the ,universal1 wherein it is a state that does not merge away into something else4 ,we regard homogeneousness as an aspect of positiveness1 but it is our acceptance that infinite frustrations of attempts to positivize manifest themselves in infinite heterogeneity3 so that though things try to localize homogeneousness they end up in heterogeneity so great that it amounts to infinite dispersion or indistinguishability4 ,so all concepts are little attempted positivenesses1 but soon have to give in to compromise1 modification1 nullification1 merging away into indistinguishability--unless1 here and there1 in the world's history1 there may have been a super-dogmatist1 who1 for only an infinitesimal of time1 has been able to hold out against heterogeneity or modification or doubt or listening to reason1 or loss of identity--in which case--instant translation to heaven or the ,positive ,absolute4 ,odd thing about ,spencer is that he never recognized that homogeneity1 integration1 and definiteness are all words for the same state1 or the state that we call positiveness4 ,what we call his mistake is in that he regarded homogeneousness as negative4 ,i began with a notion of some one other world1 from which objects and substances have fallen to this earth2 which had1 or which1 to less degree1 has a tutelary interest in this earth2 which is now attempting to communicate with this earth--modifying1 because of data which will pile up later1 into acceptance that some other world is not attempting but has been1 for centuries1 in communication with a sect1 perhaps1 or a secret society1 or certain esoteric ones of this earth's inhabitants4 ,i lose a great deal of hypnotic power in not being able to concentrate attention upon some one other world4 ,as ,i have admitted before ,i'm intelligent1 as contrasted with the orthodox4 ,i haven't the aristocratic disregard of a ,new ,york curator or an ,eskimo medicine-man4 ,i have to dissipate myself in acceptance of a host of other worlds3 size of the moon1 some of them3 one of them1 at least--tremendous thing3 we'll take that up later4 ,vast1 amorphous aerial regions1 to which such definite words as worlds and planets seem inapplicable4 ,and artificial constructions that ,i have called super-constructions3 one of them about the size of ,brooklyn1 ,i should say1 offhand4 ,and one or more of them wheel-shaped things a goodly number of square miles in area4 ,i think that earlier in this book1 before we liberalized into embracing everything that comes along1 your indignation1 or indigestion would have expressed in the notion that1 if this were so1 astronomers would have seen these other worlds and regions and vast geometric constructions4 ,you'd have had that notion3 you'd have stopped there4 ,but the attempt to stop is saying enough to the insatiable4 ,in cosmic punctuation there are no periods3 illusion of periods is incomplete view of colons and semi-colons4 ,we can't stop with the notion that if there were such phenomena1 astronomers would have seen them4 ,because of our experience with suppression and disregard1 we suspect1 before we go into the subject at all1 that astronomers have seen them2 that navigators and meteorologists have seen them2 that individual scientists and other trained observers have seen them many times-- ,that it is the ,system that has excluded data of them4 ,as to the ,law of ,gravitation1 and astronomers' formulas1 remember that these formulas worked out in the time of ,laplace as well as they do now4 ,but there are hundreds of planetary bodies now known that were then not known4 ,so a few hundred worlds more of ours won't make any difference4 ,laplace knew of about only thirty bodies in this solar system3 about six hundred are recognized now-- ,what are the discoveries of geology and biology to a theologian8 ,his formulas still work out as well as they ever did4 ,if the ,law of ,gravitation could be stated as a real utterance1 it might be a real resistance to us4 ,but we are told only that gravitation is gravitation4 ,of course to an intermediatist1 nothing can be defined except in terms of itself--but even the orthodox1 in what seems to me to be the innate premonitions of realness1 not founded upon experience1 agree that to define a thing in terms of itself is not real definition4 ,it is said that by gravitation is meant the attraction of all things proportionately to mass and inversely as the square of the distance4 ,mass would mean inter-attraction holding together final particles1 if there were final particles4 ,then1 until final particles be discovered1 only one term of this expression survives1 or mass is attraction4 ,but distance is only extent of mass1 unless one holds out for absolute vacuum among planets1 a position against which we could bring a host of data4 ,but there is no possible means of expressing that gravitation is anything other than attraction4 ,so there is nothing to resist us but such a phantom as--that gravitation is the gravitation of all gravitations proportionately to gravitation and inversely as the square of gravitation4 ,in a quasi-existence1 nothing more sensible than this can be said upon any so-called subject--perhaps there are higher approximations to ultimate sensibleness4 ,nevertheless we seem to have a feeling that with the ,system against us we have a kind of resistance here4 ,we'd have felt so formerly1 at any rate3 ,i think the ,dr4 ,grays and ,prof4 ,hitchcocks have modified our trustfulness toward indistinguishability4 ,as to the perfection of this ,system that quasi-opposes us and the infallibility of its mathematics--as if there could be real mathematics in a mode of seeming where twice two are not four--we've been told over and over of their vindication in the discovery of ,neptune4 ,i'm afraid that the course we're taking will turn out like every other development4 ,we began humbly1 admitting that we're of the damned-- ,but our eyebrows-- ,just a faint flicker in them1 or in one of them1 every time we hear of the triumphal discovery of ,neptune--this monumental achievement of theoretical astronomy1 as the text-books call it4 ,the whole trouble is that we've looked it up4 ,the text-books omit this3 ,that1 instead of the orbit of ,neptune agreeing with the calculations of ,adams and ,leverrier1 it was so different--that ,leverrier said that it was not the planet of his calculations4 ,later it was thought best to say no more upon that subject4 ,the text-books omit this3 ,that1 in #ahdf1 everyone who knew a sine from a cosine was out sining and cosining for a planet beyond ,uranus4 ,two of them guessed right4 ,to some minds1 even after ,leverrier's own rejection of ,neptune1 the word guessed may be objectionable--but1 according to ,prof4 ,peirce1 of ,harvard1 the calculations of ,adams and ,leverrier would have applied quite as well to positions many degrees from the position of ,neptune4 ,or for ,prof4 ,peirce's demonstration that the discovery of ,neptune was only a happy accident1 see ,proc4 ,amer4 ,acad4 ,sciences1 #a-fe4 ,for references1 see ,lowell's ,evolution of ,worlds4 ,or comets3 another nebulous resistance to our own notions4 ,as to eclipses1 ,i have notes upon several of them that did not occur upon scheduled time1 though with differences only of seconds--and one delightful lost soul1 deep-buried1 but buried in the ultra-respectable records of the ,royal ,astronomical ,society1 upon an eclipse that did not occur at all4 ,that delightful1 ultra-sponsored thing of perdition is too good and malicious to be dismissed with passing notice3 we'll have him later4 ,throughout the history of astronomy1 every comet that has come back upon predicted time--not that1 essentially1 there was anything more abstruse about it than is a prediction that you can make of a postman's periodicities tomorrow--was advertised for all it was worth4 ,it's the way reputations are worked up for fortune-tellers by the faithful4 ,the comets that didn't come back--omitted or explained4 ,or ,encke's comet4 ,it came back slower and slower4 ,but the astronomers explained4 ,be almost absolutely sure of that3 they explained4 ,they had it all worked out and formulated and proved why that comet was coming back slower and slower--and there the damn thing began coming faster and faster4 ,halley's comet4 ,astronomy--the perfect science1 as we astronomers like to call it4 7,jacoby47 ,it's my own notion that if1 in a real existence1 an astronomer could not tell one longitude from another1 he'd be sent back to this purgatory of ours until he could meet that simple requirement4 ,halley was sent to the ,cape of ,good ,hope to determine its longitude4 ,he got it degrees wrong4 ,he gave to ,africa's noble ,roman promontory a retrousse twist that would take the pride out of any ,kaffir4 ,we hear everlastingly of ,halley's comet4 ,it came back--maybe4 ,but1 unless we look the matter up in contemporaneous records1 we hear nothing of--the ,leonids1 for instance4 ,by the same methods as those by which ,halley's comet was predicted1 the ,leonids were predicted4 ,november1 #ahih--no ,leonids4 ,it was explained4 ,they had been perturbed4 ,they would appear in ,november1 #ahii4 ,november1 #ahii--,november1 #aijj--no ,leonids4 ,my notion of astronomic accuracy3 ,who could not be a prize marksman1 if only his hits be recorded8 ,as to ,halley's comet1 of #aiaj--;everybody now swears he saw it4 ,he has to perjure himself3 otherwise he'd be accused of having no interest in great1 inspiring things that he's never given any attention to4 ,regard this3 ,that there never is a moment when there is not some comet in the sky4 ,virtually there is no year in which several new comets are not discovered1 so plentiful are they4 ,luminous fleas on a vast black dog--in popular impressions1 there is no realization of the extent to which this solar system is flea-bitten4 ,if a comet have not the orbit that astronomers have predicted--perturbed4 ,if--like ,halley's comet--it be late--even a year late--perturbed4 ,when a train is an hour late1 we have small opinion of the predictions of timetables4 ,when a comet's a year late1 all we ask is--that it be explained4 ,we hear of the inflation and arrogance of astronomers4 ,my own acceptance is not that they are imposing upon us3 that they are requiting us4 ,for many of us priests no longer function to give us seeming rapport with ,perfection1 ,infallibility--the ,positive ,absolute4 ,astronomers have stepped forward to fill a vacancy--with quasi-phantomosity--but1 in our acceptance1 with a higher approximation to substantiality than had the attenuations that preceded them4 ,i should say1 myself1 that all that we call progress is not so much response to urge as it is response to a hiatus--or if you want something to grow somewhere1 dig out everything else in its area4 ,so ,i have to accept that the positive assurances of astronomers are necessary to us1 or the blunderings1 evasions and disguises of astronomers would never be tolerated3 that1 given such latitude as they are permitted to take1 they could not be very disastrously mistaken4 ,suppose the comet called ,halley's had not appeared-- ,early in #aiaj1 a far more important comet than the anaemic luminosity said to be ,halley's1 appeared4 ,it was so brilliant that it was visible in daylight4 ,the astronomers would have been saved anyway4 ,if this other comet did not have the predicted orbit--perturbation4 ,if you're going to ,coney ,island1 and predict there'll be a special kind of a pebble on the beach1 ,i don't see how you can disgrace yourself1 if some other pebble will do just as well--because the feeble thing said to have been seen in #aiaj was no more in accord with the sensational descriptions given out by astronomers in advance than is a pale pebble with a brick-red boulder4 ,i predict that next ,wednesday1 a large ,chinaman1 in evening clothes1 will cross ,broadway1 at #dbnd ,street1 at #i ,p4,m4 ,he doesn't1 but a tubercular ,jap in a sailor's uniform does cross ,broadway1 at #ceth ,street1 ,friday1 at noon4 ,well1 a ,jap is a perturbed ,chinaman1 and clothes are clothes4 ,i remember the terrifying predictions made by the honest and credulous astronomers1 who must have been themselves hypnotized1 or they could not have hypnotized the rest of us1 in #aiji4 ,wills were made4 ,human life might be swept from this planet4 ,in quasi-existence1 which is essentially ,hibernian1 that would be no reason why wills should not be made4 ,the less excitable of us did expect at least some pretty good fireworks4 ,i have to admit that it is said that1 in ,new ,york1 a light was seen in the sky4 ,it was about as terrifying as the scratch of a match on the seat of some breeches half a mile away4 ,it was not on time4 ,though ,i have heard that a faint nebulosity1 which ,i did not see1 myself1 though ,i looked when ,i was told to look1 was seen in the sky1 it appeared several days after the time predicted4 ,a hypnotized host of imbeciles of us3 told to look up at the sky3 we did--like a lot of pointers hypnotized by a partridge4 ,the effect3 ,almost everybody now swears that he saw ,halley's comet1 and that it was a glorious spectacle4 ,an interesting circumstance here is that seemingly we are trying to discredit astronomers because astronomers oppose us--that's not my impression4 ,we shall be in the ,brahmin caste of the hell of the ,baptists4 ,almost all our data1 in some regiments of this procession1 are observations by astronomers1 few of them mere amateur astronomers4 ,it is the ,system that opposes us4 ,it is the ,system that is suppressing astronomers4 ,i think we pity them in their captivity4 ,ours is not malice--in a positive sense4 ,it's chivalry--somewhat4 ,unhappy astronomers looking out from high towers in which they are imprisoned--we appear upon the horizon4 ,but1 as ,i have said1 our data do not relate to some especial other world4 ,i mean very much what a savage upon an ocean island might vaguely think of in his speculations--not upon some other land1 but complexes of continents and their phenomena3 cities1 factories in cities1 means of communication-- ,now all the other savages would know of a few vessels sailing in their regular routes1 passing this island in regularized periodicities4 ,the tendency in these minds would be expression of the universal tendency toward positivism--or ,completeness--or conviction that these few regularized vessels constituted all4 ,now ,i think of some especial savage who suspects otherwise--because he's very backward and unimaginative and insensible to the beautiful ideals of the others3 not piously occupied1 like the others1 in bowing before impressive-looking sticks of wood2 dishonestly taking time for his speculations1 while the others are patriotically witch-finding4 ,so the other higher and nobler savages know about the few regularized vessels3 know when to expect them2 have their periodicities all worked out2 just about when vessels will pass1 or eclipse each other--explaining that all vagaries were due to atmospheric conditions4 ,they'd come out strong in explaining4 ,you can't read a book upon savages without noting what resolute explainers they are4 ,they'd say that all this mechanism was founded upon the mutual attraction of the vessels--deduced from the fall of a monkey from a palm tree--or1 if not that1 that devils were pushing the vessels--something of the kind4 ,storms4 ,debris1 not from these vessels1 cast up by the waves4 ,disregarded4 ,how can one think of something and something else1 too8 ,i'm in the state of mind of a savage who might find upon a shore1 washed up by the same storm1 buoyant parts of a piano and a paddle that was carved by cruder hands than his own3 something light and summery from ,india1 and a fur overcoat from ,russia--or all science1 though approximating wider and wider1 is attempt to conceive of ,india in terms of an ocean island1 and of ,russia in terms of ,india so interpreted4 ,though ,i am trying to think of ,russia and ,india in world-wide terms1 ,i cannot think that that1 or the universalizing of the local1 is cosmic purpose4 ,the higher idealist is the positivist who tries to localize the universal1 and is in accord with cosmic purpose3 the super-dogmatist of a local savage who can hold out1 without a flurry of doubt1 that a piano washed up on a beach is the trunk of a palm tree that a shark has bitten1 leaving his teeth in it4 ,so we fear for the soul of ,dr4 ,gray1 because he did not devote his whole life to that one stand that1 whether possible or inconceivable1 thousands of fishes had been cast from one bucket4 ,so1 unfortunately for myself1 if salvation be desirable1 ,i look out widely but amorphously1 indefinitely and heterogeneously4 ,if ,i say ,i conceive of another world that is now in secret communication with certain esoteric inhabitants of this earth1 ,i say ,i conceive of still other worlds that are trying to establish communication with all the inhabitants of this earth4 ,i fit my notions to the data ,i find4 ,that is supposed to be the right and logical and scientific thing to do2 but it is no way to approximate to form1 system1 organization4 ,then ,i think ,i conceive of other worlds and vast structures that pass us by1 within a few miles1 without the slightest desire to communicate1 quite as tramp vessels pass many islands without particularizing one from another4 ,then ,i think ,i have data of a vast construction that has often come to this earth1 dipped into an ocean1 submerged there a while1 then going away--,why8 ,i'm not absolutely sure4 ,how would an ,eskimo explain a vessel1 sending ashore for coal1 which is plentiful upon some ,arctic beaches1 though of unknown use to the natives1 then sailing away1 with no interest in the natives8 ,a great difficulty in trying to understand vast constructions that show no interest in us3 ,the notion that we must be interesting4 ,i accept that1 though we're usually avoided1 probably for moral reasons1 sometimes this earth has been visited by explorers4 ,i think that the notion that there have been extra-mundane visitors to ,china1 within what we call the historic period1 will be only ordinarily absurd1 when we come to that datum4 ,i accept that some of the other worlds are of conditions very similar to our own4 ,i think of others that are very different--so that visitors from them could not live here--without artificial adaptations4 ,how some of them could breathe our attenuated air1 if they came from a gelatinous atmosphere-- ,masks4 ,the masks that have been found in ancient deposits4 ,most of them are of stone1 and are said to have been ceremonial regalia of savages-- ,but the mask that was found in ,sullivan ,county1 ,missouri1 in #ahgi 7,american ,antiquarian1 #c-ccf74 ,it is made of iron and silver4 #aa ,one of the damnedest in our whole saturnalia of the accursed-- ,because it is hopeless to try to shake off an excommunication only by saying that we're damned by blacker things than ourselves2 and that the damned are those who admit they're of the damned4 ,inertia and hypnosis are too strong for us4 ,we say that3 then we go right on admitting we're of the damned4 ,it is only by being more nearly real that we can sweep away the quasi-things that oppose us4 ,of course1 as a whole1 we have considerable amorphousness1 but we are thinking now of individual acceptances4 ,wideness is an aspect of ,universalness or ,realness4 ,if our syntheses disregard fewer data than do opposing syntheses--which are often not syntheses at all1 but mere consideration of some one circumstance--less widely synthetic things fade away before us4 ,harmony is an aspect of the ,universal1 by which we mean ,realness4 ,if we approximate more highly to harmony among the parts of an expression and to all available circumstances of an occurrence1 the self-contradictors turn hazy4 ,solidity is an aspect of realness4 ,we pile them up1 and we pile them up1 or they pass and pass and pass3 things that bulk large as they march by1 supporting and solidifying one another-- ,and still1 and for regiments to come1 hypnosis and inertia rule us-- ,one of the damnedest of our data3 ,in the ,scientific ,american1 ,sept4 #aj1 #aiaj1 ,charles ,f4 ,holder writes3 ,many years ago1 a strange stone resembling a meteorite1 fell into the ,valley of the ,yaqui1 ,mexico1 and the sensational story went from one end to the other of the country that a stone bearing human inscriptions had descended to the earth4 ,the bewildering observation here is ,mr4 ,holder's assertion that this stone did fall4 ,it seems to me that he must mean that it fell by dislodgment from a mountainside into a valley--but we shall see that it was such a marked stone that very unlikely would it have been unknown to dwellers in a valley1 if it had been reposing upon a mountainside above them4 ,it may have been carelessness3 intent may have been to say that a sensational story of a strange stone said to have fallen1 etc4 ,this stone was reported by ,major ,frederick ,burnham1 of the ,british ,army4 ,later ,major ,burnham revisited it1 and ,mr4 ,holder accompanied him1 their purpose to decipher the inscriptions upon it1 if possible4 ,this stone was a brown1 igneous rock1 its longest axis about eight feet1 and on the eastern face1 which had an angle of about forty-five degrees1 was the deep-cut inscription4 ,mr4 ,holder says that he recognized familiar ,mayan symbols in the inscription4 ,his method was the usual method by which anything can be identified as anything else3 that is to pick out whatever is agreeable and disregard the rest4 ,he says that he has demonstrated that most of the symbols are ,mayan4 ,one of our intermediatist pseudo-principles is that any way of demonstrating anything is just as good a way of demonstrating anything else4 ,by ,mr4 ,holder's method we could demonstrate that we're ,mayan--if that should be a source of pride to us4 ,one of the characters upon this stone is a circle within a circle--similar character found by ,mr4 ,holder is a ,mayan manuscript4 ,there are two #f's4 #f's can be found in ,mayan manuscripts4 ,a double scroll4 ,there are dots and there are dashes4 ,well1 then1 we1 in turn1 disregard the circle within a circle and the double scroll and emphasize that #f's occur in this book1 and that dots are plentiful1 and would be more plentiful if it were customary to use the small i for the first personal pronoun--that when it comes to dashes--that's demonstrated3 we're ,mayan4 ,i suppose the tendency is to feel that we're sneering at some valuable archaeologic work1 and that ,mr4 ,holder did make a veritable identification4 ,he writes3 ,i submitted the photographs to the ,field ,museum and the ,smithsonian and one or two others1 and1 to my surprise1 the reply was that they could make nothing out of it4 ,our indefinite acceptance1 by preponderance of three or four groups of museum-experts against one person1 is that a stone bearing inscriptions unassimilable with any known language upon this earth1 is said to have fallen from the sky4 ,another poor wretch of an outcast belonging here is noted in the ,scientific ,american1 #dh-bfa3 that1 of an object1 or a meteorite1 that fell ,feb4 #af1 #ahhc1 near ,brescia1 ,italy1 a false report was circulated that one of the fragments bore the impress of a hand4 ,that's all that is findable by me upon this mere gasp of a thing4 ,intermediatistically1 my acceptance is that1 though in the course of human history1 there have been some notable approximations1 there never has been a real liar3 that he could not survive in intermediateness1 where everything merges away or has its pseudo-base in something else--would be instantly translated to the ,negative ,absolute4 ,so my acceptance is that1 though curtly dismissed1 there was something to base upon in this report2 that there were unusual markings upon this object4 ,of course that is not to jump to the conclusion that they were cuneiform characters that looked like finger-prints4 ,altogether1 ,i think that in some of our past expressions1 we must have been very efficient1 if the experience of ,mr4 ,symons be typical1 so indefinite are we becoming here4 ,just here we are interested in many things that have been found1 especially in the ,united ,states1 which speak of a civilization1 or of many civilizations not indigenous to this earth4 ,one trouble is in trying to decide whether they fell here from the sky1 or were left behind by visitors from other worlds4 ,we have a notion that there have been disasters aloft1 and that coins have dropped here3 that inhabitants of this earth found them or saw them fall1 and then made coins imitatively3 it may be that coins were showered here by something of a tutelary nature that undertook to advance us from the stage of barter to the use of a medium4 ,if coins should be identified as ,roman coins1 we've had so much experience with identifications that we know a phantom when we see one--but1 even so1 how could ,roman coins have got to ,north ,america--far in the interior of ,north ,america--or buried under the accumulation of centuries of soil--unless they did drop from--wherever the first ,romans came from8 ,ignatius ,donnelly1 in ,atlantis1 gives a list of objects that have been found in mounds that are supposed to antedate all ,european influence in ,america3 lathe-made articles1 such as traders--from somewhere--would supply to savages--marks of the lathe said to be unmistakable4 ,said to be3 of course we can't accept that anything is unmistakable4 ,in the ,rept4 ,smithson4 ,inst41 #ahha-fai1 there is an account1 by ,charles ,c4 ,jones1 of two silver crosses that were found in ,georgia4 ,they are skillfully made1 highly ornamented crosses1 but are not conventional crucifixes3 all arms of equal length4 ,mr4 ,jones is a good positivist--that ,de ,sota had halted at the precise spot where these crosses were found4 ,but the spirit of negativeness that lurks in all things said to be precise shows itself in that upon one of these crosses is an inscription that has no meaning in ,spanish or any other known1 terrestrial language3 ,,iynkicidu1 according to ,mr4 ,jones4 ,he thinks that this is a name1 and that there is an aboriginal ring to it1 though ,i should say1 myself1 that he was thinking of the far-distant ,incas3 that the ,spanish donor cut on the cross the name of an ,indian to whom it was presented4 ,but we look at the inscription ourselves and see that the letters said to be ,c and ,d are turned the wrong way1 and that the letter said to be ,k is not only turned the wrong way1 but is upside down4 ,it is difficult to accept that the remarkable1 the very extensive1 copper mines in the region of ,lake ,superior were ever the works of ,american aborigines4 ,despite the astonishing extent of these mines1 nothing has ever been found to indicate that the region was ever inhabited by permanent dwellers-- 444 not a vestige of a dwelling1 a skeleton1 or a bone has been found4 ,the ,indians have no traditions relating to the mines4 7,amer4 ,antiquarian1 #be-beh47 ,i think that we've had visitors3 that they have come here for copper1 for instance4 ,as to other relics of them--but we now come upon frequency of a merger that has not so often appeared before3 ,fraudulency4 ,hair called real hair--then there are wigs4 ,teeth called real teeth--then there are false teeth4 ,official money--counterfeit money4 ,it's the bane of psychic research4 ,if there be psychic phenomena1 there must be fraudulent psychic phenomena4 ,so desperate is the situation here that ,carrington argues that1 even if ,palladino be caught cheating1 that is not to say that all her phenomena are fraudulent4 ,my own version is3 that nothing indicates anything1 in a positive sense1 because1 in a positive sense1 there is nothing to be indicated4 ,everything that is called true must merge away indistinguishably into something called false4 ,both are expressions of the same underlying quasiness1 and are continuous4 ,fraudulent antiquarian relics are very common1 but they are not more common than are fraudulent paintings4 ,w4,s4 ,forest1 ,historical ,sketches of ,norfolk1 ,virginia3 ,that1 in ,september1 #ahcc1 when some workmen1 near ,norfolk1 were boring for water1 a coin was drawn up from a depth of about #cj feet4 ,it was about the size of an ,english shilling1 but oval--an oval disk1 if not a coin4 ,the figures upon it were distinct1 and represented a warrior or hunter and other characters1 apparently of ,roman origin4 ,the means of exclusion would probably be--men digging a hole--no one else looking3 one of them drops a coin into the hole--as to where he got a strange coin1 remarkable in shape even--that's disregarded4 ,up comes the coin--expressions of astonishment from the evil one who had dropped it4 ,however1 the antiquarians have missed this coin4 ,i can find no other mention of it4 ,another coin4 ,also a little study in the genesis of a prophet4 ,in the ,american ,antiquarian1 #af-cac1 is copied a story by a correspondent to the ,detroit ,news1 of a copper coin about the size of a two-cent piece1 said to have been found in a ,michigan mound4 ,the ,editor says merely that he does not endorse the find4 ,upon this slender basis1 he buds out1 in the next number of the ,antiquarian3 ,the coin turns out1 as we predicted1 to be a fraud4 ,you can imagine the scorn of ,elijah1 or any of the old more nearly real prophets4 ,or all things are tried by the only kind of jurisprudence we have in quasi-existence3 ,presumed to be innocent until convicted--but they're guilty4 ,the ,editor's reasoning is as phantom-like as my own1 or ,st4 ,paul's1 or ,darwin's4 ,the coin is condemned because it came from the same region from which1 a few years before1 had come pottery that had been called fraudulent4 ,the pottery had been condemned because it was condemnable4 ,scientific ,american1 ,june #ag1 #ahhb3 ,that a farmer1 in ,cass ,co41 ,ill41 had picked up1 on his farm1 a bronze coin1 which was sent to ,prof4 ,f4,f4 ,hilder1 of ,st4 ,louis1 who identified it as a coin of ,antiochus ,,iv4 ,inscription said to be in ancient ,greek characters3 translated as ,king ,antiochus ,epiphanes 7,illustrious7 the ,victorius4 ,sounds quite definite and convincing--but we have some more translations coming4 ,in the ,american ,pioneer1 #b-afi1 are shown two faces of a copper coin1 with characters very much like those upon the ,grave ,creek stone--which1 with translations1 we'll take up soon4 ,this coin is said to have been found in ,connecticut1 in #ahdc4 ,records of the ,past1 #ab-ahb3 ,that1 early in #aiac1 a coin1 said to be a ,roman coin1 was reported as discovered in an ,illinois mound4 ,it was sent to ,dr4 ,emerson1 of the ,art ,institute1 of ,chicago4 ,his opinion was that the coin is of the rare mintage of ,domitius ,domitianus1 ,emperor in ,egypt4 ,as to its discovery in an ,illinois mound1 ,dr4 ,emerson disclaims responsibility4 ,but what strikes me here is that a joker should not have been satisfied with an ordinary ,roman coin4 ,where did he get a rare coin1 and why was it not missed from some collection8 ,i have looked over numismatic journals enough to accept that the whereabouts of every rare coin in anyone's possession is known to coin-collectors4 ,seems to me nothing left but to call this another identification4 ,proc4 ,amer4 ,phil4 ,soc41 #ab-bbd3 ,that1 in ,july1 #ahga1 a letter was received from ,mr4 ,jacob ,w4 ,moffit1 of ,chillicothe1 ,ill41 enclosing a photograph of a coin1 which he said had been brought up1 by him1 while boring1 from a depth of #abj feet4 ,of course1 by conventional scientific standards1 such depth has some extraordinary meaning4 ,palaeontologists1 geologists1 and archaeologists consider themselves reasonable in arguing ancient origin of the far-buried4 ,we only accept3 depth is a pseudo-standard with us2 one earthquake could bury a coin of recent mintage #abj feet below the surface4 ,according to a writer in the ,proceedings1 the coin is uniform in thickness1 and had never been hammered out by savages--there are other tokens of the machine shop4 ,but1 according to ,prof4 ,leslie1 it is an astrologic amulet4 ,there are upon it the signs of ,pisces and ,leo4 ,or1 with due disregard1 you can find signs of your great-grand-mother1 or of the ,crusades1 or of the ,mayans1 upon anything that ever came from ,chillicothe or from a five and ten cent store4 ,anything that looks like a cat and a goldfish looks like ,leo and ,pisces3 but1 by due suppressions and distortions there's nothing that can't be made to look like a cat and a goldfish4 ,i fear me we're turning a little irritable here4 ,to be damned by slumbering giants and interesting little harlots and clowns who rank high in their profession is at least supportable to our vanity2 but1 we find that the anthropologists are of the slums of the divine1 or of an archaic kindergarten of intellectuality1 and it is very unflattering to find a mess of moldy infants sitting in judgment upon us4 ,prof4 ,leslie then finds1 as arbitrarily as one might find that some joker put the ,brooklyn ,bridge where it is1 that the piece was placed there as a practical joke1 though not by its present owner2 and is a modern fabrication1 perhaps of the sixteenth century1 possibly ,hispano-,american or ,french-,american origin4 ,it's sheer1 brutal attempt to assimilate a thing that may or may not have fallen from the sky1 with phenomena admitted by the anthropologic system3 or with the early ,french or ,spanish explorers of ,illinois4 ,though it is ridiculous in a positive sense to give reasons1 it is more acceptable to attempt reasons more nearly real than opposing reasons4 ,of course1 in his favor1 we note that ,prof4 ,leslie qualifies his notions4 ,but his disregards are that there is nothing either ,french or ,spanish about this coin4 ,a legend upon it is said to be somewhere between ,arabic and ,phoenician1 without being either4 ,prof4 ,winchell 7,sparks from a ,geologist's ,hammer1 p4 #agj7 says of the crude designs upon this coin1 which was in his possession--scrawls of an animal and of a warrior1 or of a cat and a goldfish1 whichever be convenient--that they had been neither stamped nor engraved1 but looked as if etched with an acid4 ,that is a method unknown in numismatics of this earth4 ,as to the crudity of design upon this coin1 and something else--that1 though the warrior may be1 by due disregards1 either a cat or a goldfish1 we have to note that his headdress is typical of the ,american ,indian--could be explained1 of course1 but for fear that we might be instantly translated to the ,positive ,absolute1 which may not be absolutely desirable1 we prefer to have some flaws or negativeness in our own expressions4 ,data of more than the thrice-accursed3 ,tablets of stone1 with the ten commandments engraved upon them1 in ,hebrew1 said to have been found in mounds in the ,united ,states3 ,masonic emblems said to have been found in mounds in the ,united ,states4 ,we're upon the borderline of our acceptances1 and we're amorphous in the uncertainties and mergings of our outline4 ,conventionally1 or1 with no real reason for so doing1 we exclude these things1 and then1 as grossly and arbitrarily and irrationally--though our attempt is always to approximate away from these negative states--as ever a ,kepler1 ,newton1 or ,darwin made his selections1 without which he could not have seemed to be1 at all1 because every one of them is now seen to be an illusion1 we accept that other lettered things have been found in mounds in the ,united ,states4 ,of course we do what we can to make the selection seem not gross and arbitrary and irrational4 ,then1 if we accept that inscribed things of ancient origin have been found in the ,united ,states2 that cannot be attributed to any race indigenous to the western hemisphere2 that are not in any language ever heard of in the eastern hemisphere--there's nothing to it but to turn non-,euclidian and try to conceive of a third hemisphere1 or to accept that there has been intercourse between the western hemisphere and some other world4 ,but there is a peculiarity to these inscribed objects4 ,they remind me of the records left1 by ,sir ,john ,franklin1 in the ,arctic2 but1 also1 of attempts made by relief expeditions to communicate with the ,franklin expedition4 ,the lost explorers cached their records--or concealed them conspicuously in mounds4 ,the relief expeditions sent up balloons1 from which messages were dropped broadcast4 ,our data are of things that have been cached1 and of things that seem to have been dropped-- ,or a ,lost ,expedition from--,somewhere4 ,explorers from somewhere1 and their inability to return--then1 a long1 sentimental1 persistent attempt1 in the spirit of our own ,arctic relief-expeditions--at least to establish communication-- ,what if it may have succeeded8 ,we think of ,india--the millions of natives who are ruled by a small band of esoterics--only because they receive support and direction from--somewhere else--or from ,england4 ,in #ahch1 ,mr4 ,a4,b4 ,tomlinson1 owner of the great mound at ,grave ,creek1 ,west ,virginia1 excavated the mound4 ,he said that1 in the presence of witnesses1 he had found a small1 flat1 oval stone--or disk--upon which were engraved alphabetic characters4 ,col4 ,whittelsey1 an expert in these matters1 says that the stone is now universally regarded by archaeologists as a fraud3 that1 in his opinion1 ,mr4 ,tomlinson had been imposed upon4 ,avebury1 ,prehistoric ,times1 p4 #bga3 ,i mention it because it has been the subject of much discussion1 but it is now generally admitted to be a fraud4 ,it is inscribed with ,hebrew characters1 but the forger has copied the modern instead of the ancient form of the letters4 ,as ,i have said1 we're as irritable here1 under the oppressions of the anthropologists as ever were slaves in the south toward superiorities from poor white trash4 ,when we finally reverse our relative positions we shall give lowest place to the anthropologists4 ,a ,dr4 ,gray does at least look at a fish before he conceives of a miraculous origin for it4 ,we shall have to submerge ,lord ,avebury far below him--if we accept that the stone from ,grave ,creek is generally regarded as a fraud by eminent authorities who did not know it from some other object--or1 in general1 that so decided an opinion must be the product of either deliberate disregard or ignorance or fatigue4 ,the stone belongs to a class of phenomena that is repulsive to the ,system4 ,it will not assimilate with the ,system4 ,let such an object be heard of by such a systematist as ,avebury1 and the mere mention of it is as nearly certainly the stimulus to a conventional reaction as is a charged body to an electroscope or a glass of beer to a prohibitionist4 ,it is of the ideals of ,science to know one object from another before expressing an opinion upon a thing1 but that is not the spirit of universal mechanics3 ,a thing4 ,it is attractive or repulsive4 ,its conventional reaction follows4 ,because it is not the stone from ,grave ,creek that is in ,hebrew characters1 either ancient or modern3 it is a stone from ,newark1 ,ohio1 of which the story is told that a forger made this mistake of using modern instead of ancient ,hebrew characters4 ,we shall see that the inscription upon the ,grave ,creek stone is not in ,hebrew4 ,or all things are presumed to be innocent1 but are supposed to be guilty--unless they assimilate4 ,col4 ,whittelsey 7,western ,reserve ,historical ,tracts1 ,no4 #cc7 says that the ,grave ,creek stone was considered a fraud by ,wilson1 ,squires1 and ,davis4 ,then he comes to the ,congress of ,archaeologists at ,nancy1 ,france1 #ahge4 ,it is hard for ,col4 ,whittelsey to admit that1 at this meeting1 which sounds important1 the stone was endorsed4 ,he reminds us of ,mr4 ,symons1 and the man who considered that he saw something4 ,col4 ,whittelsey's somewhat tortuous expression is that the finder of the stone so imposed his views upon the congress that it pronounced the stone genuine4 ,also the stone was examined by ,schoolcraft4 ,he gave his opinion for genuineness4 ,or there's only one process1 and see-saw is one of its aspects4 ,three or four fat experts on the side against us4 ,we find four or five plump ones on our side4 ,or all that we call logic and reasoning ends up as sheer preponderance of avoirdupois4 ,then several philologists came out in favor of genuineness4 ,some of them translated the inscription4 ,of course1 as we have said1 it is our method--or the method of orthodoxy--way in which all conclusions are reached--to have some awfully eminent1 or preponderantly plump1 authorities with us whenever we can--in this case1 however1 we feel just a little apprehensive in being caught in such excellently obese1 but somewhat negativized1 company3 ,translation by ,m4 ,jombard3 ,thy orders are laws3 thou shinest in impetuous elan and rapid chamois4 ,m4 ,maurice ,schwab3 ,the chief of ,emigration who reached these places 7or this island7 has fixed these characters forever4 ,m4 ,oppert3 ,the grave of one who was assassinated here4 ,may ,god1 to revenge him1 strike his murderer1 cutting off the hand of his existence4 ,i like the first one best4 ,i have such a vivid impression from it of someone polishing up brass or something1 and in an awful hurry4 ,of course the third is more dramatic--still they're all very good4 ,they are perturbations of one another1 ,i suppose4 ,in ,tract #dd1 ,col4 ,whittelsey returns to the subject4 ,he gives the conclusion of ,major ,de ,helward1 at the ,congress of ,luxembourg1 #ahgg3 ,if ,prof4 ,read and myself are right in the conclusion that the figures are neither of the ,runic1 ,phoenician1 ,canaanite1 ,hebrew1 ,lybian1 ,celtic1 or any other alphabet-language1 its importance has been greatly over-rated4 ,obvious to a child2 obvious to any mentality not helplessly subjected to a system3 ,that just therein lies the importance of this object4 ,it is said that an ideal of science is to find out the new--but1 unless a thing be of the old1 it is unimportant4 ,it is not worth while4 7,hovey47 ,then the inscribed ax1 or wedge1 which1 according to ,dr4 ,john ,c4 ,evans1 in a communication to the ,american ,ethnological ,society1 was plowed up1 near ,pemberton1 ,n4,j41 #ahei4 ,the characters upon this ax1 or wedge1 are strikingly similar to the characters on the ,grave ,creek stone4 ,also1 with a little disregard here and a little more there1 they look like tracks in the snow by someone who's been out celebrating1 or like your handwriting1 or mine1 when we think there's a certain distinction in illegibility4 ,method of disregard3 anything's anything4 ,dr4 ,abbott describes this object in the ,report of the ,smithsonian ,institution1 #ahge-bfj4 ,he says he has no faith in it4 ,all progress is from the outrageous to the commonplace4 ,or quasi-existence proceeds from rape to the crooning of lullabies4 ,it's been interesting to me to go over various long-established periodicals and note controversies between attempting positivists and then intermediatistic issues4 ,bold1 bad intruders of theories2 ruffians with dishonorable intentions--the alarms of ,science2 her attempts to preserve that which is dearer than life itself--submission--then a fidelity like ,mrs4 ,micawber's4 ,so many of these ruffians1 or wandering comedians that were hated1 or scorned1 pitied1 embraced1 conventionalized4 ,there's not a notion in this book that has a more frightful1 or ridiculous1 mien than had the notion of human footprints in rocks1 when that now respectabilized ruffian1 or clown1 was first heard from4 ,it seems bewildering to one whose interests are not scientific that such rows should be raised over such trifles3 but the feeling of a systematist toward such an intruder is just about what anyone's would be if a tramp from the street should come in1 sit at one's dinner table1 and say he belonged there4 ,we know what hypnosis can do3 let him insist with all his might that he does belong there1 and one begins to suspect that he may be right2 that he may have higher perceptions of what's right4 ,the prohibitionists had this worked out very skillfully4 ,so the row that was raised over the stone from ,grave ,creek--but time and cumulativeness1 and the very factor we make so much of--or the power of massed data4 ,there were other reports of inscribed stones1 and then1 half a century later1 some mounds--or caches1 as we call them--were opened by the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,gass1 near the city of ,davenport4 7,american ,antiquarian1 #ae-gc47 ,several stone tablets were found4 ,upon one of them1 the letters ,,tftowns may easily be made out4 ,in this instance we hear nothing of fraudulency--time1 cumulativeness1 the power of massed data4 ,the attempt to assimilate this datum is3 ,that the tablet was probably of ,mormon origin4 ,why8 ,because1 at ,mendon1 ,ill41 was found a brass plate1 upon which were similar characters4 ,why that8 ,because that was found near a house once occupied by a ,mormon4 ,in a real existence1 a real meteorologist1 suspecting that cinders had come from a fire engine--would have asked a fireman4 ,tablets of ,davenport--there's not a record findable that it ever occurred to any antiquarian--to ask a ,mormon4 ,other tablets were found4 ,upon one of them are two ,f's and two #h's4 ,also a large tablet1 twelve inches by eight to ten inches with ,roman numerals and ,arabic4 ,it is said that the figure #h occurs three times1 and the figure or letter ,o seven times4 ,with these familiar characters are others that resemble ancient alphabets1 either ,phoenecian or ,hebrew4 ,it may be that the discovery of ,australia1 for instance1 will turn out to be less important than the discovery and the meaning of these tablets-- ,but where will you read of them in anything subsequently published2 what antiquarian has ever since tried to understand them1 and their presence1 and indications of antiquity1 in a land that we're told was inhabited only by unlettered savages8 ,these things that are exhumed only to be buried in some other way4 ,another tablet was found1 at ,davenport1 by ,mr4 ,charles ,harrison1 president of the ,american ,antiquarian ,society4 444 #h and other hieroglyphics are upon this tablet4 ,this time1 also1 fraud is not mentioned4 ,my own notion is that it is very unsportsmanlike ever to mention fraud4 ,accept anything4 ,then explain it your way4 ,anything that assimilates with one explanation1 must have assimilable relations1 to some degree1 with all other explanations1 if all explanations are somewhere continuous4 ,mormons are lugged in again1 but the attempt is faint and helpless--because general circumstances make it difficult to explain the presence of these tablets4 ,altogether our phantom resistance is mere attribution to the ,mormons1 without the slightest attempt to find base for the attribution4 ,we think of messages that were showered upon this earth1 and of messages that were cached in mounds upon this earth4 ,the similarity to the ,franklin situation is striking4 ,conceivably centuries from now1 objects dropped from relief-expedition-balloons may be found in the ,arctic1 and conceivably there are still undiscovered caches left by ,franklin1 in the hope that relief expeditions would find them4 ,it would be as incongruous to attribute these things to the ,eskimos as to attribute tablets and lettered stones to the aborigines of ,america4 ,some time ,i shall take up an expression that the queer-shaped mounds upon this earth were built by explorers from ,somewhere1 unable to get back1 designed to attract attention from some other world1 and that a vast sword-shaped mound has been discovered upon the moon--,just now we think of lettered things and their two possible significances4 ,a bizarre little lost soul1 rescued from one of the morgues of the ,american ,journal of ,science3 ,an account1 sent by a correspondent1 to ,prof4 ,silliman1 of something that was found in a block of marble1 taken ,november1 #ahbi1 from a quarry1 near ,philadelphia 7,am4 ,j4 ,sci41 #a-ai-cfa74 ,the block was cut into slabs4 ,by this process1 it is said1 was exposed an indentation in the stone1 about one and a half inches by five-eighths of an inch4 ,a geometric indentation3 in it were two definite-looking raised letters1 like ,i ,u3 only difference is that the corners of the ,u are not rounded1 but are right angles4 ,we are told that this block of stone came from a depth of seventy or eighty feet--or that1 if acceptable1 this lettering was done long1 long ago4 ,to some persons1 not sated with the commonness of the incredible that has to be accepted1 it may seem grotesque to think that an indentation in sand could have tons of other sand piled upon it and hardening into stone1 without being pressed out--but the famous ,nicaraguan footprints were found in a quarry under eleven strata of solid rock4 ,there was no discussion of this datum4 ,we only take it out for an airing4 ,as to lettered stones that may once upon a time have been showered upon ,europe1 if we cannot accept that the stones were inscribed by indigenous inhabitants of ,europe1 many have been found in caves--whence they were carried as curiosities by prehistoric men1 or as ornaments1 ,i suppose4 ,about the size and shape of the ,grave ,creek stone1 or disk3 flat and oval and about two inches wide4 7,sollas47 ,characters painted upon them3 found first by ,m4 ,piette1 in the cave of ,mas d',azil1 ,ariege4 ,according to ,sollas1 they are marked in various directions with red and black lines4 ,but on not a few of them1 more complex characters occur1 which in a few instances simulate some of the capital letters of the ,roman alphabet4 ,in one instance the letters ,f ,e ,i accompanied by no other markings to modify them1 are as plain as they could be4 ,according to ,sollas 7,ancient ,hunters1 p4 #ie7 ,m4 ,cartailhac has confirmed the observations of ,piette1 and ,m4 ,boule has found additional examples4 ,they offer one of the darkest problems of prehistoric times4 7,sollas47 ,as to caches in general1 ,i should say that they are made with two purposes3 to proclaim and to conceal2 or that caches documents are hidden1 or covered over1 in conspicuous structures2 at least1 so are designed the cairns in the ,arctic4 ,trans4 ,n4,y4 ,acad4 of ,sciences1 #aa-bg3 ,that ,mr4 ,j4,h4 ,hooper1 ,bradley ,co41 ,tenn41 having come upon a curious stone1 in some woods upon his farm1 investigated4 ,he dug4 ,he unearthed a long wall4 ,upon this wall were inscribed many alphabetic characters4 #hgb characters have been examined1 many of them duplicates1 and a few imitations of animal forms1 the moon1 and other objects4 ,accidental imitations of oriental alphabets are numerous4 ,the part that seems significant3 ,that these letters had been hidden under a layer of cement4 ,and still1 in our own heterogeneity1 or unwillingness1 or inability1 to concentrate upon single concepts1 we shall--or we sha'n't--accept that1 though there may have been a ,lost ,colony or ,lost ,expedition from ,somewhere1 upon this earth1 and extra-mundane visitors who could never get back1 there have been other extra-mundane visitors1 who have gone away again--altogether quite in analogy with the ,franklin ,expedition and ,peary's flittings in the ,arctic-- ,and a wreck that occurred to one group of them-- ,and the loot that was lost overboard-- ,the ,chinese seals of ,ireland4 ,not the things with the big1 wistful eyes that lie on ice1 and that are taught to balance objects on their noses--but inscribed stamps1 with which to make impressions4 ,proc4 ,roy4 ,irish ,acad41 #a-cha3 ,a paper was read by ,mr4 ,j4 ,huband ,smith1 descriptive of about a dozen ,chinese seals that had been found in ,ireland4 ,they are all alike3 each a cube with an animal seated upon it4 ,it is said that the inscriptions upon them are of a very ancient class of ,chinese characters4 ,the three points that have made a leper and an outcast of this datum--but only in the sense of disregard1 because nowhere that ,i know of is it questioned3 ,agreement among archaeologists that there were no relations1 in the remote past1 between ,china and ,ireland3 ,that no other objects1 from ancient ,china--virtually1 ,i suppose--have ever been found in ,ireland3 ,the great distances at which these seals have been found apart4 ,after ,mr4 ,smith's investigations--if he did investigate1 or do more than record--many more ,chinese seals were found in ,ireland1 and1 with one exception1 only in ,ireland4 ,in #aheb1 about #fj had been found4 ,of all archaeologic finds in ,ireland1 none is enveloped in greater mystery4 7,chambers' ,journal1 #af-cfd47 ,according to the writer in ,chambers' ,journal1 one of these seals was found in a curiosity shop in ,london4 ,when questioned1 the shopkeeper said that it had come from ,ireland4 ,in this instance1 if you don't take instinctively to our expression1 there is no orthodox explanation for your preference4 ,it is the astonishing scattering of them1 over field and forest1 that has hushed the explainers4 ,in the ,proceedings of the ,royal ,irish ,academy1 #aj-aga1 ,dr4 ,frazer says that they appear to have been sown broadcast over the country in some strange way that ,i cannot offer solution of4 ,the struggle for expression of a notion that did not belong to ,dr4 ,frazer's era3 ,the invariable story of their find is what we might expect if they had been accidentally dropped4444 ,three were found in ,tipperary2 six in ,cork2 three in ,down2 four in ,waterford2 all the rest--one or two to a county4 ,but one of these ,chinese seals was found in the bed of the ,river ,boyne1 near ,clonard1 ,meath1 when workmen were raising gravel4 ,that one1 at least1 had been dropped there4 #ab ,astronomy4 ,and a watchman looking at half a dozen lanterns1 where a street's been torn up4 ,there are gas lights and kerosene lamps and electric lights in the neighborhood3 matches flaring1 fires in stoves1 bonfires1 house afire somewhere2 lights of automobiles1 illuminated signs-- ,the watchman and his one little system4 ,ethics4 ,and some young ladies and the dear old professor of a very select seminary4 ,drugs and divorce and rape3 venereal diseases1 drunkenness1 murder-- ,excluded4 ,the prim and the precise1 or the exact1 the homogeneous1 the single1 the puritanic1 the mathematic1 the pure1 the perfect4 ,we can have illusion of this state--but only by disregarding its infinite denials4 ,it's a drop of milk afloat in acid that's eating it4 ,the positive swamped by the negative4 ,so it is in intermediateness1 where only to be positive is to generate corresponding and1 perhaps1 equal negativeness4 ,in our acceptance1 it is1 in quasi-existence1 premonitory1 or pre-natal1 or pre-awakening consciousness of a real existence4 ,but this consciousness of realness is the greatest resistance to efforts to realize or to become real--because it is feeling that realness has been attained4 ,our antagonism is not to ,science1 but to the attitude of the sciences that they have finally realized2 or to belief1 instead of acceptance2 to the insufficiency1 which1 as we have seen over and over1 amounts to paltriness and puerility of scientific dogmas and standards4 ,or1 if several persons start out to ,chicago1 and get to ,buffalo1 and one be under the delusion that ,buffalo is ,chicago1 that one will be a resistance to the progress of the others4 ,so astronomy and its seemingly exact1 little system-- ,but data we shall have of round worlds and spindle-shaped worlds1 and worlds shaped like a wheel2 worlds like titanic pruning hooks2 worlds linked together by streaming filaments2 solitary worlds1 and worlds in hordes3 tremendous worlds and tiny worlds3 some of them made of material like the material of this earth2 and worlds that are geometric super-constructions made of iron and steel-- ,or not only fall from the sky of ashes and cinders and coke and charcoal and oily substances that suggest fuel--but the masses of iron that have fallen upon this earth4 ,wrecks and flotsam and fragments of vast iron constructions-- ,or steel4 ,sooner or later we shall have to take up an expression that fragments of steel have fallen from the sky4 ,if fragments not of iron1 but of steel have fallen upon this earth-- ,but what would a deep-sea fish learn even if a steel plate of a wrecked vessel above him should drop and bump him on the nose8 ,our submergence in a sea of conventionality of almost impenetrable density4 ,sometimes ,i'm a savage who has found something on the beach of his island4 ,sometimes ,i'm a deep-sea fish with a sore nose4 ,the greatest of mysteries3 ,why don't they ever come here1 or send here1 openly8 ,of course there's nothing to that mystery if we don't take so seriously the notion--that we must be interesting4 ,it's probably for moral reasons that they stay away--but even so1 there must be some degraded ones among them4 ,or physical reasons3 ,when we can specially take up that subject1 one of our leading ideas1 or credulities1 will be that near approach by another world to this world would be catastrophic3 that navigable worlds would avoid proximity2 that others that have survived have organized into protective remotenesses1 or orbits which approximate to regularity1 though by no means to the degree of popular supposition4 ,but the persistence of the notion that we must be interesting4 ,bugs and germs and things like that3 they're interesting to us3 some of them are too interesting4 ,dangers of near approach--nevertheless our own ships that dare not venture close to a rocky shore can send rowboats ashore-- ,why not diplomatic relations established between the ,united ,states and ,cyclorea--which1 in our advanced astronomy1 is the name of a remarkable wheel-shaped world or super-construction8 ,why not missionaries sent here openly to convert us from our barbarous prohibitions and other taboos1 and to prepare the way for a good trade in ultra-bibles and super-whiskeys2 fortunes made in selling us cast-off super-fineries1 which we'd take to like an ,african chief to someone's old silk hat from ,new ,york or ,london8 ,the answer that occurs to me is so simple that it seems immediately acceptable1 if we accept that the obvious is the solution of all problems1 or if most of our perplexities consist in laboriously and painfully conceiving of the unanswerable1 and then looking for answers--using such words as obvious and solution conventionally-- ,or3 ,would we1 if we could1 educate and sophisticate pigs1 geese1 cattle8 ,would it be wise to establish diplomatic relation with the hen that now functions1 satisfied with mere sense of achievement by way of compensation8 ,i think we're property4 ,i should say we belong to something3 ,that once upon a time1 this earth was ,no-man's ,land1 that other worlds explored and colonized here1 and fought among themselves for possession1 but that now it's owned by something3 ,that something owns this earth--all others warned off4 ,nothing in our own times--perhaps--because ,i am thinking of certain notes ,i have--has ever appeared upon this earth1 from somewhere else1 so openly as ,columbus landed upon ,san ,salvador1 or as ,hudson sailed up his river4 ,but as to surreptitious visits to this earth1 in recent times1 or as to emissaries1 perhaps1 from other worlds1 or voyagers who have shown every indication of intent to evade and avoid1 we shall have data as convincing as our data of oil or coal-burning aerial super-constructions4 ,but1 in this vast subject1 ,i shall have to do considerable neglecting or disregarding1 myself4 ,i don't see how ,i can1 in this book1 take up at all the subject of possible use of humanity to some other mode of existence1 or the flattering notion that we can possibly be worth something4 ,pigs1 geese1 and cattle4 ,first find out that they are owned4 ,then find out the whyness of it4 ,i suspect that1 after all1 we're useful--that among contesting claimants1 adjustment has occurred1 or that something now has a legal right to us1 by force1 or by having paid out analogues of beads for us to former1 more primitive1 owners of us--all others warned off--that all this has been known1 perhaps for ages1 to certain ones upon this earth1 a cult or order1 members of which function like bellwethers to the rest of us1 or as superior slaves or overseers1 directing us in accordance with instructions received--from ,somewhere else--in our mysterious usefulness4 ,but ,i accept that1 in the past1 before proprietorship was established1 inhabitants of a host of other worlds have--dropped here1 hopped here1 wafted1 sailed1 flown1 motored--walked here1 for all ,i know--been pulled here1 been pushed2 have come singly1 have come in enormous numbers2 have visited occasionally1 have visited periodically for hunting1 trading1 replenishing harems1 mining3 have been unable to stay here1 have established colonies here1 have been lost here2 far-advanced peoples1 or things1 and primitive peoples or whatever they were3 white ones1 black ones1 yellow ones-- ,i have a very convincing datum that the ancient ,britons were blue ones4 ,of course we are told by conventional anthropologists that they only painted themselves blue1 but in our own advanced anthropology1 they were veritable blue ones-- ,annals of ,philosophy1 #ad-ea3 ,note of a blue child born in ,england4 ,that's atavism4 ,giants and fairies4 ,we accept them1 of course4 ,or1 if we pride ourselves upon being awfully far-advanced1 ,i don't know how to sustain our conceit except by very largely going far back4 ,science of today--the superstition of tomorrow4 ,science of tomorrow--the superstition of today4 ,notice of a stone ax1 #ag inches long3 #i inches across broad end4 7,proc4 ,soc4 of ,ants4 of ,scotland1 #a-i-ahd47 ,amer4 ,antiquarian1 #ah-fj3 ,copper ax from an ,ohio mound3 #bb inches long2 weight #ch pounds4 ,amer4 ,anthropologist1 n4s41 #h-bbi3 ,stone ax found at ,birchwood1 ,wisconsin--exhibited in the collection of the ,missouri ,historical ,society--found with the pointed end embedded in the soil--for all ,i know1 may have dropped there--#bh inches long1 #ad wide1 #aa thick--weight #cjj pounds4 ,or the footprints1 in sandstone1 near ,carson1 ,nevada--each print #ah to #bj inches long4 7,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #c-bf-aci47 ,these footprints are very clear and well-defined3 reproduction of them in the ,journal--but they assimilate with the ,system1 like sour apples to other systems3 so ,prof4 ,marsh1 a loyal and unscrupulous systematist1 argues3 ,the size of these footprints and specially the width between the right and left series1 are strong evidence that they were not made by men1 as has been so generally supposed4 ,so these excluders4 ,stranglers of ,minerva4 ,desperadoes of disregard4 ,above all1 or below all1 the anthropologists4 ,i'm inspired with a new insult--someone offends me3 ,i wish to express almost absolute contempt for him--he's a systematistic anthropologist4 ,simply to read something of this kind is not so impressive as to see for one's self3 if anyone will take the trouble to look up these footprints1 as pictured in the ,journal1 he will either agree with ,prof4 ,marsh or feel that to deny them is to indicate a mind as profoundly enslaved by a system as was ever the humble intellect of a medieval monk4 ,the reasoning of this representative phantom of the chosen1 or of the spectral appearances who sit in judgment1 or condemnation1 upon us of the more nearly real3 ,that there never were giants upon this earth1 because gigantic footprints are more gigantic than prints made by men who are not giants4 ,we think of giants as occasional visitors to this earth4 ,of course--,stonehenge1 for instance4 ,it may be that1 as time goes on1 we shall have to admit that there are remains of many tremendous habitations of giants upon this earth1 and that their appearances here were more than casual--but their bones--or the absence of their bones-- ,except--that1 no matter how cheerful and unsuspicious my disposition may be1 when ,i go to the ,american ,museum of ,natural ,history1 dark cynicisms arise the moment ,i come to the fossils--or old bones that have been found upon this earth--gigantic things--that have been reconstructed into terrifying but proper dinosaurs--but my uncheerfulness-- ,the dodo did it4 ,on one of the floors below the fossils1 they have a reconstructed dodo4 ,it's frankly a fiction3 it's labeled as such--but it's been reconstructed so cleverly and so convincingly-- ,fairies4 ,fairy crosses4 ,harper's ,weekly1 #ej-gae3 ,that1 near the point where the ,blue ,ridge and the ,allegheny ,mountains unite1 north of ,patrick ,county1 ,virginia1 many little stone crosses have been found4 ,a race of tiny beings4 ,they crucified cockroaches4 ,exquisite beings--but the cruelty of the exquisite4 ,in their diminutive way they were human beings4 ,they crucified4 ,the fairy crosses1 we are told in ,harper's ,weekly1 range in weight from one-quarter of an ounce to an ounce3 but it is said1 in the ,scientific ,american1 #gi-cie1 that some of them are no larger than the head of a pin4 ,they have been found in two other states1 but all in ,virginia are strictly localized on and along ,bull ,mountain4 ,we are reminded of the ,chinese seals in ,ireland4 ,i suppose they fell there4 ,some are ,roman crosses1 some ,st4 ,andrew's1 some ,maltese4 ,this time we are spared contact with the anthropologists and have geologists instead1 but ,i am afraid that the relief to our finer1 or more nearly real1 sensibilities will not be very great4 ,the geologists were called upon to explain the fairy crosses4 ,their response was the usual scientific tropism--,geologists say that they are crystals4 ,the writer in ,harper's ,weekly points out that this hold up1 or this anaesthetic1 if theoretic science be little but attempt to assuage pangs of the unexplained1 fails to account for the localized distributions of these objects--which make me think of both aggregation and separation at the bottom of the sea1 if from a wrecked ship1 similar objects should fall in large numbers but at different times4 ,but some are ,roman crosses1 some ,st4 ,andrew's1 some ,maltese4 ,conceivably there might be a mineral that would have a diversity of geometric forms1 at the same time restricted to some expression of the cross1 because snowflakes1 for instance1 have diversity but restriction to the hexagon1 but the guilty geologists1 cold-blooded as astronomers and chemists and all the other deep-sea fishes--though less profoundly of the pseudo-saved than the wretched anthropologists--disregarded the very datum--that it was wise to disregard3 ,that the fairy crosses are not all made of the same material4 ,it's the same old disregard1 or it's the same old psycho-tropism1 or process of assimilation4 ,crystals are geometric forms4 ,crystals are included in the ,system4 ,so then fairy crosses are crystals4 ,but that different minerals should1 in a few different regions1 be inspired to turn into different forms of the cross--is the kind of resistance that we call less nearly real than our own acceptances4 ,we now come to some cursed little things that are of the lost1 but for the salvation of which scientific missionaries have done their damnedest4 ,pigmy flints4 ,they can't very well be denied4 ,they're lost and well known4 ,pigmy flints are tiny1 prehistoric implements4 ,some of them are a quarter of an inch in size4 ,england1 ,india1 ,france1 ,south ,africa--they've been found in many parts of the world--whether showered there or not4 ,they belong high up in the froth of the accursed3 they are not denied1 and they have not been disregarded2 there is an abundant literature upon this subject4 ,one attempt to rationalize them1 or assimilate them1 or take them into the scientific fold1 has been the notion that they were toys of prehistoric children4 ,it sounds reasonable4 ,but1 of course1 by the reasonable we mean that for which the equally reasonable1 but opposing1 has not been found out--except that we modify that by saying that1 though nothing's finally reasonable1 some phenomena have higher approximations to ,reasonableness than have others4 ,against the notion of toys1 the higher approximation is that where pygmy flints are found1 all flints are pygmies--at least so in ,india1 where1 when larger implements have been found in the same place1 there are separations by strata4 7,wilson47 ,the datum that1 just at present1 leads me to accept that these flints were made by beings about the size of pickles1 is a point brought out by ,prof4 ,wilson 7,rept4 ,national ,museum1 #ahib-dee73 ,not only that the flints are tiny but that the chipping upon them is minute4 ,struggle for expression1 in the mind of a #aith-century-ite1 of an idea that did not belong to his era3 ,in ,science ,gossip1 #ahif-cf1 ,r4,a4 ,galty says3 ,so fine is the chipping that to see the workmanship a magnifying glass is necessary4 ,i think that would be absolutely convincing1 if there were anything--absolutely anything--either that tiny beings1 from pickle to cucumber-stature1 made these things1 or that ordinary savages made them under magnifying glasses4 ,the idea that we are now going to develop1 or perpetrate1 is rather intensely of the accursed1 or the advanced4 ,it's a lost soul1 ,i admit--or boast--but it fits in4 ,or1 as conventional as ever1 our own method is the scientific method of assimilating4 ,it assimilates1 if we think of the inhabitants of ,elvera-- ,by the way1 ,i forgot to tell the name of the giant's world3 ,monstrator4 ,spindle-shaped world--about #ajj1jjj miles along its major axis--more details to be published later4 ,but our coming inspiration fits in1 if we think of the inhabitants of ,elvera as having only visited here3 having1 in hordes as dense as clouds of bats1 come here1 upon hunting excursions--for mice1 ,i should say3 for bees1 very likely--or most likely of all1 or inevitably1 to convert the heathen here--horrified with anyone who would gorge himself with more than a bean at a time2 fearful for the souls of beings who would guzzle more than a dewdrop at a time--hordes of tiny missionaries1 determined that right should prevail1 determining right by their own minutenesses4 ,they must have been missionaries4 ,only to be is motion to convert or assimilate something else4 ,the idea now is that tiny creatures coming here from their own little world1 which may be ,eros1 though ,i call it ,elvera1 would flit from the exquisite to the enormous--gulp of a fair-sized terrestrial animal--half a dozen of them gone and soon digested4 ,one falls into a brook--torn away in a mighty torrent-- ,or never anything but conventional1 we adopt from ,darwin3 ,the geological records are incomplete4 ,their flints would survive1 but1 as to their fragile bodies--one might as well search for prehistoric frost-traceries4 ,a little whirlwind--,elverean carried away a hundred yards--body never found by his companions4 ,they'd mourn for the departed4 ,conventional emotion to have3 they'd mourn4 ,there'd have to be a funeral3 there's no getting away from funerals4 ,so ,i adopt an explanation that ,i take from the anthropologists3 burial in effigy4 ,perhaps the ,elvereans would not come to this earth again until many years later--another distressing occurrence--one little mausoleum for all burials in effigy4 ,london ,times1 ,july #bj1 #ahcf3 ,that1 early in ,july1 #ahcf1 some boys were searching for rabbits' burrows in the rocky formation1 near ,edinburgh1 known as ,arthur's ,seat4 ,in the side of a cliff1 they came upon some thin sheets of slate1 which they pulled out4 ,little cave4 ,seventeen tiny coffins4 ,three or four inches long4 ,in the coffins were miniature wooden figures4 ,they were dressed differently both in style and material4 ,there were two tiers of eight coffins each1 and a third tier begun1 with one coffin4 ,the extraordinary datum1 which has especially made mystery here3 ,that the coffins had been deposited singly1 in the little cave1 and at intervals of many years4 ,in the first tier1 the coffins were quite decayed1 and the wrappings had moldered away4 ,in the second tier1 the effects of age had not advanced so far4 ,and the top coffin was quite recent-looking4 ,in the ,proceedings of the ,society of ,antiquarians of ,scotland1 #c-ab-dfj1 there is a full account of this find4 ,three of the coffins and three of the figures are pictured4 ,so ,elvera with its downy forests and its microscopic oyster shells--and if the ,elvereans be not very far-advanced1 they take baths--with sponges the size of pin heads-- ,or that catastrophes have occurred3 that fragments of ,elvera have fallen to this earth3 ,in ,popular ,science1 #bj-hc1 ,francis ,bingham1 writing of the corals and sponges and shells and crinoids that ,dr4 ,hahn had asserted that he had found in meteorites1 says1 judging by the photographs of them1 that their notable peculiarity is their extreme smallness4 ,the corals1 for instance1 are about one-twentieth the size of terrestrial corals4 ,they represent a veritable pygmy animal world1 says ,bingham4 ,the inhabitants of ,monstrator and ,elvera were primitives1 ,i think1 at the time of their occasional visits to this earth--though1 of course1 in a quasi-existence1 anything that we semi-phantoms call evidence of anything may be just as good evidence of anything else4 ,logicians and detectives and jurymen and suspicious wives and members of the ,royal ,astronomic ,society recognize this indeterminateness1 but have the delusion that in the method of agreement there is final1 or real evidence4 ,the method is good enough for an existence that is only semi-real1 but also it is the method of reasoning by which witches were burned1 and by which ghosts have been feared4 ,i'd not like to be so unadvanced as to deny witches and ghosts1 but ,i do think that there never have been witches and ghosts like those of popular supposition4 ,but stories of them have been supported by astonishing fabrications of details and of different accounts in agreement4 ,so1 if a giant left impressions of his bare feet in the ground1 that is not to say that he was a primitive--bulk of culture out taking the ,kneipp cure4 ,so1 if ,stonehenge is a large1 but only roughly geometric construction1 the inattention to details by its builders--signifies anything you please--ambitious dwarfs or giants--if giants1 that they were little more than cave men1 or that they were post-impressionist architects from a very far-advanced civilization4 ,if there are other worlds1 there are tutelary worlds--or that ,kepler1 for instance1 could not have been absolutely wrong3 that his notion of an angel assigned to push along and guide each planet may not be very acceptable1 but that1 abstractedly1 or in the notion of a tutelary relation1 we may find acceptance4 ,only to be is to be tutelary4 ,our general expression3 ,that everything in ,intermediateness is not a thing1 but is an endeavor to become something--by breaking away from its continuity1 or merging away1 with all other phenomena--is an attempt to break away from the very essence of a relative existence and become absolute--if it have not surrendered to1 or become part of1 some higher attempt3 ,that to this process there are two aspects3 ,attraction1 or the spirit of everything to assimilate all other things--if it have not given in and subordinated to--or have not been assimilated by--some higher attempted system1 unity1 organization1 entity1 harmony1 equilibrium-- ,and repulsion1 or the attempt of everything to exclude or disregard the unassimilable4 ,universality of the process3 ,anything conceivable3 ,a tree4 ,it is doing all it can to assimilate substances of the soil and substances of the air1 and sunshine1 too1 into tree-substance3 obversely it is rejecting or excluding or disregarding that which it cannot assimilate4 ,cow grazing1 pig rooting1 tiger stalking3 planets trying1 or acting1 to capture comets2 rag pickers and the ,christian religion1 and a cat down headfirst in a garbage can2 nations fighting for more territory1 sciences correlating the data they can1 trust magnates organizing1 chorus girl out for a little late supper--all of them stopped somewhere by the unassimilable4 ,chorus girl and the broiled lobster4 ,if she eats not shell and all she represents universal failure to positivize4 ,also1 if she does she represents universal failure to positivize3 her ensuing disorders will translate her to the ,negative ,absolute4 ,or ,science and some of our cursed hard-shelled data4 ,one speaks of the tutelarian as if it were something distinct in itself4 ,so one speaks of a tree1 a saint1 a barrel of pork1 the ,rocky ,mountains4 ,one speaks of missionaries1 as if they were positively different1 or had identity of their own1 or were a species by themselves4 ,to the ,intermediatist1 everything that seems to have identity is only attempted identity1 and every species is continuous with all other species1 or that which is called the specific is only emphasis upon some aspect of the general4 ,if there are cats1 they're only emphasis upon universal felinity4 ,there is nothing that does not partake of that of which the missionary1 or the tutelary1 is the special4 ,every conversation is a conflict of missionaries1 each trying to convert the other1 to assimilate1 or to make the other similar to himself4 ,if no progress be made1 mutual repulsion will follow4 ,if other worlds have ever in the past had relations with this earth1 they were attempted positivizations3 to extend themselves1 by colonies1 upon this earth2 to convert1 or assimilate1 indigenous inhabitants of this earth4 ,or parent-worlds and their colonies here-- ,super-,romanimus-- ,or where the first ,romans came from4 ,it's as good as the ,romulus and ,remus story4 ,super-,israelimus-- ,or that1 despite modern reasoning upon this subject1 there was once something that was super-parental or tutelary to early orientals4 ,azuria1 which was tutelary to the early ,britons3 ,azuria1 whence came the blue ,britons1 whose descendants gradually diluting1 like blueing in a wash-tub1 where a faucet's turned on1 have been most emphasized of sub-tutelarians1 or assimilators ever since4 ,worlds that were once tutelarian worlds--before this earth became sole property of one of them--their attempts to convert or assimilate--but then the state that comes to all things in their missionary-frustrations--unacceptance by all stomachs of some things2 rejection by all societies of some units2 glaciers that sort over and cast out stones-- ,repulsion4 ,wrath of the baffled missionary4 ,there is no other wrath4 ,all repulsion is reaction to the unassimilable4 ,so then the wrath of ,azuria-- ,because surrounding peoples of this earth would not assimilate with her own colonists in the part of the earth that we now call ,england4 ,i don't know that there has ever been more nearly just1 reasonable1 or logical wrath1 in this earth's history--if there is no other wrath4 ,the wrath of ,azuria1 because the other peoples of this earth would not turn blue to suit her4 ,history is a department of human delusion that interests us4 ,we are able to give a little advancement to history4 ,in the vitrified forts of a few parts of ,europe1 we find data that the ,humes and ,gibbons have disregarded4 ,the vitrified forts surrounding ,england1 but not in ,england4 ,the vitrified forts of ,scotland1 ,ireland1 ,brittany1 and ,bohemia4 ,or that1 once upon a time1 with electric blasts1 ,azuria tried to swipe this earth clear of the peoples who resisted her4 ,the vast blue bulk of ,azuria appeared in the sky4 ,clouds turned green4 ,the sun was formless and purple in the vibrations of wrath that were emanating from ,azuria4 ,the whitish1 or yellowish1 or brownish peoples of ,scotland1 ,ireland1 ,brittany1 and ,bohemia fled to hilltops and built forts4 ,in a real existence1 hilltops1 or easiest accessibility to an aerial enemy1 would be the last choice in refuges4 ,but here1 in quasi-existence1 if we're accustomed to run to hilltops1 in times of danger1 we run to them just the same1 even with danger closest to hilltops4 ,very common in quasi-existence3 attempt to escape by running closer to the pursuing4 ,they built forts1 or already had forts1 on hilltops4 ,something poured electricity upon them4 ,the stones of these forts exist to this day1 vitrified1 or melted and turned to glass4 ,the archaeologists have jumped from one conclusion to another1 like the rapid chamois we read of a while ago1 to account for vitrified forts1 always restricted by the commandment that unless their conclusions conformed to such tenets as ,exclusionism1 of the ,system1 they would be excommunicated4 ,so archaeologists1 in their medieval dread of excommunication1 have tried to explain vitrified forts in terms of terrestrial experience4 ,we find in their insufficiencies the same old assimilating of all that could be assimilated1 and disregard for the unassimilable1 conventionalizing into the explanation that vitrified forts were made by prehistoric peoples who built vast fires--often remote from wood-supply--to melt externally1 and to cement together1 the stones of their constructions4 ,but negativeness always3 so within itself a science can never be homogeneous or unified or harmonious4 ,so ,miss ,russel1 in the ,journal of the ,b4,a4,a41 has pointed out that it is seldom that single stones1 to say nothing of long walls1 of large houses that are burned to the ground1 are vitrified4 ,if we pay a little attention to this subject1 ourselves1 before starting to write upon it1 which is one of the ways of being more nearly real than oppositions so far encountered by us1 we find3 ,that the stones of these forts are vitrified in no reference to cementing them3 that they are cemented here and there1 in streaks1 as if special blasts had struck1 or played1 upon them4 ,then one thinks of lightning8 ,once upon a time something melted1 in streaks1 the stones of forts on the tops of hills in ,scotland1 ,ireland1 ,brittany1 and ,bohemia4 ,lightning selects the isolated and conspicuous4 ,but some of the vitrified forts are not upon tops of hills3 some are very inconspicuous3 their walls too are vitrified in streaks4 ,something once had effect1 similar to lightning1 upon forts1 mostly on hills1 in ,scotland1 ,ireland1 ,brittany1 and ,bohemia4 ,but upon hills1 all over the rest of the world1 are remains of forts that are not vitrified4 ,there is only one crime1 in the local sense1 and that is not to turn blue1 if the gods are blue3 but1 in the universal sense1 the one crime is not to turn the gods themselves green1 if you're green4 #ac ,one of the most extraordinary of phenomena1 or alleged phenomena1 of psychic research1 or alleged research--if in quasi-existence there never has been real research1 but only approximations to research that merge away1 or that are continuous with1 prejudice and convenience-- ,stone-throwing4 ,it's attributed to poltergeists4 ,they're mischievous spirits4 ,poltergeists do not assimilate with our own present quasi-system1 which is an attempt to correlate denied or disregarded data as phenomena of extra-telluric forces1 expressed in physical terms4 ,therefore ,i regard poltergeists as evil or false or discordant or absurd--names that we give to various degrees or aspects of the unassimilable1 or that which resists attempts to organize1 harmonize1 systematize1 or1 in short1 to positivize--names that we give to our recognitions of the negative state4 ,i don't care to deny poltergeists1 because ,i suspect that later1 when we're more enlightened1 or when we widen the range of our credulities1 or take on more of that increase of ignorance that is called knowledge1 poltergeists may become assimilable4 ,then they'll be as reasonable as trees4 ,by reasonableness ,i mean that which assimilates with a dominant force1 or system1 or a major body of thought--which is1 itself1 of course1 hypnosis and delusion--developing1 however1 in our acceptance1 to higher and higher approximations to realness4 ,the poltergeists are now evil or absurd to me1 proportionately to their present unassimilableness1 compounded1 however1 with the factor of their possible future assimilableness4 ,we lug in the poltergeists1 because some of our own data1 or alleged data1 merge away indistinguishably with data1 or alleged data1 of them3 ,instances of stones that have been thrown1 or that have fallen1 upon a small area1 from an unseen and undetectable source4 ,london ,times1 ,april #bg1 #ahgb3 ,from #d o'clock1 ,thursday afternoon1 until half past eleven1 ,thursday night1 the houses1 #ef and #eh ,reverdy ,road1 ,bermondsey1 were assailed with stones and other missiles coming from an unseen quarter4 ,two children were injured1 every window broken1 and several articles of furniture were destroyed4 ,although there was a strong body of policemen scattered in the neighborhood1 they could not trace the direction whence the stones were thrown4 ,other missiles make a complication here4 ,but if the expression means tin cans and old shoes1 and if we accept that the direction could not be traced because it never occurred to anyone to look upward--why1 we've lost a good deal of our provincialism by this time4 ,london ,times1 ,sept4 #af1 #ahda3 ,that1 in the home of ,mrs4 ,charton1 at ,sutton ,courthouse1 ,sutton ,lane1 ,chiswick1 windows had been broken by some unseen agent4 ,every attempt to detect the perpetrator failed4 ,the mansion was detached and surrounded by high walls4 ,no other building was near it4 ,the police were called4 ,two constables1 assisted by members of the household1 guarded the house1 but the windows continued to be broken both in front and behind the house4 ,or the floating islands that are often stationary in the ,super-,sargasso ,sea2 and atmospheric disturbances that sometimes affect them1 and bring things down within small areas1 upon this earth1 from temporarily stationary sources4 ,super-,sargasso ,sea and the beaches of its floating islands from which ,i think1 or at least accept1 pebbles have fallen3 ,wolverhampton1 ,england1 ,june1 #ahfj--violent storm--fall of so many little black pebbles that they were cleared away by shoveling 7,la ,sci4 ,pour ,tous1 #e-bfd72 great number of small black stones that fell at ,birmingham1 ,england1 ,august1 #aheh--violent storm--said to be similar to some basalt a few leagues from ,birmingham 7,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahfd-cg72 pebbles described as common water-worn pebbles that fell at ,palestine1 ,texas1 ,july #f1 #ahhh--of a formation not found near ,palestine 7,w4,h4 ,perry1 ,sergeant1 ,signal ,corps1 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,july1 #ahhh72 round1 smooth pebbles at ,kandahor1 #ahcd 7,am4 ,j4 ,sci41 #a-bf-afa72 a number of stones of peculiar formation and shapes1 unknown in this neighborhood1 fell in a tornado at ,hillsboro1 ,ill41 ,may #ah1 #ahhc4 7,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,may1 #ahhc47 ,pebbles from aerial beaches and terrestrial pebbles as products of whirlwinds1 so merge in these instances that1 though it's interesting to hear of things of peculiar shape that have fallen from the sky1 it seems best to pay little attention here1 and to find phenomena of the ,super-,sargasso ,sea remote from the merger3 ,to this requirement we have three adaptations3 ,pebbles that fell where no whirlwind to which to attribute them could be learned of3 ,pebbles which fell in hail so large that incredibly could that hail have been formed in this earth's atmosphere3 ,pebbles which fell and were1 long afterward1 followed by more pebbles1 as if from some aerial1 stationary source1 in the same place4 ,in ,september1 #ahih1 there was a story in a ,new ,york newspaper1 of lightning--or an appearance of luminosity8--in ,jamaica--something had struck a tree3 near the tree were found some small pebbles4 ,it was said that the pebbles had fallen from the sky1 with the lightning4 ,but the insult to orthodoxy was that they were not angular fragments such as might have been broken from a stony meteorite3 that they were water-worn pebbles4 ,in the geographical vagueness of a mainland1 the explanation up from one place and down in another is always good1 and is never overworked1 until the instances are massed as they are in this book3 but1 upon this occasion1 in the relatively small area of ,jamaica1 there was no whirlwind findable--however there in the first place bobs up4 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,august1 #ahih-cfc3 ,that the government meteorologist had investigated3 had reported that a tree had been struck by lightning1 and that small water-worn pebbles had been found near the tree3 but that similar pebbles could be found all over ,jamaica4 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,september1 #aiae-ddf3 ,prof4 ,fassig gives an account of a fall of hail that occurred in ,maryland1 ,june #bb1 #aiae3 hailstones the size of baseballs not at all uncommon4 ,an interesting1 but unconfirmed1 account stated that small pebbles were found at the center of some of the larger hail gathered at ,annapolis4 ,the young man who related the story offered to produce the pebbles1 but has not done so4 ,a footnote3 ,since writing this1 the author states that he has received some of the pebbles4 ,when a young man produces pebbles1 that's as convincing as anything else ,i've ever heard of1 though no more convincing than1 if having told of ham sandwiches falling from the sky1 he should produce ham sandwiches4 ,if this reluctance be admitted by us1 we correlate it with a datum reported by a ,weather ,bureau observer1 signifying that1 whether the pebbles had been somewhere aloft a long time or not1 some of the hailstones that fell with them1 had been4 ,the datum is that some of these hailstones were composed of from twenty to twenty-five layers alternately of clear ice and snow-ice4 ,in orthodox terms ,i argue that a fair-sized hailstone falls from the clouds with velocity sufficient to warm it so that it would not take on even one layer of ice4 ,to put on twenty layers of ice1 ,i conceive of something that had not fallen at all1 but had rolled somewhere1 at a leisurely rate1 for a long time4 ,we now have a commonplace datum that is familiar in two respects3 ,little1 symmetric objects of metal that fell at ,orenburg1 ,russia1 ,september1 #ahbd 7,phil4 ,mag41 #d-h-dfc74 ,a second fall of these objects1 at ,orenburg1 ,russia1 ,jan4 #be1 #ahbe 7,quar4 ,jour4 ,roy4 ,inst41 #ahbh-a-ddg74 ,i now think of the disk of ,tarbes1 but when first ,i came upon these data ,i was impressed only with recurrence1 because the objects of ,orenburg were described as crystals of pyrites1 or sulphate of iron4 ,i had no notion of metallic objects that might have been shaped or molded by means other than crystallization1 until ,i came to ,arago's account of these occurrences 7,o,euvres1 #aa-fdd74 ,here the analysis gives #gj per cent4 red oxide of iron1 and sulphur and loss by ignition #e per cent4 ,it seems to me acceptable that iron with considerably less than #e per cent4 sulphur in it is not iron pyrites--then little1 rusty iron objects1 shaped by some other means1 have fallen1 four months apart1 at the same place4 ,m4 ,arago expresses astonishment at this phenomenon of recurrence so familiar to us4 ,altogether1 ,i find opening before us1 vistas of heresies to which ,i1 for one1 must shut my eyes4 ,i have always been in sympathy with the dogmatists and exclusionists3 that is plain in our opening lines3 that to seem to be is falsely and arbitrarily and dogmatically to exclude4 ,it is only that exclusionists who are good in the nineteenth century are evil in the twentieth century4 ,constantly we feel a merging away into infinitude2 but that this book shall approximate to form1 or that our data shall approximate to organization1 or that we shall approximate to intelligibility1 we have to call ourselves back constantly from wandering off into infinitude4 ,the thing that we do1 however1 is to make our own outline1 or the difference between what we include and what we exclude1 vague4 ,the crux here1 and the limit beyond which we may not go--very much--is3 ,acceptance that there is a region that we call the ,super-,sargasso ,sea--not yet fully accepted1 but a provisional position that has received a great deal of support-- ,but is it a part of this earth1 and does it revolve with and over this earth-- ,or does it flatly overlie this earth1 not revolving with and over this earth-- ,that this earth does not revolve1 and is not round1 or roundish1 at all1 but is continuous with the rest of its system1 so that1 if one could break away from the traditions of the geographers1 one might walk and walk1 and come to ,mars1 and then find ,mars continuous with ,jupiter8 ,i suppose some day such queries will sound absurd--the thing will be so obvious-- ,because it is very difficult for me to conceive of little metallic objects hanging precisely over a small town in ,russia1 for four months1 if revolving1 unattached1 with a revolving earth-- ,it may be that something aimed at that town1 and then later took another shot4 ,these are speculations that seem to me to be evil relatively to these early years in the twentieth century-- ,just now1 ,i accept that this earth is--not round1 of course3 that is very old-fashioned--but roundish1 or1 at least1 that it has what is called form of its own1 and does revolve upon its axis1 and in an orbit around the sun4 ,i only accept these old traditional notions-- ,and that above it are regions of suspension that revolve with it3 from which objects fall1 by disturbances of various kinds1 and then1 later1 fall again1 in the same place3 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,may1 #ahhd-acd3 ,report from the ,signal ,service observer1 at ,bismarck1 ,dakota3 ,that1 at #i o'clock1 in the evening of ,may #bb1 #ahhd1 sharp sounds were heard throughout the city1 caused by a fall of flinty stones striking against windows4 ,fifteen hours later another fall of flinty stones occurred at ,bismarck4 ,there is no report of stones having fallen anywhere else4 ,this is a thing of the ultra-damned4 ,all ,editors of scientific publications read the ,monthly ,weather ,review and frequently copy from it4 ,the noise made by the stones of ,bismarck1 rattling against those windows1 may be in a language that aviators will some day interpret3 but it was a noise entirely surrounded by silences4 ,of this ultra-damned thing1 there is no mention1 findable by me1 in any other publication4 ,the size of some hailstones has worried many meteorologists--but not text-book meteorologists4 ,i know of no more serene occupation than that of writing text-books--though writing for the ,war ,cry1 of the ,salvation ,army1 may be equally unadventurous4 ,in the drowsy tranquillity of a text-book1 we easily and unintelligently read of dust particles around which icy rain forms1 hailstones1 in their fall1 then increasing by accretion--but in the meteorological journals1 we read often of air-spaces nucleating hailstones-- ,but it's the size of the things4 ,dip a marble in icy water4 ,dip and dip and dip it4 ,if you're a resolute dipper1 you will1 after a while1 have an object the size of a baseball--but ,i think a thing could fall from the moon in that length of time4 ,also the strata of them4 ,the ,maryland hailstones are unusual1 but a dozen strata have often been counted4 ,ferrel gives an instance of thirteen strata4 ,such considerations led ,prof4 ,schwedoff to argue that some hailstones are not1 and cannot1 be generated in this earth's atmosphere--that they come from somewhere else4 ,now1 in a relative existence1 nothing can of itself be either attractive or repulsive3 its effects are functions of its associations or implications4 ,many of our data have been taken from very conservative scientific sources3 it was not until their discordant implications1 or irreconcilabilities with the ,system1 were perceived1 that excommunication was pronounced against them4 ,prof4 ,schwedoff's paper was read before the ,british ,association 7,rept4 of #ahhb1 p4 #dec74 ,the implication1 and the repulsiveness of the implication to the snug and tight little exclusionists of #ahhb--though we hold out that they were functioning well and ably relatively to #ahhb-- ,that there is water--oceans or lakes and ponds1 or rivers of it--that there is water away from1 and yet not far-remote from1 this earth's atmosphere and gravitation-- ,the pain of it3 ,that the snug little system of #ahhb would be ousted from its reposefulness-- ,a whole new science to learn3 ,the ,science of ,super-,geography-- ,and ,science is a turtle that says that its own shell encloses all things4 ,so the members of the ,british ,association4 ,to some of them ,prof4 ,schwedoff's ideas were like slaps on the back of an environment-denying turtle3 to some of them his heresy was like an offering of meat1 raw and dripping1 to milk-fed lambs4 ,some of them bleated like lambs1 and some of them turled like turtles4 ,we used to crucify1 but now we ridicule3 or1 in the loss of vigor of all progress1 the spike has etherealized into the laugh4 ,sir ,william ,thomson ridiculed the heresy1 with the phantomosities of his era3 ,that all bodies1 such as hailstones1 if away from this earth's atmosphere1 would have to move at planetary velocity--which would be positively reasonable if the pronouncements of ,st4 ,isaac were anything but articles of faith--that a hailstone falling through this earth's atmosphere1 with planetary velocity1 would perform #ac1jjj times as much work as would raise an equal weight of water one degree centigrade1 and therefore never fall as a hailstone at all2 be more than melted--super-volatalized-- ,these turls and these bleats of pedantry--though we insist that1 relatively to #ahhb1 these turls and bleats should be regarded as respectfully as we regard rag dolls that keep infants occupied and noiseless--it is the survival of rag dolls into maturity that we object to--so these pious and naive ones who believed that #ac1jjj times something could have--that is1 in quasi-existence--an exact and calculable resultant1 whereas there is--in quasi-existence--nothing that can1 except by delusion and convenience1 be called a unit1 in the first place--whose devotions to ,st4 ,isaac required blind belief in formulas of falling bodies-- ,against data that were piling up1 in their own time1 of slow-falling meteorites2 milk warm ones admitted even by ,farrington and ,merrill2 at least one icy meteorite nowhere denied by the present orthodoxy1 a datum as accessible to ,thomson1 in #ahhb1 as it is now to us1 because it was an occurrence of #ahfj4 ,beans and needles and tacks and a magnet4 ,needles and tacks adhere to and systematize relatively to a magnet1 but1 if some beans1 too1 be caught up1 they are irreconcilables to this system and drop right out of it4 ,a member of the ,salvation ,army may hear over and over data that seem so memorable to an evolutionist4 ,it seems remarkable that they do not influence him--one finds that he cannot remember them4 ,it is incredible that ,sir ,william ,thomson had never heard of slow-falling1 cold meteorites4 ,it is simply that he had no power to remember such irreconcilabilities4 ,and then ,mr4 ,symons again4 ,mr4 ,symons was a man who probably did more for the science of meteorology than did any other man of his time3 therefore he probably did more to hold back the science of meteorology than did any other man of his time4 ,in ,nature1 #da-ace1 ,mr4 ,symons says that ,prof4 ,schwedoff's ideas are very droll4 ,i think that even more amusing is our own acceptance that1 not very far above this earth's surface1 is a region that will be the subject of a whole new science--super-geography--with which we shall immortalize ourselves in the resentments of the schoolboys of the future-- ,pebbles and fragments of meteors and things from ,mars and ,jupiter and ,azuria3 wedges1 delayed messages1 cannon balls1 bricks1 nails1 coal and coke and charcoal and offensive old cargoes--things that coat in ice in some regions and things that get into areas so warm that they putrefy--or that there are all the climates of geography in super-geography4 ,i shall have to accept that1 floating in the sky of this earth1 there often are fields of ice as extensive as those on the ,arctic ,ocean--volumes of water in which are many fishes and frogs--tracts of land covered with caterpillars-- ,aviators of the future4 ,they fly up and up4 ,then they get out and walk4 ,the fishing's good3 the bait's right there4 ,they find messages from other worlds--and within three weeks there's a big trade worked up in forged messages4 ,sometime ,i shall write a guide book to the ,super-,sargasso ,sea1 for aviators1 but just at present there wouldn't be much call for it4 ,we now have more of our expression upon hail as a concomitant1 or more data of things that have fallen from the sky1 with hail4 ,in general1 the expression is3 ,these things may have been raised from some other part of the earth's surface1 in whirlwinds1 or may not have fallen1 and may have been upon the ground1 in the first place--but were the hailstones found with them1 raised from some other part of the earth's surface1 or were the hailstones upon the ground1 in the first place8 ,as ,i said before1 this expression is meaningless as to a few instances2 it is reasonable to think of some coincidence between the fall of hail and the fall of other things3 but1 inasmuch as there have been a good many instances1--we begin to suspect that this is not so much a book we're writing as a sanitarium for overworked coincidences4 ,if not conceivably could very large hailstones and lumps of ice form in this earth's atmosphere1 and so then had to come from external regions1 then other things in or accompanying very large hailstones and lumps of ice came from external regions--which worries us a little3 we may be instantly translated to the ,positive ,absolute4 ,cosmos1 #ac-abj1 quotes a ,virginia newspaper1 that fishes said to have been catfishes1 a foot long1 some of them1 had fallen1 in #ahec1 at ,norfolk1 ,virginia1 with hail4 ,vegetable debris1 not only nuclear1 but frozen upon the surfaces of large hailstones1 at ,toulouse1 ,france1 ,july #bh1 #ahgd4 7,la ,science ,pour ,tous1 #ahgd-bgj47 ,description of a storm1 at ,pontiac1 ,canada1 ,july #aa1 #ahfd1 in which it is said that it was not hailstones that fell1 but pieces of ice1 from half an inch to over two inches in diameter 7,canadian ,naturalist1 #b-a-cjh73 ,but the most extraordinary thing is that a respectable farmer1 of undoubted veracity1 says he picked up a piece of hail1 or ice1 in the center of which was a small green frog4 ,storm at ,dubuque1 ,iowa1 ,june #af1 #ahhb1 in which fell hailstones and pieces of ice 7,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,june1 #ahhb73 ,the foreman of the ,novelty ,iron ,works1 of this city1 states that in two large hailstones melted by him were found small living frogs4 ,but the pieces of ice that fell upon this occasion had a peculiarity that indicates--though by as bizarre an indication as any we've had yet--that they had been for a long time motionless or floating somewhere4 ,we'll take that up soon4 ,living ,age1 #eb-ahf3 ,that1 ,june #cj1 #ahda1 fishes1 one of which was ten inches long1 fell at ,boston2 that1 eight days later1 fishes and ice fell at ,derby4 ,in ,timb's ,year ,book1 #ahdb-bge1 it is said that1 at ,derby1 the fishes had fallen in enormous numbers2 from half an inch to two inches long1 and some considerably larger4 ,in the ,athenaeum1 #ahda-edb1 copied from the ,sheffield ,patriot1 it is said that one of the fishes weighed three ounces4 ,in several accounts1 it is said that1 with the fishes1 fell many small frogs and pieces of half-melted ice4 ,we are told that the frogs and the fishes had been raised from some other part of the earth's surface1 in a whirlwind2 no whirlwind specified2 nothing said as to what part of the earth's surface comes ice1 in the month of ,july--interests us that the ice is described as half-melted4 ,in the ,london ,times1 ,july #ae1 #ahda1 it is said that the fishes were sticklebacks2 that they had fallen with ice and small frogs1 many of which had survived the fall4 ,we note that1 at ,dunfermline1 three months later 7,oct4 #g1 #ahda7 fell many fishes1 several inches in length1 in a thunderstorm4 7,london ,times1 ,oct4 #ab1 #ahda47 ,hailstones1 we don't care so much about4 ,the matter of stratification seems significant1 but we think more of the fall of lumps of ice from the sky1 as possible data of the ,super-,sargasso ,sea3 ,lumps of ice1 a foot in circumference1 ,derbyshire1 ,england1 ,may #ab1 #ahaa 7,annual ,register1 #ahaa-ed72 cuboidal mass1 six inches in diameter1 that fell at ,birmingham1 #bf days later 7,thomson1 ,intro4 to ,meteorology1 p4 #agi72 size of pumpkins1 ,bangalore1 ,india1 ,may #bb1 #ahea 7,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahee-ce72 masses of ice of a pound and a half each1 ,new ,hampshire1 ,aug4 #ac1 #ahea 7,lummis1 ,meteorology1 p4 #abi72 masses of ice1 size of a man's head1 in the ,delphos tornado 7,ferrel1 ,popular ,treatise1 p4 #dbh72 large as a man's hand1 killing thousands of sheep1 ,texas1 ,may #c1 #ahgg 7,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,may1 #ahgg72 pieces of ice so large that they could not be grasped in one hand1 in a tornado1 in ,colorado1 ,june #bd1 #ahgg 7,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,june1 #ahgg72 lumps of ice four and a half inches long1 ,richmond1 ,england1 ,aug4 #b1 #ahgi 7,symons' ,met4 ,mag41 #ad-ajj72 mass of ice1 #ba inches in circumference that fell with hail1 ,iowa1 ,june1 #ahha 7,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,june1 #ahha72 pieces of ice eight inches long1 and an inch and a half thick1 ,davenport1 ,iowa1 ,aug4 #cj1 #ahhb 7,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,aug41 #ahhb72 lump of ice size of a brick2 weight two pounds1 ,chicago1 ,july #ab1 #ahhc 7,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,july1 #ahhc72 lumps of ice that weighed one pound and a half each1 ,india1 ,may 7871 #ahhh 7,nature1 #cg-db72 lump of ice weighing four pounds1 ,texas1 ,dec4 #f1 #ahic 7,sc4 ,am41 #fh-eh72 lumps of ice one pound in weight1 ,nov4 #ad1 #aija1 in a tornado1 ,victoria 7,meteorology of ,australia1 p4 #cd74 ,of course it is our acceptance that these masses not only accompanied tornadoes1 but were brought down to this earth by tornadoes4 ,flammarion1 ,the ,atmosphere1 p4 #cd3 ,block of ice1 weighing four and a half pounds that fell at ,cazorta1 ,spain1 ,june #ae1 #ahbi2 block of ice1 weighing eleven pounds1 at ,cette1 ,france1 ,october1 #ahdd2 mass of ice three feet long1 three feet wide1 and more than two feet thick1 that fell1 in a storm1 in ,hungary1 ,may #h1 #ahjb4 ,scientific ,american1 #dg-aai3 ,that1 according to the ,salina ,journal1 a mass of ice weighing about #hj pounds had fallen from the sky1 near ,salina1 ,kansas1 ,august1 #ahhb4 ,we are told that ,mr4 ,w4,j4 ,hagler1 the ,north ,santa ,fe merchant became possessor of it1 and packed it in sawdust in his store4 ,london ,times1 ,april #g1 #ahfj3 ,that1 upon the #afth of ,march1 #ahfj1 in a snowstorm1 in ,upper ,wasdale1 blocks of ice1 so large that at a distance they looked like a flock of sheep1 had fallen4 ,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahea-cb3 ,that a mass of ice about a cubic yard in size had fallen at ,candeish1 ,india1 #ahbh4 ,against these data1 though1 so far as ,i know1 so many of them have never been assembled together before1 there is a silence upon the part of scientific men that is unusual4 ,our ,super-,sargasso ,sea may not be an unavoidable conclusion1 but arrival upon this earth of ice from external regions does seem to be--except that there must be1 be it ever so faint1 a merger4 ,it is in the notion that these masses of ice are only congealed hailstones4 ,we have data against this notion1 as applied to all our instances1 but the explanation has been offered1 and1 it seems to me1 may apply in some instances4 ,in the ,bull4 ,soc4 ,astro4 de ,france1 #bj-bde1 it is said of blocks of ice the size of decanters that had fallen at ,tunis that they were only masses of congealed hailstones4 ,london ,times1 ,aug4 #d1 #aheg4 ,that a block of ice1 described as pure ice1 weighing #be pounds1 had been found in the meadow of ,mr4 ,warner1 of ,cricklewood4 ,there had been a storm the day before4 ,as in some of our other instances1 no one had seen this object fall from the sky4 ,it was found after the storm3 that's all that can be said about it4 ,letter from ,capt4 ,blakiston1 communicated by ,gen4 ,sabine1 to the ,royal ,society 7,london ,roy4 ,soc4 ,proc41 #aj-dfh73 ,that1 ,jan4 #ad1 #ahfj1 in a thunderstorm1 pieces of ice had fallen upon ,capt4 ,blakiston's vessel--that it was not hail4 ,it was not hail1 but irregular-shaped pieces of solid ice of different dimensions1 up to the size of half a brick4 ,according to the ,advertiser-,scotsman1 quoted by the ,edinburgh ,new ,philosophical ,magazine1 #dg-cga1 an irregular-shaped mass of ice fell at ,ord1 ,scotland1 ,august1 #ahdi1 after an extraordinary peal of thunder4 ,it is said that this was homogeneous ice1 except in a small part1 which looked like congealed hailstones4 ,the mass was about #bj feet in circumference4 ,the story1 as told in the ,london ,times1 ,aug4 #ad1 #ahdi1 is that1 upon the evening of the #acth of ,august1 #ahdi1 after a loud peal of thunder1 a mass of ice said to have been #bj feet in circumference1 had fallen upon the estate of ,mr4 ,moffat1 of ,balvullich1 ,ross-shire4 ,it is said that this object fell alone1 or without hailstones4 ,altogether1 though it is not so strong for the ,super-,sargasso ,sea1 ,i think this is one of our best expressions upon external origins4 ,that large blocks of ice could form in the moisture of this earth's atmosphere is about as likely as that blocks of stone could form in a dust whirl4 ,of course1 if ice or water comes to this earth from external sources1 we think of at least minute organisms in it1 and on1 with our data1 to frogs1 fishes2 on to anything that's thinkable1 coming from external sources4 ,it's of great importance to us to accept that large lumps of ice have fallen from the sky1 but what we desire most--perhaps because of our interest in its archaeologic and palaeontologic treasures--is now to be through with tentativeness and probation1 and to take the ,super-,sargasso ,sea into full acceptance in our more advanced fold of the chosen of this twentieth century4 ,in the ,report of the ,british ,association1 #ahee-cg1 it is said that1 at ,poorhundur1 ,india1 ,dec4 #aa1 #ahed1 flat pieces of ice1 many of them weighing several pounds--each1 ,i suppose--had fallen from the sky4 ,they are described as large ice-flakes4 ,vast fields of ice in the ,super-,arctic regions1 or strata1 of the ,super-,sargasso ,sea4 ,when they break up1 their fragments are flake-like4 ,in our acceptance1 there are aerial ice-fields that are remote from this earth2 that break up1 fragments grinding against one another1 rolling in vapor and water1 of different constituency in different regions1 forming slowly as stratified hailstones--but that there are ice-fields near this earth1 that break up into just such flat pieces of ice as cover any pond or river when ice of a pond or river is broken1 and are sometimes soon precipitated to the earth1 in this familiar flat formation4 ,symons' ,met4 ,mag41 #dc-aed3 ,a correspondent writes that1 at ,braemar1 ,july #b1 #aijh1 when the sky was clear overhead1 and the sun shining1 flat pieces of ice fell--from somewhere4 ,the sun was shining1 but something was going on somewhere3 thunder was heard4 ,until ,i saw the reproduction of a photograph in the ,scientific ,american1 ,feb4 #ba1 #aiad1 ,i had supposed that these ice-fields must be1 say1 at least ten or twenty miles away from this earth1 and invisible1 to terrestrial observers1 except as the blurs that have so often been reported by astronomers and meteorologists4 ,the photograph published by the ,scientific ,american is of an aggregation supposed to be clouds1 presumably not very high1 so clearly detailed are they4 ,the writer says that they looked to him like a field of broken ice4 ,beneath is a picture of a conventional field of ice1 floating ordinarily in water4 ,the resemblance between the two pictures is striking--nevertheless1 it seems to me incredible that the first of the photographs could be of an aerial ice-field1 or that gravitation could cease to act at only a mile or so from this earth's surface-- ,unless3 ,the exceptional3 the flux and vagary of all things4 ,or that normally this earth's gravitation extends1 say1 ten or fifteen miles outward--but that gravitation must be rhythmic4 ,of course1 in the pseudo-formulas of astronomers1 gravitation as a fixed quantity is essential4 ,accept that gravitation is a variable force1 and astronomers deflate1 with a perceptible hissing sound1 into the punctured condition of economists1 biologists1 meteorologists1 and all the others of the humbler divinities1 who can admittedly offer only insecure approximations4 ,we refer all who would not like to hear the hiss of escaping arrogance1 to ,herbert ,spencer's chapters upon the rhythm of all phenomena4 ,if everything else--light from the stars1 heat from the sun1 the winds and the tides2 forms and colors and sizes of animals2 demands and supplies and prices2 political opinions and chemic reactions and religious doctrines and magnetic intensities and the ticking of clocks2 and arrival and departure of the seasons--if everything else is variable1 we accept that the notion of gravitation as fixed and formulable is only another attempted positivism1 doomed1 like all other illusions of realness in quasi-existence4 ,so it is intermediatism to accept that1 though gravitation may approximate higher to invariability than do the winds1 for instance1 it must be somewhere between the ,absolutes of ,stability and ,instability4 ,here then we are not much impressed with the opposition of physicists and astronomers1 fearing1 a little mournfully1 that their language is of expiring sibilations4 ,so then the fields of ice in the sky1 and that1 though usually so far away as to be mere blurs1 at times they come close enough to be seen in detail4 ,for description of what ,i call a blur1 see ,pop4 ,sci4 ,news1 ,february1 #ahhd--sky1 in general1 unusually clear1 but1 near the sun1 a white1 slightly curdled haze1 which was dazzlingly bright4 ,we accept that sometimes fields of ice pass between the sun and the earth3 that many strata of ice1 or very thick fields of ice1 or superimposed fields would obscure the sun--that there have been occasions when the sun was eclipsed by fields of ice3 ,flammarion1 ,the ,atmosphere1 p4 #cid3 ,that a profound darkness came upon the city of ,brussels1 ,june #ah1 #ahci3 ,there fell flat pieces of ice1 an inch long4 ,intense darkness at ,aitkin1 ,minn41 ,april #b1 #ahhi3 sand and solid chunks of ice reported to have fallen 7,science1 ,april #ai1 #ahhi74 ,in ,symons' ,meteorological ,magazine1 #cb-agb1 are outlined rough-edged but smooth-surfaced pieces of ice that fell at ,manassas1 ,virginia1 ,aug4 #aj1 #ahig4 ,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 looked4 ,about two inches across1 and one inch thick4 ,in ,cosmos1 #c-aaf1 it is said that1 at ,rouen1 ,july #e1 #ahec1 fell irregular-shaped pieces of ice1 about the size of a hand1 described as looking as if all had been broken from one enormous block of ice4 ,that1 ,i think1 was an aerial iceberg4 ,in the awful density1 or almost absolute stupidity of the #aith century1 it never occurred to anybody to look for traces of polar bears or of seals upon these fragments4 ,of course1 seeing what we want to see1 having been able to gather these data only because they are in agreement with notions formed in advance1 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 support4 ,in general1 our prejudices see and our prejudices investigate1 but this should not be taken as an absolute4 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,july1 #ahid3 ,that1 from the ,weather ,bureau1 of ,portland1 ,oregon1 a tornado1 of ,june #c1 #ahid1 was reported4 ,fragments of ice fell from the sky4 ,they averaged three to four inches square1 and about an inch thick4 ,in length and breadth they had the smooth surfaces required by our acceptance3 and1 according to the writer in the ,review1 gave the impression of a vast field of ice suspended in the atmosphere1 and suddenly broken into fragments about the size of the palm of the hand4 ,this datum1 profoundly of what we used to call the damned1 or before we could no longer accept judgment1 or cut and dried condemnation by infants1 turtles1 and lambs1 was copied--but without comment--in the ,scientific ,american1 #ga-cga4 ,our theology is something like this3 ,of course we ought to be damned--but we revolt against adjudication by infants1 turtles1 and lambs4 ,we now come to some remarkable data in a rather difficult department of super-geography4 ,vast fields of aerial ice4 ,there's a lesson to me in the treachery of the imaginable4 ,most of our opposition is in the clearness with which the conventional1 but impossible1 becomes the imaginable1 and then the resistant to modifications4 ,after it had become the conventional with me1 ,i conceived clearly of vast sheets of ice1 a few miles above this earth--then the shining of the sun1 and the ice partly melting--that note upon the ice that fell at ,derby--water trickling and forming icicles upon the lower surface of the ice sheet4 ,i seemed to look up and so clearly visualized those icicles hanging like stalactites from a flat-roofed cave1 in white calcite4 ,or ,i looked up at the under side of an aerial ice-lump1 and seemed to see a papillation similar to that observed by a calf at times4 ,but then--but then--if icicles should form upon the under side of a sheet of aerial ice1 that would be by the falling of water toward this earth2 an icicle is of course an expression of gravitation--and1 if water melting from ice should fall toward this earth1 why not the ice itself fall before an icicle could have time to form8 ,of course1 in quasi-existence1 where everything is a paradox1 one might argue that the water falls1 but the ice does not1 because the ice is heavier--that is1 in masses4 ,that notion1 ,i think1 belongs in a more advanced course than we are taking at present4 ,our expression upon icicles3 ,a vast field of aerial ice--it is inert to this earth's gravitation--but by universal flux and variation1 part of it sags closer to this earth1 and is susceptible to gravitation--by cohesion with the main mass1 this part does not fall1 but water melting from it does fall1 and forms icicles--then1 by various disturbances1 this part sometimes falls in fragments that are protrusive with icicles4 ,of the ice that fell1 some of it enclosing living frogs1 at ,dubuque1 ,iowa1 ,june #af1 #ahhb1 it is said 7,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,june1 #ahhb7 that there were pieces from one to seventeen inches in circumference1 the largest weighing one pound and three-quarters--that upon some of them were icicles half an inch in length4 ,we emphasize that these objects were not hailstones4 ,the only merger is that of knobby hailstones1 or of large hailstones with protuberances wrought by crystallization3 but that is no merger with terrestrial phenomena1 and such formations are unaccountable to orthodoxy2 or it is incredible that hail could so crystallize--not forming by accretion--in the fall of a few seconds4 ,for an account of such hailstones1 see ,nature1 #fa-eid4 ,note the size--some of them the size of turkeys' eggs4 ,it is our expression that sometimes the icicles themselves have fallen1 as if by concussion1 or as if something had swept against the under side of an aerial ice floe1 detaching its papillations4 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,june1 #ahhi3 ,that1 at ,oswego1 ,n4,y41 ,june #aa1 #ahhi1 according to the ,turin 7,n4,y47 ,leader1 there fell1 in a thunderstorm1 pieces of ice that resembled the fragments of icicles4 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 #bi-ejf3 ,that on ,florence ,island1 ,st4 ,lawrence ,river1 ,aug4 #h1 #aija1 with ordinary hail1 fell pieces of ice formed like icicles1 the size and shape of lead pencils that had been cut into sections about three-eighths of an inch in length4 ,so our data of the ,super-,sargasso ,sea1 and its ,arctic region3 and1 for weeks at a time1 an ice field may hang motionless over a part of this earth's surface--the sun has some effect upon it1 but not much until late in the afternoon1 ,i should say--part of it has sagged1 but is held up by cohesion with the main mass--whereupon we have such an occurrence as would have been a little uncanny to us once upon a time--or fall of water from a cloudless sky1 day after day1 in one small part of this earth's surface1 late in the afternoon1 when the sun's rays had had time for their effects3 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,october1 #ahhf3 ,that1 according to the ,charlotte ,chronicle1 ,oct4 #ba1 #ahhf1 for three weeks there had been a fall of water from the sky1 in ,charlotte1 ,n4,c41 localized in one particular spot1 every afternoon1 about three o'clock2 that1 whether the sky was cloudy or cloudless1 the water or rain fell upon a small patch of land between two trees and nowhere else4 ,this is the newspaper account1 and1 as such1 it seems in the depths of the unchosen1 either by me or any other expression of the ,salvation ,army4 ,the account by the ,signal ,service observer1 at ,charlotte1 published in the ,review1 follows3 ,an unusual phenomenon was witnessed on the #bast3 having been informed that1 for some weeks prior to date1 rain had been falling daily1 after #c ,p4,m41 on a particular spot1 near two trees1 corner of #ith and ,d streets1 ,i visited the place1 and saw precipitation in the form of rain drops at #d3dg and #d3ee ,p4,m41 while the sun was shining brightly4 ,on the #bbnd1 ,i again visited the place1 and from #d3je to #d3be ,p4,m41 a light shower of rain fell from a cloudless sky4444 ,sometimes the precipitation falls over an area of half an acre1 but always appears to center at these two trees1 and when lightest occurs there only4 #ad ,we see conventionally4 ,it is not only that we think and act and speak and dress alike1 because of our surrender to social attempt at ,entity1 in which we are only super-cellular4 ,we see what it is proper that we should see4 ,it is orthodox enough to say that a horse is not a horse1 to an infant--any more than is an orange an orange to the unsophisticated4 ,it's interesting to walk along a street sometimes and look at things and wonder what they'd look like1 if we hadn't been taught to see horses and trees and houses as horses and trees and houses4 ,i think that to super-sight they are local stresses merging indistinguishably into one another1 in an all-inclusive nexus4 ,i think that it would be credible enough to say that many times have ,monstrator and ,elvera and ,azuria crossed telescopic fields of vision1 and were not even seen--because it wouldn't be proper to see them2 it wouldn't be respectable1 and it wouldn't be respectful3 it would be insulting to old bones to see them3 it would bring on evil influences from the relics of ,st4 ,isaac to see them4 ,but our data3 ,of vast worlds that are orbitless1 or that are navigable1 or that are adrift in inter-planetary tides and currents3 the data that we shall have of their approach1 in modern times1 within five or six miles of this earth-- ,but then their visits1 or approaches1 to other planets1 or to other of the few regularized bodies that have surrendered to the attempted ,entity of this solar system as a whole-- ,the question that we can't very well evade3 ,have these other worlds1 or super-constructions1 ever been seen by astronomers8 ,i think there would not be much approximation to realness in taking refuge in the notion of astronomers who stare and squint and see only that which it is respectable and respectful to see4 ,it is all very well to say that astronomers are hypnotics1 and that an astronomer looking at the moon is hypnotized by the moon1 but our acceptance is that the bodies of this present expression often visit the moon1 or cross it1 or are held in temporary suspension near it--then some of them must often have been within the diameter of an astronomer's hypnosis4 ,our general expression3 ,that1 upon the oceans of this earth1 there are regularized vessels1 but also that there are tramp vessels3 ,that1 upon the super-ocean1 there are regularized planets1 but also that there are tramp worlds3 ,that astronomers are like mercantile purists who would deny commercial vagabondage4 ,our acceptance is that vast celestial vagabonds have been excluded by astronomers1 primarily because their irresponsibilities are an affront to the pure and the precise1 or to attempted positivism2 and secondarily because they have not been seen so very often4 ,the planets steadily reflect the light of the sun3 upon this uniformity a system that we call ,primary ,astronomy has been built up2 but now the subject-matter of ,advanced ,astronomy is data of celestial phenomena that are sometimes light and sometimes dark1 varying like some of the satellites of ,jupiter1 but with a wider range4 ,however1 light or dark1 they have been seen and reported so often that the only important reason for their exclusion is--that they don't fit in4 ,with dark bodies that are probably external to our own solar system1 ,i have1 in the provincialism that no one can escape1 not much concern4 ,dark bodies afloat in outer space would have been damned a few years ago1 but now they're sanctioned by ,prof4 ,barnard--and1 if he says they're all right1 you may think of them without the fear of doing something wrong or ridiculous--the close kinship we note so often between the evil and the absurd--,i suppose by the ridiculous ,i mean the froth of evil4 ,the dark companion of ,algol1 for instance4 ,though that's a clear case of celestial miscegenation1 the purists1 or positivists1 admit that's so4 ,in the ,proceedings of the ,national ,academy of ,science1 #aiae-cid1 ,prof4 ,barnard writes of an object--he calls it an object--in ,cephus4 ,his idea is that there are dark1 opaque bodies outside this solar system4 ,but in the ,astrophysical ,journal1 #aiaf-a1 he modifies into regarding them as dark nebulae4 ,that's not so interesting4 ,we accept that ,venus1 for instance1 has often been visited by other worlds1 or by super-constructions1 from which come ciders and coke and coal2 that sometimes these things have reflected light and have been seen from this earth--by professional astronomers4 ,it will be noted that throughout this chapter our data are accursed ,brahmins--as1 by hypnosis and inertia1 we keep on and keep on saying1 just as a good many of the scientists of the #aith century kept on and kept on admitting the power of the system that preceded them--or ,continuity would be smashed4 ,there's a big chance here for us to be instantaneously translated to the ,positive ,absolute--oh1 well-- ,what ,i emphasize here is that our damned data are observations by astronomers of the highest standing1 excommunicated by astronomers of similar standing--but backed up by the dominant spirit of their era--to which all minds had to equilibrate or be negligible1 unheard1 submerged4 ,it would seem sometimes1 in this book1 as if our revolts were against the dogmatisms and pontifications of single scientists of eminence4 ,this is only a convenience1 because it seems necessary to personify4 ,if we look over ,philosophical ,transactions1 or the publications of the ,royal ,astronomical ,society1 for instance1 we see that ,herschel1 for instance1 was as powerless as any boy stargazer1 to enforce acceptance of any observation of his that did not harmonize with the system that was growing up as independently of him and all other astronomers1 as a phase in the development of an embryo compels all cells to take on appearances concordantly with the design and the predetermined progress and schedule of the whole4 ,visitors to ,venus3 ,evans1 ,ways of the ,planets1 p4 #adj3 ,that1 in #afde1 a body large enough to look like a satellite was seen near ,venus4 ,four times in the first half of the #ahth century1 a similar observation was reported4 ,the last report occurred in #agfg4 ,a large body has been seen--seven times1 according to ,science ,gossip1 #ahhf-agh--near ,venus4 ,at least one astronomer1 ,houzeau1 accepted these observations and named the--world1 planet1 super-construction--,neith4 ,his views are mentioned in passing1 but without endorsement1 in the ,trans4 ,n4,y4 ,acad41 #e-bdi4 ,houzeau or someone writing for the magazine-section of a ,sunday newspaper--outer darkness for both alike4 ,a new satellite in this solar system might be a little disturbing--though the formulas of ,laplace1 which were considered final in his day1 have survived the admittance of five or six hundred bodies not included in those formulas--a satellite to ,venus might be a little disturbing1 but would be explained--but a large body approaching a planet--staying awhile--going away--coming back some other time--anchoring1 as it were-- ,azuria is pretty bad1 but ,azuria is no worse than ,neith4 ,astrophysical ,journal1 #a-abg3 ,a light-reflecting body1 or a bright spot near ,mars3 seen ,nov4 #be1 #ahid1 by ,prof4 ,pickering and others1 at the ,lowell ,observatory1 above an unilluminated part of ,mars--self-luminous1 it would seem--thought to have been a cloud--but estimated to have been about twenty miles away from the planet4 ,luminous spot seen moving across the disk of ,mercury1 in #agii1 by ,harding and ,schroeter4 7,monthly ,notices of the ,r4,a4,s41 #ch-cch47 ,in the first ,bulletin issued by the ,lowell ,observatory1 in #aijc1 ,prof4 ,lowell describes a body that was seen on the terminator of ,mars1 ,may #bj1 #aijc4 ,on ,may #bg1 it was suspected4 ,if still there1 it had moved1 we are told1 about #cjj miles--probably a dust cloud4 ,very conspicuous and brilliant spots seen on the disk of ,mars1 ,october and ,november1 #aiaa4 7,popular ,astronomy1 ,vol4 #ai1 ,no4 #aj47 ,so one of them accepted six or seven observations that were in agreement1 except that they could not be regularized1 upon a world--planet--satellite--and he gave it a name4 ,he named it ,neith4 ,monstrator and ,elvera and ,azuria and ,super-,romanimus-- ,or heresy and orthodoxy and the oneness of all quasiness1 and our ways and means and methods are the very same4 ,or1 if we name things that may not be1 we are not of lonely guilt in the nomenclature of absences-- ,but now ,leverrier and ,vulcan4 ,leverrier again4 ,or to demonstrate the collapsibility of a froth1 stick a pin in the largest bubble of it4 ,astronomy and inflation3 and by inflation we mean expansion of the attenuated4 ,or that the science of ,astronomy is a phantom-film distended with myth-stuff--but always our acceptance that it approximates higher to substantiality than did the system that preceded it4 ,so ,leverrier and the planet ,vulcan4 ,and we repeat1 and it will do us small good to repeat4 ,if you be of the masses that the astronomers have hypnotized--being themselves hypnotized1 or they could not hypnotize others--or that the hypnotist's control is not the masterful power that it is popularly supposed to be1 but only transference of state from one hypnotic to another-- ,if you be of the masses that the astronomers have hypnotized1 you will not be able even to remember4 ,ten pages from here1 and ,leverrier and the planet ,vulcan will have fallen from your mind1 like beans from a magnet1 or like data of cold meteorites from the mind of a ,thomson4 ,leverrier and the planet ,vulcan4 ,and much the good it will do us to repeat4 ,but at least temporarily we shall have an impression of a historic fiasco1 such as1 in our acceptance1 could occur only in a quasi-existence4 ,in #ahei1 ,dr4 ,lescarbault1 an amateur astronomer1 of ,orgeres1 ,france1 announced that1 upon ,march #bf1 of that year1 he had seen a body of planetary size cross the sun4 ,we are in a subject that is now as unholy to the present system as ever were its own subjects to the system that preceded it1 or as ever were slanders against miracles to the preceding system4 ,nevertheless few text-books go so far as quite to disregard this tragedy4 ,the method of the systematists is slightingly to give a few instances of the unholy1 and dispose of the few4 ,if it were desirable to them to deny that there are mountains upon this earth1 they would record a few observations upon some slight eminences near ,orange1 ,n4,j41 but say that commuters1 though estimable persons in several ways1 are likely to have their observations mixed4 ,the text-books casually mention a few of the supposed observations upon ,vulcan1 and then pass on4 ,dr4 ,lescarbault wrote to ,leverrier1 who hastened to ,orgeres-- ,because this announcement assimilated with his own calculations upon a planet between ,mercury and the sun-- ,because this solar system itself has never attained positiveness in the aspect of ,regularity3 there are to ,mercury1 as there are to ,neptune1 phenomena irreconcilable with the formulas1 or motions that betray influence by something else4 ,we are told that ,leverrier satisfied himself as to the substantial accuracy of the reported observation4 ,the story of this investigation is told in ,monthly ,notices1 #bj-ih4 ,it seems too bad to threaten the naive little thing with our rude sophistications1 but it is amusingly of the ingenuousness of the age from which present dogmas have survived4 ,lescarbault wrote to ,leverrier4 ,leverrier hastened to ,orgeres4 ,but he was careful not to tell ,lescarbault who he was4 ,went right in and subjected ,dr4 ,lescarbault to a very severe cross-examination--just the way you or ,i may feel at liberty to go into anybody's home and be severe with people--pressing him hard step by step--just as anyone might go into someone else's house and press him hard1 though unknown to the hard-pressed one4 ,not until he was satisfied1 did ,leverrier reveal his identity4 ,i suppose ,dr4 ,lescarbault expressed astonishment4 ,i think there's something utopian about this3 it's so unlike the stand-offishness of ,new ,york life4 ,leverrier gave the name ,vulcan to the object that ,dr4 ,lescarbault had reported4 ,by the same means by which he is1 even to this day1 supposed--by the faithful--to have discovered ,neptune1 he had already announced the probable existence of an ,intra-,mercurial body1 or group of bodies4 ,he had five observations besides ,lescarbault's upon something that had been seen to cross the sun4 ,in accordance with the mathematical hypnoses of his era1 he studied these six transits4 ,out of them he computed elements giving ,vulcan a period of about #bj days1 or a formula for heliocentric longitude at any time4 ,but he placed the time of best observation away up in #ahgg4 ,but even so1 or considering that he still had probably a good many years to live1 it may strike one that he was a little rash--that is if one has not gone very deep into the study of hypnoses--that1 having discovered ,neptune by a method which1 in our acceptance1 had no more to recommend it than had once equally well-thought-of methods of witch-finding1 he should not have taken such chances3 that if he was right as to ,neptune1 but should be wrong as to ,vulcan1 his average would be away below that of most fortune-tellers1 who could scarcely hope to do business upon a fifty per cent4 basis--all that the reasoning of a tyro in hypnoses4 ,the date3 ,march #bb1 #ahgg4 ,the scientific world was up on its hind legs nosing the sky4 ,the thing had been done so authoritatively4 ,never a pope had said a thing with more of the seeming of finality4 ,if six observations correlated1 what more could be asked8 ,the ,editor of ,nature1 a week before the predicted event1 though cautious1 said that it is difficult to explain how six observers1 unknown to one another1 could have data that could be formulated1 if they were not related phenomena4 ,in a way1 at this point occurs the crisis of our whole book4 ,formulas are against us4 ,but can astronomic formulas1 backed up by observations in agreement1 taken many years apart1 calculated by a ,leverrier1 be as meaningless1 in a positive sense1 as all other quasi-things that we have encountered so far8 ,the preparations they made1 before ,march #bb1 #ahgg4 ,in ,england1 the ,astronomer ,royal made it the expectation of his life3 notified observers at ,madras1 ,melbourne1 ,sydney1 and ,new ,zealand1 and arranged with observers in ,chili and the ,united ,states4 ,m4 ,struve had prepared for observations in ,siberia and ,japan-- ,march #bb1 #ahgg-- ,not absolutely1 hypocritically1 ,i think it's pathetic1 myself4 ,if anyone should doubt the sincerity of ,leverrier1 in this matter1 we note1 whether it has meaning or not1 that a few months later he died4 ,i think we'll take up ,monstrator1 though there's so much to this subject that we'll have to come back4 ,according to the ,annual ,register1 #i-abj1 upon the #ith of ,august1 #agfb1 ,m4 de ,rostan1 of ,basle1 ,france1 was taking altitudes of the sun1 at ,lausanne4 ,he saw a vast1 spindle-shaped body1 about three of the sun's digits in breadth and nine in length1 advancing slowly across the disk of the sun1 or at no more than half the velocity with which the ordinary solar spots move4 ,it did not disappear until the #gth of ,september1 when it reached the sun's limb4 ,because of the spindle-like form1 ,i incline to think of a super-,zeppelin1 but another observation1 which seems to indicate that it was a world1 is that1 though it was opaque1 and eclipsed the sun1 it had around it a kind of nebulosity--or atmosphere8 ,a penumbra would ordinarily be a datum of a sun spot1 but there are observations that indicate that this object was at a considerable distance from the sun3 ,it is recorded that another observer1 at ,paris1 watching the sun1 at this time1 had not seen this object3 ,but that ,m4 ,croste1 at ,sole1 about forty-five ,german leagues northward from ,lausanne1 had seen it1 describing the same spindle-form1 but disagreeing a little as to breadth4 ,then comes the important point3 that he and ,m4 de ,rostan did not see it upon the same part of the sun4 ,this1 then1 is parallax1 and1 compounded with invisibility at ,paris1 is great parallax--or that1 in the course of a month1 in the summer of #agfb1 a large1 opaque1 spindle-shaped body traversed the disk of the sun1 but at a great distance from the sun4 ,the writer in the ,register says3 ,in a word1 we know of nothing to have recourse to1 in the heavens1 by which to explain this phenomenon4 ,i suppose he was not a hopeless addict to explaining4 ,extraordinary--we fear he must have been a man of loose habits in some other respects4 ,as to us-- ,monstrator4 ,in the ,monthly ,notices of the ,r4,a4,s41 ,february1 #ahgg1 ,leverrier1 who never lost faith1 up to the last day1 gives the six observations upon an unknown body of planetary size1 that he had formulated3 ,fritsche1 ,oct4 #aj1 #ahjb2 ,stark1 ,oct4 #i1 #ahai2 ,de ,cuppis1 ,oct4 #cj1 #ahci2 ,sidebotham1 ,nov4 #ab1 #ahdi2 ,lescarbault1 ,march #bf1 #ahei2 ,lummis1 ,march #bj1 #ahfb4 ,if we weren't so accustomed to ,science in its essential aspect of ,disregard1 we'd be mystified and impressed1 like the ,editor of ,nature1 with the formulation of these data3 agreement of so many instances would seem incredible as a coincidence3 but our acceptance is that1 with just enough disregard1 astronomers and fortune-tellers can formulate anything--or we'd engage1 ourselves1 to formulate periodicities in the crowds in ,broadway--say that every ,wednesday morning1 a tall man1 with one leg and a black eye1 carrying a rubber plant1 passes the ,singer ,building1 at quarter past ten o'clock4 ,of course it couldn't really be done1 unless such a man did have such periodicity1 but if some ,wednesday mornings it should be a small child lugging a barrel1 or a fat negress with a week's wash1 by ordinary disregard that would be prediction good enough for the kind of quasi-existence we're in4 ,so whether we accuse1 or whether we think that the word accuse over-dignifies an attitude toward a quasi-astronomer1 or mere figment in a super-dream1 our acceptance is that ,leverrier never did formulate observations-- ,that he picked out observations that could be formulated-- ,that of this type are all formulas-- ,that1 if ,leverrier had not been himself helplessly hypnotized1 or if he had had in him more than a tincture of realness1 never could he have been beguiled by such a quasi-process3 but that he was hypnotized1 and so extended1 or transferred1 his condition to others1 that upon ,march #bb1 #ahgg1 he had this earth bristling with telescopes1 with the rigid and almost inanimate forms of astronomers behind them-- ,and not a blessed thing of any unusuality was seen upon that day or succeeding days4 ,but that the science of ,astronomy suffered the slightest in prestige8 ,it couldn't4 ,the spirit of #ahgg was behind it4 ,if1 in an embryo1 some cells should not live up to the phenomena of their era1 the others will sustain the scheduled appearances4 ,not until an embryo enters the mammalian stage are cells of the reptilian stage false cells4 ,it is our acceptance that there were many equally authentic reports upon large planetary bodies that had been seen near the sun2 that1 of many1 ,leverrier picked out six2 not then deciding that all the other observations related to still other large1 planetary bodies1 but arbitrarily1 or hypnotically1 disregarding--or heroically disregarding--every one of them--that to formulate at all he had to exclude falsely4 ,the denouement killed him1 ,i think4 ,i'm not at all inclined to place him with the ,grays and ,hitchcocks and ,symonses4 ,i'm not1 because1 though it was rather unsportsmanlike to put the date so far ahead1 he did give a date1 and he did stick to it with such a high approximation-- ,i think ,leverrier was translated to the ,positive ,absolute4 ,the disregarded3 ,observation1 of ,july #bf1 #ahai1 by ,gruthinson--but that was of two bodies that crossed the sun together-- ,nature1 #ad-dfi3 ,that1 according to the astronomer1 ,j4,r4 ,hind1 ,benjamin ,scott1 ,city ,chamberlain of ,london1 and ,mr4 ,wray1 had1 in #ahdg1 seen a body similar to ,vulcan cross the sun4 ,similar observation by ,hind and ,lowe1 ,march #ab1 #ahdi 7,l',annee ,scientifique1 #ahgf-i74 ,nature1 #ad-eje3 ,body of apparent size of ,mercury1 seen1 ,jan4 #bi1 #ahfj1 by ,f4,a4,r4 ,russell and four other observers1 crossing the sun4 ,de ,vico's observation of ,july #ab1 #ahcg 7,observatory1 #b-dbd74 ,l',annee ,scientifique1 #ahfe-af3 ,that another amateur astronomer1 ,m4 ,coumbray1 of ,constantinople1 had written to ,leverrier1 that1 upon the #hth of ,march1 #ahfe1 he had seen a black point1 sharply outlined1 traverse the disk of the sun4 ,it detached itself from a group of sun spots near the limb of the sun1 and took #dh minutes to reach the other limb4 ,figuring upon the diagram sent by ,m4 ,coumbray1 a central passage would have taken a little more than an hour4 ,this observation was disregarded by ,leverrier1 because his formula required about four times that velocity4 ,the point here is that these other observations are as authentic as those that ,leverrier included2 that1 then1 upon data as good as the data of ,vulcan1 there must be other ,vulcans--the heroic and defiant disregard1 then1 of trying to formulate one1 omitting the others1 which1 by orthodox doctrine1 must have influenced it greatly1 if all were in the relatively narrow space between ,mercury and the sun4 ,observation upon another such body1 of ,april #d1 #ahgf1 by ,m4 ,weber1 of ,berlin4 ,as to this observation1 ,leverrier was informed by ,wolf1 in ,august1 #ahgf 7,l',annee ,scientifique1 #ahgf-g74 ,it made no difference1 so far as can be known1 to this notable positivist4 ,two other observations noted by ,hind and ,denning--,london ,times1 ,nov4 #c1 #ahga1 and ,march #bf1 #ahgc4 ,monthly ,notices of the ,r4,a4,s41 #bj-ajj3 ,standacher1 ,february1 #agfb2 ,lichtenberg1 ,nov4 #ai1 #agfb2 ,hoffman1 ,may1 #agfd2 ,dangos1 ,jan4 #ah1 #agih2 ,stark1 ,feb4 #ab1 #ahbj4 ,an observation by ,schmidt1 ,oct4 #aa1 #ahdg1 is said to be doubtful3 but1 upon page #aib1 it is said that this doubt had arisen because of a mistaken translation1 and two other observations by ,schmidt are given3 ,oct4 #ad1 #ahdi1 and ,feb4 #ah1 #ahej--;also an observation by ,lofft1 ,jan4 #f1 #ahah4 ,observation by ,steinheibel1 at ,vienna1 ,april #bg1 #ahbj 7,monthly ,notices1 #ahfb74 ,haase had collected reports of twenty observations like ,lescarbault's4 ,the list was published in #ahgb1 by ,wolf4 ,also there are other instances like ,gruthinsen's3 ,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #b-bh-ddf3 ,report by ,pastorff that he had seen twice in #ahcf1 and once in #ahcg1 two round spots of unequal size moving across the sun1 changing position relatively to each other1 and taking a different course1 if not orbit1 each time3 that1 in #ahcd1 he had seen similar bodies pass six times across the disk of the sun1 looking very much like ,mercury in his transits4 ,march #bb1 #ahgf-- ,but to point out ,leverrier's poverty-stricken average--or discovering planets upon a fifty per cent4 basis--would be to point out the low percentage of realness in the quasi-myth-stuff of which the whole system is composed4 ,we do not accuse the text-books of omitting this fiasco1 but we do note that theirs is the conventional adaptation here of all beguilers who are in difficulties-- ,the diverting of attention4 ,it wouldn't be possible in a real existence1 with real mentality1 to deal with1 but ,i suppose it's good enough for the quasi-intellects that stupefy themselves with text-books4 ,the trick here is to gloss over ,leverrier's mistake1 and blame ,lescarbault--he was only an amateur--had delusions4 ,the reader's attention is led against ,lescarbault by a report from ,m4 ,lias1 director of the ,brazilian ,coast ,survey1 who1 at the time of ,lescarbault's supposed observation had been watching the sun in ,brazil1 and1 instead of seeing even ordinary sun spots1 had noted that the region of the supposed transit was of uniform intensity4 ,but the meaninglessness of all utterances in quasi-existence-- ,uniform intensity turns our way as much as against us--or some day some brain will conceive a way of beating ,newton's third law--if every reaction1 or resistance1 is1 or can be1 interpretable as stimulus instead of resistance--if this could be done in mechanics1 there's a way open here for someone to own the world--specifically in this matter1 uniform intensity means that ,lescarbault saw no ordinary sun spot1 just as much as it means that no spot at all was seen upon the sun4 ,continuing the interpretation of a resistance as an assistance1 which can always be done with mental forces--making us wonder what applications could be made with steam and electric forces--we point out that invisibility in ,brazil means parallax quite as truly as it means absence1 and1 inasmuch as ,vulcan was supposed to be distant from the sun1 we interpret denial as corroboration--method of course of every scientist1 politician1 theologian1 high-school debater4 ,so the text-books1 with no especial cleverness1 because no especial cleverness is needed1 lead the reader into contempt for the amateur of ,orgeres1 and forgetfulness of ,leverrier--and some other subject is taken up4 ,but our own acceptance3 ,that these data are as good as ever they were2 ,that1 if someone of eminence should predict an earthquake1 and if there should be no earthquake at the predicted time1 that would discredit the prophet1 but data of past earthquakes would remain as good as ever they had been4 ,it is easy enough to smile at the illusion of a single amateur-- ,the mass-formation3 ,fritsche1 ,stark1 ,de ,cuppis1 ,sidebotham1 ,lescarbault1 ,lummis1 ,gruthinson1 ,de ,vico1 ,scott1 ,wray1 ,russell1 ,hind1 ,lowe1 ,coumbray1 ,weber1 ,standacher1 ,lichtenberg1 ,dangos1 ,hoffman1 ,schmidt1 ,lofft1 ,steinheibel1 ,pastorff-- ,these are only the observations conventionally listed relatively to an ,intra-,mercurial planet4 ,they are formidable enough to prevent our being diverted1 as if it were all the dream of a lonely amateur--but they're a mere advance-guard4 ,from now on other data of large celestial bodies1 some dark and some reflecting light1 will pass and pass and keep on passing-- ,so that some of us will remember a thing or two1 after the procession's over--possibly4 ,taking up only one of the listed observations-- ,or our impression that the discrediting of ,leverrier has nothing to do with the acceptability of these data3 ,in the ,london ,times1 ,jan4 #aj1 #ahfj1 is ,benjamin ,scott's account of his observation3 ,that1 in the summer of #ahdg1 he had seen a body that had seemed to be the size of ,venus1 crossing the sun4 ,he says that1 hardly believing the evidence of his sense of sight1 he had looked for someone1 whose hopes or ambitions would not make him so subject to illusion4 ,he had told his little son1 aged five years1 to look through the telescope4 ,the child had exclaimed that he had seen a little balloon crossing the sun4 ,scott says that he had not had sufficient self-reliance to make public announcement of his remarkable observation at the time1 but that1 in the evening of the same day1 he had told ,dr4 ,dick1 ,f4,r4,a4,s41 who had cited other instances4 ,in the ,times1 ,jan4 #ab1 #ahfj1 is published a letter from ,richard ,abbott1 ,f4,r4,a4,s43 that he remembered ,mr4 ,scott's letter to him upon this observation1 at the time of the occurrence4 ,i suppose that1 at the beginning of this chapter1 one had the notion that1 by hard scratching through musty old records we might rake up vague1 more than doubtful data1 distortable into what's called evidence of unrecognized worlds or constructions of planetary size-- ,but the high authenticity and the support and the modernity of these of the accursed that we are now considering-- ,and our acceptance that ours is a quasi-existence1 in which above all other things1 hopes1 ambitions1 emotions1 motivations1 stands ,attempt to ,positivize3 that we are here considering an attempt to systematize that is sheer fanaticism in its disregard of the unsystematizable--that it represented the highest good in the #aith century--that it is mono-mania1 but heroic mono-mania that was quasi-divine in the #aith century-- ,but that this isn't the #aith century4 ,as a doubly sponsored ,brahmin--in the regard of ,baptists--the objects of ,july #bi1 #ahgh1 stand out and proclaim themselves so that nothing but disregard of the intensity of mono-mania can account for their reception by the system3 ,or the total eclipse of ,july #bi1 #ahgh1 and the reports by ,prof4 ,watson1 from ,rawlins1 ,wyoming1 and by ,prof4 ,swift1 from ,denver1 ,colorado3 that they had seen two shining objects at a considerable distance from the sun4 ,it's quite in accord with our general expression3 not that there is an ,intra-,mercurial planet1 but that there are different bodies1 many vast things2 near this earth sometimes1 near the sun sometimes2 orbitless worlds1 which1 because of scarcely any data of collisions1 we think of as under navigable control--or dirigible super-constructions4 ,prof4 ,watson and ,prof4 ,swift published their observations4 ,then the disregard that we cannot think of in terms of ordinary1 sane exclusions4 ,the text-book systematists begin by telling us that the trouble with these observations is that they disagree widely3 there is considerable respectfulness1 especially for ,prof4 ,swift1 but we are told that by coincidence these two astronomers1 hundreds of miles apart1 were illuded3 their observations were so different-- ,prof4 ,swift 7,nature1 ,sept4 #ai1 #ahgh73 ,that his own observation was in close approximation to that given by ,prof4 ,watson4 ,in the ,observatory1 #b-afa1 ,swift says that his observations and ,watson's were confirmatory of each other4 ,the faithful try again3 ,that ,watson and ,swift mistook stars for other bodies4 ,in the ,observatory1 #b-aic1 ,prof4 ,watson says that he had previously committed to memory all stars near the sun1 down to the seventh magnitude-- ,and he's damned anyway4 ,how such exclusions work out is shown by ,lockyer 7,nature1 ,aug4 #bj1 #ahgh74 ,he says3 ,there is little doubt that an ,intra-,mercurial planet has been discovered by ,prof4 ,watson4 ,that was before excommunication was pronounced4 ,he says3 ,if it will fit one of ,leverrier's orbits-- ,it didn't fit4 ,in ,nature1 #ba-cja1 ,prof4 ,swift says3 ,i have never made a more valid observation1 nor one more free from doubt4 ,he's damned anyway4 ,we shall have some data that will not live up to most rigorous requirements1 but1 if anyone would like to read how carefully and minutely these two sets of observations were made1 see ,prof4 ,swift's detailed description in the ,am4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #aaf-cac2 and the technicalities of ,prof4 ,watson's observations in ,monthly ,notices1 #ch-ebe4 ,our own acceptance upon dirigible worlds1 which is assuredly enough1 more nearly real than attempted concepts of large planets relatively near this earth1 moving in orbits1 but visible only occasionally2 which more nearly approximates to reasonableness than does wholesale slaughter of ,swift and ,watson and ,fritsche and ,stark and ,de ,cuppis--but our own acceptance is so painful to so many minds that1 in another of the charitable moments that we have now and then for the sake of contrast1 we offer relief3 ,the things seen high in the sky by ,swift and ,watson-- ,well1 only two months before--the horse and the barn-- ,we go on with more observations by astronomers1 recognizing that it is the very thing that has given them life1 sustained them1 held them together1 that has crushed all but the quasi-gleam of independent life out of them4 ,were they not systematized1 they could not be at all1 except sporadically and without sustenance4 ,they are systematized3 they must not vary from the conditions of the system3 they must not break away for themselves4 ,the two great commandments3 ,thou shalt not break ,continuity2 ,thou shalt try4 ,we go on with these disregarded data1 some of which1 many of which1 are of the highest degree of acceptability4 ,it is the ,system that pulls back its variations1 as this earth is pulling back the ,matterhorn4 ,it is the ,system that nourishes and rewards1 and also freezes out life with the chill of disregard4 ,we do note that1 before excommunication is pronounced1 orthodox journals do liberally enough record unassimilable observations4 ,all things merge away into everything else4 ,that is ,continuity4 ,so the ,system merges away and evades us when we try to focus against it4 ,we have complained a great deal4 ,at least we are not so dull as to have the delusion that we know just exactly what it is that we are complaining about4 ,we speak seemingly definitely enough of the ,system1 but we're building upon observations by members of that very system4 ,or what we are doing--gathering up the loose heresies of the orthodox4 ,of course the ,system fringes and ravels away1 having no real outline4 ,a ,swift will antagonize the ,system1 and a ,lockyer will call him back2 but1 then1 a ,lockyer will vary with a meteoric hypothesis1 and a ,swift will1 in turn1 represent the ,system4 ,this state is to us typical of all intermediatist phenomena2 or that not conceivably is anything really anything1 if its parts are likely to be their own opposites at any time4 ,we speak of astronomers--as if there were real astronomers--but who have lost their identity in a ,system--as if it were a real ,system--but behind that ,system is plainly a rapport1 or loss of identity in the ,spirit of an ,era4 ,bodies that have looked like dark bodies1 and lights that may have been sunlight reflected from inter-planetary--objects1 masses1 constructions-- ,lights that have been seen upon--or near8--the moon3 ,in ,philosophical ,transactions1 #hb-bg1 is ,herschel's report upon many luminous points1 which he saw upon--or near8--the moon1 during an eclipse4 ,why they should be luminous1 whereas the moon itself was dark1 would get us into a lot of trouble--except that later we shall1 or we sha'n't1 accept that many times have luminous objects been seen close to this earth--at night4 ,but numerousness is a new factor1 or new disturbance1 to our explorations-- ,a new aspect of inter-planetary inhabitancy or occupancy-- ,worlds in hordes--or beings--winged beings perhaps--wouldn't astonish me if we should end up by discovering angels--or beings in machines--argosies of celestial voyagers-- ,in #aghc and #aghg1 ,herschel reported more lights on or near the moon1 which he supposed were volcanic4 ,the word of a ,herschel has had no more weight1 in divergences from the orthodox1 than has had the word of a ,lescarbault4 ,these observations are of the disregarded4 ,bright spots seen on the moon1 ,november1 #ahba 7,proc4 ,london ,roy4 ,soc41 #b-afg74 ,for four other instances1 see ,loomis 7,treatise on ,astronomy1 p4 #agd74 ,a moving light is reported in ,phil4 ,trans41 #hd-dbi4 ,to the writer1 it looked like a star passing over the moon--which1 on the next moment's consideration ,i knew to be impossible4 ,it was a fixed1 steady light upon the dark part of the moon4 ,i suppose fixed applies to luster4 ,in the ,report of the ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahdg-ah1 there is an observation by ,rankin1 upon luminous points seen on the shaded part of the moon1 during an eclipse4 ,they seemed to this observer like reflections of stars4 ,that's not very reasonable3 however1 we have1 in the ,annual ,register1 #ahba-fhg1 a light not referable to a star--because it moved with the moon3 was seen three nights in succession2 reported by ,capt4 ,kater4 ,see ,quart4 ,jour4 ,roy4 ,inst41 #ab-acc4 ,phil4 ,trans41 #aab-bcg3 ,report from the ,cape ,town ,observatory3 a whitish spot on the dark part of the moon's limb4 ,three smaller lights were seen4 ,the call of positiveness1 in its aspects of singleness1 or homogeneity1 or oneness1 or completeness4 ,in data now coming1 ,i feel it myself4 ,a ,leverrier studies more than twenty observations4 ,the inclination is irresistible to think that they all relate to one phenomenon4 ,it is an expression of cosmic inclination4 ,most of the observations are so irreconcilable with any acceptance other than of orbitless1 dirigible worlds that he shuts his eyes to more than two-thirds of them2 he picks out six that can give him the illusion of completeness1 or of all relating to one planet4 ,or let it be that we have data of many dark bodies--still do we incline almost irresistibly to think of one of them as the dark-body-in-chief4 ,dark bodies1 floating1 or navigating1 in inter-planetary space--and ,i conceive of one that's the ,prince of ,dark ,bodies3 ,melanicus4 ,vast dark thing with the wings of a super-bat1 or jet-black super-construction2 most likely one of the spores of the ,evil ,one4 ,the extraordinary year1 #ahhc3 ,london ,times1 ,dec4 #ag1 #ahhc3 ,extract from a letter by ,hicks ,pashaw3 that1 in ,egypt1 ,sept4 #bd1 #ahhc1 he had seen1 through glasses1 an immense black spot upon the lower part of the sun4 ,sun spot1 maybe4 ,one night an astronomer was looking up at the sky1 when something obscured a star1 for three and a half seconds4 ,a meteor had been seen nearby1 but its train had been only momentarily visible4 ,dr4 ,wolf was the astronomer 7,nature1 #hf-ebh74 ,the next datum is one of the most sensational we have1 except that there is very little to it4 ,a dark object that was seen by ,prof4 ,heis1 for eleven degrees of arc1 moving slowly across the ,milky ,way4 7,greg's ,catalogue1 ,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahfg-dbf47 ,one of our quasi-reasons for accepting that orbitless worlds are dirigible is the almost complete absence of data of collisions3 of course1 though in defiance of gravitation1 they may1 without direction like human direction1 adjust to one another in the way of vortex rings of smoke--a very human-like way1 that is4 ,but in ,knowledge1 ,february1 #ahid1 are two photographs of ,brooks' comet that are shown as evidence of its seeming collision with a dark object1 ,october1 #ahic4 ,our own wording is that it struck against something3 ,prof4 ,barnard's is that it had entered some dense medium1 which shattered it4 ,for all ,i know it had knocked against merely a field of ice4 ,melanicus4 ,that upon the wings of a super-bat1 he broods over this earth and over other worlds1 perhaps deriving something from them3 hovers on wings1 or wing-like appendages1 or planes that are hundreds of miles from tip to tip--a super-evil thing that is exploiting us4 ,by ,evil ,i mean that which makes us useful4 ,he obscures a star4 ,he shoves a comet4 ,i think he's a vast1 black1 brooding vampire4 ,science1 ,july #ca1 #ahif3 ,that1 according to a newspaper account1 ,mr4 ,w4,r4 ,brooks1 director of the ,smith ,observatory1 had seen a dark round object pass rather slowly across the moon1 in a horizontal direction4 ,in ,mr4 ,brooks' opinion it was a dark meteor4 ,in ,science1 ,sept4 #ad1 #ahif1 a correspondent writes that1 in his opinion1 it may have been a bird4 ,we shall have no trouble with the meteor and bird mergers1 if we have observations of long duration and estimates of size up to hundreds of miles4 ,as to the body that was seen by ,brooks1 there is a note from the ,dutch astronomer1 ,muller1 in the ,scientific ,american1 #ge-bea1 that1 upon ,april #d1 #ahib1 he had seen a similar phenomenon4 ,in ,science ,gossip1 n4s41 #c-ace1 are more details of the ,brooks object--apparent diameter about one-thirtieth of the moon's--moon's disk crossed in three or four seconds4 ,the writer1 in ,science ,gossip1 says that1 on ,june #bg1 #ahif1 at one o'clock in the morning1 he was looking at the moon with a #b-;inch achromatic1 power #dd1 when a long black object sailed past1 from west to east1 the transit occupying #c or #d seconds4 ,he believed this object to be a bird--there was1 however1 no fluttering motion observable in it4 ,in the ,astronomische ,nachrichten1 ,no4 #cdgg1 ,dr4 ,brendel1 of ,griefswald1 ,pomerania1 writes that ,postmaster ,ziegler and other observers had seen a body about #f feet in diameter crossing the sun's disk4 ,the duration here indicates something far from the earth1 and also far from the sun4 ,this thing was seen a quarter of an hour before it reached the sun4 ,time in crossing the sun was about an hour4 ,after leaving the sun it was visible an hour4 ,i think he's a vast1 black vampire that sometimes broods over this earth and other bodies4 ,communication from ,dr4 ,f4,b4 ,harris 7,popular ,astronomy1 #bj-cih73 ,that1 upon the evening of ,jan4 #bg1 #aiab1 ,dr4 ,harris saw1 upon the moon1 an intensely black object4 ,he estimated it to be #bej miles long and #ej miles wide4 ,the object resembled a crow poised1 as near as anything4 ,clouds then cut off observation4 ,dr4 ,harris writes3 ,i cannot but think that a very interesting and curious phenomenon happened4 #ae ,short chapter coming now1 and it's the worst of them all4 ,i think it's speculative4 ,it's a lapse from our usual pseudo-standards4 ,i think it must mean that the preceding chapter was very efficiently done1 and that now by the rhythm of all quasi-things--which can't be real things1 if they're rhythms1 because a rhythm is an appearance that turns into its own opposite and then back again--but now1 to pay up1 we're what we weren't4 ,short chapter1 and ,i think we'll fill in with several points in ,intermediatism4 ,a puzzle3 ,if it is our acceptance that1 out of the ,negative ,absolute1 the ,positive ,absolute is generating itself1 recruiting1 or maintaining1 itself1 via a third state1 or our own quasi-state1 it would seem that we're trying to conceive of ,universalness manufacturing more ,universalness from ,nothingness4 ,take that up yourself1 if you're willing to run the risk of disappearing with such velocity that you'll leave an incandescent train behind1 and risk being infinitely happy forever1 whereas you probably don't want to be happy--,i'll sidestep that myself1 and try to be intelligible by regarding the ,positive ,absolute from the aspect of ,realness instead of ,universalness1 recalling that by both ,realness and ,universalness we mean the same state1 or that which does not merge away into something else1 because there is nothing else4 ,so the idea is that out of ,unrealness1 instead of ,nothingness1 ,realness1 instead of ,universalness1 is1 via our own quasi-state1 manufacturing more ,realness4 ,just so1 but in relative terms1 of course1 all imaginings that materialize into machines or statues1 buildings1 dollars1 paintings or books in paper and ink are graduations from unrealness to realness--in relative terms4 ,it would seem then that ,intermediateness is a relation between the ,positive ,absolute and the ,negative ,absolute4 ,but the absolute cannot be the related--of course a confession that we can't really think of it at all1 if here we think of a limit to the unlimited4 ,doing the best we can1 and encouraged by the reflection that we can't do worse than has been done by metaphysicians in the past1 we accept that the absolute can't be the related4 ,so then that our quasi-state is not a real relation1 if nothing in it is real4 ,on the other hand1 it is not an unreal relation1 if nothing in it is unreal4 ,it seems thinkable that the ,positive ,absolute can1 by means of ,intermediateness1 have a quasi-relation1 or be only quasi-related1 or be the unrelated1 in final terms1 or1 at least1 not be the related1 in final terms4 ,as to free will and ,intermediatism--same answer as to everything else4 ,by free will we mean ,independence--or that which does not merge away into something else--so1 in ,intermediateness1 neither free-will nor slave-will--but a different approximation for every so-called person toward one or the other of the extremes4 ,the hackneyed way of expressing this seems to me to be the acceptable way1 if in ,intermediateness1 there is only the paradoxical3 that we're free to do what we have to do4 ,i am not convinced that we make a fetish of the preposterous4 ,i think our feeling is that in first gropings there's no knowing what will afterward be the acceptable4 ,i think that if an early biologist heard of birds that grow on trees1 he should record that he had heard of birds that grow on trees3 then let sorting over of data occur afterward4 ,the one thing that we try to tone down but that is to a great degree unavoidable is having our data all mixed up like ,long ,island and ,florida in the minds of early ,american explorers4 ,my own notion is that this whole book is very much like a map of ,north ,america in which the ,hudson ,river is set down as a passage leading to ,siberia4 ,we think of ,monstrator and ,melanicus and of a world that is now in communication with this earth3 if so1 secretly1 with certain esoteric ones upon this earth4 ,whether that world's ,monstrator and ,monstrator's ,melanicus--must be the subject of later inquiry4 ,it would be a gross thing to do3 solve up everything now and leave nothing to our disciples4 ,i have been very much struck with phenomena of cup marks4 ,they look to me like symbols of communication4 ,but they do not look to me like means of communication between some of the inhabitants of this earth and other inhabitants of this earth4 ,my own impression is that some external force has marked1 with symbols1 rocks of this earth1 from far away4 ,i do not think that cup marks are inscribed communications among different inhabitants of this earth1 because it seems too unacceptable that inhabitants of ,china1 ,scotland1 and ,america should all have conceived of the same system4 ,cup marks are strings of cup-like impressions in rocks4 ,sometimes there are rings around them1 and sometimes they have only semi-circles4 ,great ,britain1 ,america1 ,france1 ,algeria1 ,circassia1 ,palestine3 they're virtually everywhere--except in the far north1 ,i think4 ,in ,china1 cliffs are dotted with them4 ,upon a cliff near ,lake ,como1 there is a maze of these markings4 ,in ,italy and ,spain and ,india they occur in enormous numbers4 ,given that a force1 say1 like electric force1 could1 from a distance1 mark such a substance as rocks1 as1 from a distance of hundreds of miles1 selenium can be marked by telephotographers--but ,i am of two minds-- ,the ,lost ,explorers from ,somewhere1 and an attempt1 from ,somewhere1 to communicate with them3 so a frenzy of showering of messages toward this earth1 in the hope that some of them would mark rocks near the lost explorers-- ,or that somewhere upon this earth1 there is an especial rocky surface1 or receptor1 or polar construction1 or a steep1 conical hill1 upon which for ages have been received messages from some other world2 but that at times messages go astray and mark substances perhaps thousands of miles from the receptor3 ,that perhaps forces behind the history of this earth have left upon the rocks of ,palestine and ,england and ,india and ,china records that may some day be deciphered1 of their misdirected instructions to certain esoteric ones--,order of the ,freemasons--the ,jesuits-- ,i emphasize the row-formation of cup marks3 ,prof4 ,douglas 7,saturday ,review1 ,nov4 #bd1 #ahhc73 ,whatever may have been their motive1 the cup-markers showed a decided liking for arranging their sculpturings in regularly spaced rows4 ,that cup marks are an archaic form of inscription was first suggested by ,canon ,greenwell many years ago4 ,but more specifically adumbratory to our own expression are the observations of ,rivett-,carnac 7,jour4 ,roy4 ,asiatic ,soc41 #aijc-eae73 ,that the ,braille system of raised dots is an inverted arrangement of cup marks3 also that there are strong resemblances to the ,morse code4 ,but no tame and systematized archaeologist can do more than casually point out resemblances1 and merely suggest that strings of cup marks look like messages1 because--,china1 ,switzerland1 ,algeria1 ,america--if messages they be1 there seems to be no escape from attributing one origin to them--then1 if messages they be1 ,i accept one external origin1 to which the whole surface of this earth was accessible1 for them4 ,something else that we emphasize3 ,that rows of cup marks have often been likened to footprints4 ,but1 in this similitude1 their unilinear arrangement must be disregarded--of course often they're mixed up in every way1 but arrangement in single lines is very common4 ,it is odd that they should so often be likened to footprints3 ,i suppose there are exceptional cases1 but unless it's something that hops on one foot1 or a cat going along a narrow fence-top1 ,i don't think of anything that makes footprints one directly ahead of another--,cop1 in a station house1 walking a chalk line1 perhaps4 ,upon the ,witch's ,stone1 near ,ratho1 ,scotland1 there are twenty-four cups1 varying in size from one and a half to three inches in diameter1 arranged in approximately straight lines4 ,locally it is explained that these are tracks of dogs' feet 7,proc4 ,soc4 ,antiq4 ,scotland1 #b-d-gi74 ,similar marks are scattered bewilderingly all around the ,witch's ,stone--like a frenzy of telegraphing1 or like messages repeating and repeating1 trying to localize differently4 ,in ,inverness-shire1 cup marks are called fairies' footmarks4 ,at ,valna's church1 ,norway1 and ,st4 ,peter's1 ,ambleteuse1 there are such marks1 said to be horses' hoofprints4 ,the rocks of ,clare1 ,ireland1 are marked with prints supposed to have been made by a mythical cow 7,folklore1 #ba-ahd74 ,we now have such a ghost of a thing that ,i'd not like to be interpreted as offering it as a datum3 it simply illustrates what ,i mean by the notion of symbols1 like cups1 or like footprints1 which1 if like those of horses or cows1 are the reverse of1 or the negatives of1 cups--of symbols that are regularly received somewhere upon this earth--steep1 conical hill1 somewhere1 ,i think--but that have often alighted in wrong places--considerably to the mystification of persons waking up some morning to find them upon formerly blank spaces4 ,an ancient record--still worse1 an ancient ,chinese record--of a courtyard of a palace--dwellers of the palace waking up one morning1 finding the courtyard marked with tracks like the footprints of an ox--supposed that the devil did it4 7,notes and ,queries1 #i-f-bbe47 #af4 ,angels4 ,hordes upon hordes of them4 ,beings massed like the clouds of souls1 or the commingling whiffs of spirituality1 or the exhalations of souls that ,dore pictured so often4 ,it may be that the ,milky ,way is a composition of stiff1 frozen1 finally-static1 absolute angels4 ,we shall have data of little ,milky ,ways1 moving swiftly2 or data of hosts of angels1 not absolute1 or still dynamic4 ,i suspect1 myself1 that the fixed stars are really fixed1 and that the minute motions said to have been detected in them are illusions4 ,i think that the fixed stars are absolutes4 ,their twinkling is only the interpretation by an intermediatist state of them4 ,i think that soon after ,leverrier died1 a new fixed star was discovered--that1 if ,dr4 ,gray had stuck to his story of the thousands of fishes from one pail of water1 had written upon it1 lectured upon it1 taken to street corners1 to convince the world that1 whether conceivable or not1 his explanation was the only true explanation3 had thought of nothing but this last thing at night and first thing in the morning--his obituary--another nova reported in ,monthly ,notices4 ,i think that ,milky ,ways1 of an inferior1 or dynamic1 order1 have often been seen by astronomers4 ,of course it may be that the phenomena that we shall now consider are not angels at all4 ,we are simply feeling around1 trying to find out what we can accept4 ,some of our data indicate hosts of rotund and complacent tourists in inter-planetary space--but then data of long1 lean1 hungry ones4 ,i think that there are1 out in inter-planetary space1 ,super ,tamerlanes at the head of hosts of celestial ravagers--which have come here and pounced upon civilizations of the past1 cleaning them up all but their bones1 or temples and monuments--for which later historians have invented exclusionist histories4 ,but if something now has a legal right to us1 and can enforce its proprietorship1 they've been warned off4 ,it's the way of all exploitation4 ,i should say that we're now under cultivation3 that we're conscious of it1 but have the impertinence to attribute it all to our own nobler and higher instincts4 ,against these notions is the same sense of finality that opposes all advance4 ,it's why we rate acceptance as a better adaptation than belief4 ,opposing us is the strong belief that1 as to inter-planetary phenomena1 virtually everything has been found out4 ,sense of finality and illusion of homogeneity4 ,but that what is called advancing knowledge is violation of the sense of blankness4 ,a drop of water4 ,once upon a time water was considered so homogeneous that it was thought of as an element4 ,the microscope--and not only that the supposititiously elementary was seen to be of infinite diversity1 but that in its protoplasmic life there were new orders of beings4 ,or the year #adia--;and a ,european looking westward over the ocean--his feeling that that suave western droop was unbreakable2 that gods of regularity would not permit that smooth horizon to be disturbed by coasts or spotted with islands4 ,the unpleasantness of even contemplating such a state--wide1 smooth west1 so clean against the sky--spotted with islands--geographic leprosy4 ,but coasts and islands and ,indians and bison1 in the seemingly vacant west3 lakes1 mountains1 rivers-- ,one looks up at the sky3 the relative homogeneity of the relatively unexplored3 one thinks of only a few kinds of phenomena4 ,but the acceptance is forced upon me that there are modes and modes and modes of inter-planetary existence3 things as different from planets and comets and meteors as ,indians are from bison and prairie dogs3 a super-geography--or celestiography--of vast stagnant regions1 but also of ,super-,niagaras and ,ultra-,mississippis3 and a super-sociology--voyagers and tourists and ravagers3 the hunted and the hunting3 the super-mercantile1 the super-piratic1 the super-evangelical4 ,sense of homogeneity1 or our positivist illusion of the unknown--and the fate of all positivism4 ,astronomy and the academic4 ,ethics and the abstract4 ,the universal attempt to formulate or to regularize--an attempt that can be made only by disregarding or denying4 ,or all things disregard or deny that which will eventually invade and destroy them-- ,until comes the day when some one thing shall say1 and enforce upon ,infinitude3 ,thus far shalt thou go3 here is absolute demarcation4 ,the final utterance3 ,there is only ,i4 ,in the ,monthly ,notices of the ,r4,a4,s41 #aa-dh1 there is a letter from the ,rev4 ,w4 ,read3 ,that1 upon the #dth of ,september1 #ahea1 at #i3cj ,a4,m41 he had seen a host of self-luminous bodies1 passing the field of his telescope1 some slowly and some rapidly4 ,they appeared to occupy a zone several degrees in breadth4 ,the direction of most of them was due east to west1 but some moved from north to south4 ,the numbers were tremendous4 ,they were observed for six hours4 ,editor's note3 ,may not these appearances be attributed to an abnormal state of the optic nerves of the observer8 ,in ,monthly ,notices1 #ab-ch1 ,mr4 ,read answers that he had been a diligent observer1 with instruments of a superior order1 for about #bh years--but ,i have never witnessed such an appearance before4 ,as to illusion he says that two other members of his family had seen the objects4 ,the ,editor withdraws his suggestion4 ,we know what to expect4 ,almost absolutely--in an existence that is essentially ,hibernian--we can predict the past--that is1 look over something of this kind1 written in #ahea1 and know what to expect from the ,exclusionists later4 ,if ,mr4 ,read saw a migration of dissatisfied angels1 numbering millions1 they must merge away1 at least subjectively1 with commonplace terrestrial phenomena--of course disregarding ,mr4 ,read's probable familiarity1 of #bh years' duration1 with the commonplaces of terrestrial phenomena4 ,monthly ,notices1 #ab-ahc3 ,letter from ,rev4 ,w4,r4 ,dawes3 ,that he had seen similar objects--and in the month of ,september--that they were nothing but seeds floating in the air4 ,in the ,report of the ,british ,association1 #aheb-bce1 there is a communication from ,mr4 ,read to ,prof4 ,baden-,powell3 ,that the objects that had been seen by him and by ,mr4 ,dawes were not similar4 ,he denies that he had seen seeds floating in the air4 ,there had been little wind1 and that had come from the sea1 where seeds would not be likely to have origin4 ,the objects that he had seen were round and sharply defined1 and with none of the feathery appearance of thistledown4 ,he then quotes from a letter from ,c4,b4 ,chalmers1 ,f4,r4,a4,s41 who had seen a similar stream1 a procession1 or migration1 except that some of the bodies were more elongated--or lean and hungry--than globular4 ,he might have argued for sixty-five years4 ,he'd have impressed nobody--of importance4 ,the super-motif1 or dominant1 of his era1 was ,exclusionism1 and the notion of seeds in the air assimilates--with due disregards--with that dominant4 ,or pageantries here upon our earth1 and things looking down upon us--and the ,crusades were only dust clouds1 and glints of the sun on shining armor were only particles of mica in dust clouds4 ,i think it was a ,crusade that ,read saw--but that it was right1 relatively to the year #ahea1 to say that it was only seeds in the wind1 whether the wind blew from the sea or not4 ,i think of things that were luminous with religious zeal1 mixed up1 like everything else in ,intermediateness1 with black marauders and from gray to brown beings of little personal ambitions4 ,there may have been a ,richard ,coeur de ,lion1 on his way to right wrongs in ,jupiter4 ,it was right1 relatively to #ahea1 to say that he was a seed of a cabbage4 ,prof4 ,coffin1 ,u4,s4,n4 7,jour4 ,frank4 ,inst41 #hh-aea73 ,that1 during the eclipse of ,august1 #ahfi1 he had noted the passage1 across his telescope1 of several bright flakes resembling thistleblows1 floating in the sunlight4 ,but the telescope was so focused that1 if these things were distinct1 they must have been so far away from this earth that the difficulties of orthodoxy remain as great1 one way or another1 no matter what we think they were-- ,they were well-defined1 says ,prof4 ,coffin4 ,henry ,waldner 7,nature1 #e-cjd73 ,that1 ,april #bg1 #ahfc1 he had seen great numbers of small1 shining bodies passing from west to east4 ,he had notified ,dr4 ,wolf1 of the ,observatory of ,zurich1 who had convinced himself of this strange phenomenon4 ,dr4 ,wolf had told him that similar bodies had been seen by ,sig4 ,capocci1 of the ,capodimonte ,observatory1 at ,naples1 ,may #aa1 #ahde4 ,the shapes were of great diversity--or different aspects of similar shapes8 ,appendages were seen upon some of them4 ,we are told that some were star-shaped1 with transparent appendages4 ,i think1 myself1 it was a ,mohammed and his ,hegira4 ,may have been only his harem4 ,astonishing sensation3 afloat in space with ten million wives around one4 ,anyway1 it would seem that we have considerable advantage here1 inasmuch as seeds are not in season in ,april--but the pulling back to earth1 the bedraggling by those sincere but dull ones of some time ago4 ,we have the same stupidity--necessary1 functioning stupidity--of attribution of something that was so rare that an astronomer notes only one instance between #ahde and #ahfc1 to an every-day occurrence-- ,or ,mr4 ,waldner's assimilative opinion that he had seen only ice crystals4 ,whether they were not very exclusive veils of a super-harem1 or planes of a very light material1 we have an impression of star-shaped things with transparent appendages that have been seen in the sky4 ,hosts of small bodies--black1 this time--that were seen by the astronomers ,herrick1 ,buys-,ballot1 and ,de ,cuppis 7,l',annee ,scientifique1 #ahfj-be72 vast numbers of bodies that were seen by ,m4 ,lamey1 to cross the moon 7,l',annee ,scientifique1 #ahgd-fb72 another instance of dark ones2 prodigious number of dark1 spherical bodies reported by ,messier1 ,june #ag1 #aggg 7,arago1 ,o,euvres1 #i-ch72 considerable number of luminous bodies which appeared to move out from the sun1 in diverse directions2 seen at ,havana1 during eclipse of the sun1 ,may #ae1 #ahcf1 by ,prof4 ,auber 7,poey72 ,m4 ,poey cites a similar instance1 of ,aug4 #c1 #ahhf2 ,m4 ,lotard's opinion that they were birds 7,l',astronomie1 #ahhf-cia72 large number of small bodies crossing disk of the sun1 some swiftly1 some slowly2 most of them globular1 but some seemingly triangular1 and some of more complicated structure2 seen by ,m4 ,trouvelet1 who1 whether seeds1 insects1 birds1 or other commonplace things1 had never seen anything resembling these forms 7,l',annee ,scientifique1 #ahhe-h72 report from the ,rio de ,janeiro ,observatory1 of vast numbers of bodies crossing the sun1 some of them luminous and some of them dark1 from some time in ,december1 #ahge1 until ,jan4 #bb1 #ahgf 7,la ,nature1 #ahgf-chd74 ,of course1 at a distance1 any form is likely to look round or roundish3 but we point out that we have notes upon the seeming of more complex forms4 ,in ,l',astronomie1 #ahhf-gj1 is recorded ,m4 ,briguiere's observation1 at ,marseilles1 ,april #ae and ,april #be1 #ahhc1 upon the crossing of the sun by bodies that were irregular in form4 ,some of them moved as if in alignment4 ,letter from ,sir ,robert ,inglis to ,col4 ,sabine 7,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahdi-ag73 ,that1 at #c ,p4,m41 ,aug4 #h1 #ahdi1 at ,gais1 ,switzerland1 ,inglis had seen thousands and thousands of brilliant white objects1 like snowflakes in a cloudless sky4 ,though this display lasted about twenty-five minutes1 not one of these seeming snowflakes was seen to fall4 ,inglis says that his servant fancied that he had seen something like wings on these--whatever they were4 ,upon page #ah1 of the ,report1 ,sir ,john ,herschel says that1 in #ahde or #ahdf1 his attention had been attracted by objects of considerable size1 in the air1 seemingly not far away4 ,he had looked at them through a telescope4 ,he says that they were masses of hay1 not less than a yard or two in diameter4 ,still there are some circumstances that interest me4 ,he says that1 though no less than a whirlwind could have sustained these masses1 the air about him was calm4 ,no doubt wind prevailed at the spot1 but there was no roaring noise4 ,none of these masses fell within his observation or knowledge4 ,to walk a few fields away and find out more would seem not much to expect from a man of science1 but it is one of our superstitions1 that such a seeming trifle is just what--by the ,spirit of an ,era1 we'll call it--one is not permitted to do4 ,if those things were not masses of hay1 and if ,herschel had walked a little and found out1 and had reported that he had seen strange objects in the air--that report1 in #ahdf1 would have been as misplaced as the appearance of a tail upon an embryo still in its gastrula era4 ,i have noticed this inhibition in my own case many times4 ,looking back--why didn't ,i do this or that little thing that would have cost so little and have meant so much8 ,didn't belong to that era of my own development4 ,nature1 #bb-fd3 ,that1 at ,kattenau1 ,germany1 about half an hour before sunrise1 ,march #bb1 #ahhj1 an enormous number of luminous bodies rose from the horizon1 and passed in a horizontal direction from east to west4 ,they are described as having appeared in a zone or belt4 ,they shone with a remarkably brilliant light4 ,so they've thrown lassos over our data to bring them back to earth4 ,but they're lassos that cannot tighten4 ,we can't pull out of them3 we may step out of them1 or lift them off4 ,some of us used to have an impression of ,science sitting in calm1 just judgment3 some of us now feel that a good many of our data have been lynched4 ,if a ,crusade1 perhaps from ,mars to ,jupiter1 occur in the autumn--seeds4 ,if a ,crusade or outpouring of celestial vandals is seen from this earth in the spring--ice crystals4 ,if we have record of a race of aerial beings1 perhaps with no substantial habitat1 seen by someone in ,india--locusts4 ,this will be disregarded3 ,if locusts fly high1 they freeze and fall in thousands4 ,nature1 #dg-eha3 ,locusts that were seen in the mountains of ,india1 at a height of #ab1gej feet--in swarms and dying by thousands4 ,but no matter whether they fly high or fly low1 no one ever wonders what's in the air when locusts are passing overhead1 because of the falling of stragglers4 ,i have especially looked this matter up--no mystery when locusts are flying overhead--constant falling of stragglers4 ,monthly ,notices1 #cj-ace3 ,an unusual phenomenon noticed by ,lieut4 ,herschel1 ,oct4 #ag and #ah1 #ahgj1 while observing the sun1 at ,bangalore1 ,india4 ,lieut4 ,herschel had noticed dark shadows crossing the sun--but away from the sun there were luminous1 moving images4 ,for two days bodies passed in a continuous stream1 varying in size and velocity4 ,the ,lieutenant tries to explain1 as we shall see1 but he says3 ,as it was1 the continuous flight1 for two whole days1 in such numbers1 in the upper regions of the air1 of beasts that left no stragglers1 is a wonder of natural history1 if not of astronomy4 ,he tried different focusing--he saw wings--perhaps he saw planes4 ,he says that he saw upon the objects either wings or phantom-like appendages4 ,then he saw something that was so bizarre that1 in the fullness of his nineteenth-centuriness1 he writes3 ,there was no longer doubt3 they were locusts or flies of some sort4 ,one of them had paused4 ,it had hovered4 ,then it had whisked off4 ,the ,editor says that at that time countless locusts had descended upon certain parts of ,india4 ,we now have an instance that is extraordinary in several respects--super-voyagers or super-ravagers2 angels1 ragamuffins1 crusaders1 emigrants1 aeronauts1 or aerial elephants1 or bison or dinosaurs--except that ,i think the thing had planes or wings--one of them has been photographed4 ,it may be that in the history of photography no more extraordinary picture than this has ever been taken4 ,l',astronomie1 #ahhe-cdg3 ,that1 at the ,observatory of ,zacatecas1 ,mexico1 ,aug4 #ab1 #ahhc1 about #b1ejj meters above sea level1 were seen a large number of small luminous bodies1 entering upon the disk of the sun4 ,m4 ,bonilla telegraphed to the ,observatories of the ,city of ,mexico and of ,puebla4 ,word came back that the bodies were not visible there4 ,because of this parallax1 ,m4 ,bonilla placed the bodies relatively near the earth4 ,but when we find out what he called relatively near the earth--birds or bugs or hosts of a ,super-,tamerlane or army of a celestial ,richard ,coeur de ,lion--our heresies rejoice anyway4 ,his estimate is less distance than the moon4 ,one of them was photographed4 ,see ,l',astronomie1 #ahhe-cdi4 ,the photograph shows a long body surrounded by indefinite structures1 or by the haze of wings or planes in motion4 ,l',astronomie1 #ahhg-ff2 ,signer ,ricco1 of the ,observatory of ,palermo1 writes that1 ,nov4 #cj1 #ahhj1 at #h3cj o'clock in the morning1 he was watching the sun1 when he saw1 slowly traversing its disk1 bodies in two long1 parallel lines1 and a shorter1 parallel line4 ,the bodies looked winged to him4 ,but so large were they that he had to think of large birds4 ,he thought of cranes4 ,he consulted ornithologists1 and learned that the configuration of parallel lines agrees with the flight-formation of cranes4 ,this was in #ahhj3 anybody now living in ,new ,york ,city1 for instance1 would tell him that also it is a familiar formation of aeroplanes4 ,but1 because of data of focus and subtended angles1 these beings or objects must have been high4 ,sig4 ,ricco argues that condors have been known to fly three or four miles high1 and that heights reached by other birds have been estimated at two or three miles4 ,he says that cranes have been known to fly so high that they have been lost to view4 ,our own acceptance1 in conventional terms1 is that there is not a bird of this earth that would not freeze to death at a height of more than four miles3 that if condors fly three or four miles high1 they are birds that are especially adapted to such altitudes4 ,sig4 ,ricco's estimate is that these objects or beings or cranes must have been at least five and a half miles high4 #ag ,the vast dark thing that looked like a poised crow of unholy dimensions4 ,assuming that ,i shall ever have any readers1 let him1 or both of them1 if ,i shall ever have such popularity as that1 note how dim that bold black datum is at the distance of only two chapters4 ,the question3 ,was it a thing or the shadow of a thing8 ,acceptance either way calls not for mere revision but revolution in the science of astronomy4 ,but the dimness of the datum of only two chapters ago4 ,the carved stone disk of ,tarbes1 and the rain that fell every afternoon for twenty--if ,i haven't forgotten1 myself1 whether it was twenty-three or twenty-five days6--upon one small area4 ,we are all ,thomsons1 with brains that have smooth and slippery1 though corrugated1 surfaces--or that all intellection is associative--or that we remember that which correlates with a dominant--and a few chapters go by1 and there's scarcely an impression that hasn't slid off our smooth and slippery brains1 of ,leverrier and the planet ,vulcan4 ,there are two ways by which irreconcilables can be remembered--if they can be correlated in a system more nearly real than the system that rejects them--and by repetition and repetition and repetition4 ,vast black thing like a crow poised over the moon4 ,the datum is so important to us1 because it enforces1 in another field1 our acceptance that dark bodies of planetary size traverse this solar system4 ,our position3 ,that the things have been seen3 ,also that their shadows have been seen4 ,vast black thing poised like a crow over the moon4 ,so far it is a single instance4 ,by a single instance1 we mean the negligible4 ,in ,popular ,science1 #cd-aeh1 ,serviss tells of a shadow that ,schroeter saw1 in #aghh1 in the lunar ,alps4 ,first he saw a light4 ,but then1 when this region was illuminated1 he saw a round shadow where the light had been4 ,our own expression3 ,that he saw a luminous object near the moon3 that that part of the moon became illuminated1 and the object was lost to view2 but that then its shadow underneath was seen4 ,serviss explains1 of course4 ,otherwise he'd not be ,prof4 ,serviss4 ,it's a little contest in relative approximations to realness4 ,prof4 ,serviss thinks that what ,schroeter saw was the round shadow of a mountain--in the region that had become lighted4 ,he assumes that ,schroeter never looked again to see whether the shadow could be attributed to a mountain4 ,that's the crux3 conceivably a mountain could cast a round--and that means detached--shadow1 in the lighted part of the moon4 ,prof4 ,serviss could1 of course1 explain why he disregards the light in the first place--maybe it had always been there in the first place4 ,if he couldn't explain1 he'd still be an amateur4 ,we have another datum4 ,i think it is more extraordinary than-- ,vast thing1 black and poised1 like a crow1 over the moon4 ,but only because it's more circumstantial1 and because it has corroboration1 do ,i think it more extraordinary than-- ,vast poised thing1 black as a crow1 over the moon4 ,mr4 ,h4,c4 ,russell1 who was usually as orthodox as anybody1 ,i suppose--at least1 he wrote ,f4,r4,a4,s4 after his name--tells in the ,observatory1 #b-cgd1 one of the wickedest1 or most preposterous1 stories that we have so far exhumed3 ,that he and another astronomer1 ,g4,d4 ,hirst1 were in the ,blue fountains1 near ,sydney1 ,n4,s4,w41 and ,mr4 ,hirst was looking at the moon-- ,he saw on the moon what ,russell calls one of those remarkable facts1 which being seen should be recorded1 although no explanation can at present be offered4 ,that may be so4 ,it is very rarely done4 ,our own expression upon evolution by successive dominants and their correlates is against it4 ,on the other hand1 we express that every era records a few observations out of harmony with it1 but adumbratory or preparatory to the spirit of eras still to come4 ,it's very rarely done4 ,lashed by the phantom-scourge of a now passing era1 the world of astronomers is in a state of terrorism1 though of a highly attenuated1 modernized1 devitalized kind4 ,let an astronomer see something that is not of the conventional1 celestial sights1 or something that it is improper to see--his very dignity is in danger4 ,some one of the corralled and scourged may stick a smile into his back4 ,he'll be thought of unkindly4 ,with a hardihood that is unusual in his world of ethereal sensitivenesses1 ,russell says1 of ,hirst's observation3 ,he found a large part of it covered with a dark shade1 quite as dark as the shadow of the earth during an eclipse of the moon4 ,but the climax of hardihood or impropriety or wickedness1 preposterousness or enlightenment3 ,one could hardly resist the conviction that it was a shadow1 yet it could not be the shadow of any known body4 ,richard ,proctor was a man of some liberality4 ,after a while we shall have a letter1 which once upon a time we'd have called delirious--don't know that we could read such a thing now1 for the first time1 without incredulous laughter--which ,mr4 ,proctor permitted to be published in ,knowledge4 ,but a dark1 unknown world that could cast a shadow upon a large part of the moon1 perhaps extending far beyond the limb of the moon2 a shadow as deep as the shadow of this earth-- ,too much for ,mr4 ,proctor's politeness4 ,i haven't read what he said1 but it seems to have been a little coarse4 ,russell says that ,proctor freely used his name in the ,echo1 of ,march #ad1 #ahgi1 ridiculing this observation which had been made by ,russell as well as ,hirst4 ,if it hadn't been ,proctor1 it would have been someone else--but one notes that the attack came out in a newspaper4 ,there is no discussion of this remarkable subject1 no mention in any other astronomic journal4 ,the disregard was almost complete--but we do note that the columns of the ,observatory were open to ,russell to answer ,proctor4 ,in the answer1 ,i note considerable intermediateness4 ,far back in #ahgi1 it would have been a beautiful positivism1 if ,russell had said-- ,there was a shadow on the moon4 ,absolutely it was cast by an unknown body4 ,according to our religion1 if he had then given all his time to the maintaining of this one stand1 of course breaking all friendships1 all ties with his fellow astronomers1 his apotheosis would have occurred1 greatly assisted by means well known to quasi-existence when its compromises and evasions1 and phenomena that are partly this and partly that1 are flouted by the definite and uncompromising4 ,it would be impossible in a real existence1 but ,mr4 ,russell1 of quasi-existence1 says that he did resist the conviction2 that he had said that one could hardly resist2 and most of his resentment is against ,mr4 ,proctor's thinking that he had not resisted4 ,it seems too bad--if apotheosis be desirable4 ,the point in ,intermediatism here is3 ,not that to adapt to the conditions of quasi-existence is to have what is called success in quasi-existence1 but is to lose one's soul-- ,but is to lose one's chance of attaining soul1 self1 or entity4 ,one indignation quoted from ,proctor interests us3 ,what happens on the moon may at any time happen to this earth4 ,or3 ,that is just the teaching of this department of ,advanced ,astronomy3 ,that ,russell and ,hirst saw the sun eclipsed relatively to the moon by a vast dark body3 ,that many times have eclipses occurred relatively to this earth1 by vast1 dark bodies3 ,that there have been many eclipses that have not been recognized as eclipses by scientific kindergartens4 ,there is a merger1 of course4 ,we'll take a look at it first--that1 after all1 it may have been a shadow that ,hirst and ,russell saw1 but the only significance is that the sun was eclipsed relatively to the moon by a cosmic haze of some kind1 or a swarm of meteors close together1 or a gaseous discharge left behind by a comet4 ,my own acceptance is that vagueness of shadow is a function of vagueness of intervention2 that a shadow as dense as the shadow of this earth is cast by a body denser than hazes and swarms4 ,the information seems definite enough in this respect--quite as dark as the shadow of this earth during the eclipse of the moon4 ,though we may not always be as patient toward them as we should be1 it is our acceptance that the astronomic primitives have done a great deal of good work3 for instance1 in the allaying of fears upon this earth4 ,sometimes it may seem as if all science were to us very much like what a red flag is to bulls and anti-socialists4 ,it's not that3 it's more like what unsquare meals are to bulls and anti-socialists--not the scientific1 but the insufficient4 ,our acceptance is that ,evil is the negative state1 by which we mean the state of maladjustment1 discord1 ugliness1 disorganization1 inconsistency1 injustice1 and so on--as determined in ,intermediateness1 not by real standards1 but only by higher approximations to adjustment1 harmony1 beauty1 organization1 consistency1 justice1 and so on4 ,evil is outlived virtue1 or incipient virtue that has not yet established itself1 or any other phenomenon that is not in seeming adjustment1 harmony1 consistency with a dominant4 ,the astronomers have functioned bravely in the past4 ,they've been good for business3 the big interests think kindly1 if at all1 of them4 ,it's bad for trade to have an intense darkness come upon an unaware community and frighten people out of their purchasing values4 ,but if an obscuration be foretold1 and if it then occur--may seem a little uncanny--only a shadow--and no one who was about to buy a pair of shoes runs home panic-stricken and saves the money4 ,upon general principles we accept that astronomers have quasi-systematized data of eclipses--or have included some and disregarded others4 ,they have done well4 ,they have functioned4 ,but now they're negatives1 or they're out of harmony-- ,if we are in harmony with a new dominant1 or the spirit of a new era1 in which ,exclusionism must be overthrown2 if we have data of many obscurations that have occurred1 not only upon the moon1 but upon our own earth1 as convincing of vast intervening bodies1 usually invisible1 as is any regularized1 predicted eclipse4 ,one looks up at the sky4 ,it seems incredible that1 say1 at the distance of the moon1 there could be1 but be invisible1 a solid body1 say1 the size of the moon4 ,one looks up at the moon1 at a time when only a crescent of it is visible4 ,the tendency is to build up the rest of it in one's mind2 but the unillumined part looks as vacant as the rest of the sky1 and it's of the same blueness as the rest of the sky4 ,there's a vast area of solid substance before one's eyes4 ,it's indistinguishable from the sky4 ,in some of our little lessons upon the beauties of modesty and humility1 we have picked out basic arrogances--tail of a peacock1 horns of a stag1 dollars of a capitalist--eclipses of astronomers4 ,though ,i have no desire for the job1 ,i'd engage to list hundreds of instances in which the report upon an expected eclipse has been sky overcast or weather unfavorable4 ,in our ,super-,hibernia1 the unfavorable has been construed as the favorable4 ,some time ago1 when we were lost1 because we had not recognized our own dominant1 when we were still of the unchosen and likely to be more malicious than we now are--because we have noted a steady tolerance creeping into our attitude--if astronomers are not to blame1 but are only correlates to a dominant--we advertised a predicted eclipse that did not occur at all4 ,now1 without any especial feeling1 except that of recognition of the fate of all attempted absolutism1 we give the instance1 noting that1 though such an evil thing to orthodoxy1 it was orthodoxy that recorded the non-event4 ,monthly ,notices of the ,r4,a4,s41 #h-acb3 ,remarkable appearances during the total eclipse of the moon on ,march #ai1 #ahdh3 ,in an extract from a letter from ,mr4 ,forster1 of ,bruges1 it is said that1 according to the writer's observations at the time of the predicted total eclipse1 the moon shone with about three times the intensity of the mean illumination of an eclipsed lunar disk3 that the ,british ,consul1 at ,ghent1 who did not know of the predicted eclipse1 had written enquiring as to the blood-red color of the moon4 ,this is not very satisfactory to what used to be our malices4 ,but there follows another letter1 from another astronomer1 ,walkey1 who had made observations at ,clyst ,st4 ,lawrence3 that1 instead of an eclipse1 the moon became--as is printed in italics--most beautifully illuminated 444 rather tinged with a deep red444 the moon being as perfect with light as if there had been no eclipse whatever4 ,i note that ,chambers1 in his work upon eclipses1 gives ,forster's letter in full--and not a mention of ,walkey's letter4 ,there is no attempt in ,monthly ,notices to explain upon the notion of greater distance of the moon1 and the earth's shadow falling short1 which would make as much trouble for astronomers1 if that were not foreseen1 as no eclipse at all4 ,also there is no refuge in saying that virtually never1 even in total eclipses1 is the moon totally dark--as perfect with light as if there had been no eclipse whatever4 ,it is said that at the time there had been an aurora borealis1 which might have caused the luminosity1 without a datum that such an effect1 by an aurora1 had ever been observed upon the moon4 ,but single instances--so an observation by ,scott1 in the ,antarctic4 ,the force of this datum lies in my own acceptance1 based upon especially looking up this point1 that an eclipse nine-tenths of totality has great effect1 even though the sky be clouded4 ,scott 7,voyage of the ,discovery1 vol4 ii1 p4 #bae73 ,there may have been an eclipse of the sun1 ,sept4 #ba1 #aijc1 as the almanac said1 but we should1 none of us1 have liked to swear to the fact4 ,this eclipse had been set down at nine-tenths of totality4 ,the sky was overcast at the time4 ,so it is not only that many eclipses unrecognized by astronomers as eclipses have occurred1 but that intermediatism1 or impositivism1 breaks into their own seemingly regularized eclipses4 ,our data of unregularized eclipses1 as profound as those that are conventionally--or officially8--recognized1 that have occurred relatively to this earth3 ,in ,notes and ,queries there are several allusions to intense darknesses that have occurred upon this earth1 quite as eclipses occur1 but that are not referable to any known eclipsing body4 ,of course there is no suggestion here that these darknesses may have been eclipses4 ,my own acceptance is that if in the nineteenth century anyone had uttered such a thought as that1 he'd have felt the blight of a ,dominant2 that ,materialistic ,science was a jealous god1 excluding1 as works of the devil1 all utterances against the seemingly uniform1 regular1 periodic2 that to defy him would have brought on--withering by ridicule--shrinking away by publishers--contempt of friends and family--justifiable grounds for divorce--that one who would so defy would feel what unbelievers in relics of saints felt in an earlier age2 what befell virgins who forgot to keep fires burning1 in a still earlier age--but that1 if he'd almost absolutely hold out1 just the same--new fixed star reported in ,monthly ,notices4 ,altogether1 the point in ,positivism here is that by ,dominants and their correlates1 quasi-existence strives for the positive state1 aggregating1 around a nucleus1 or dominant1 systematized members of a religion1 a science1 a society--but that individuals who do not surrender and submerge may of themselves highly approximate to positiveness--the fixed1 the real1 the absolute4 ,in ,notes and ,queries1 #b-d-aci1 there is an account of a darkness in ,holland1 in the midst of a bright day1 so intense and terrifying that many panic-stricken persons lost their lives stumbling into the canals4 ,gentleman's ,magazine1 #cc-dad3 ,a darkness that came upon ,london1 ,aug4 #ai1 #agfc1 greater than at the great eclipse of #agdh4 ,however1 our preference is not to go so far back for data4 ,for a list of historic dark days1 see ,humboldt1 ,cosmos1 #a-abj4 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,march1 #ahhf-gi3 ,that1 according to the ,la ,crosse ,daily ,republican1 of ,march #bj1 #ahhf1 darkness suddenly settled upon the city of ,oshkosh1 ,wis41 at #c ,p4,m41 ,march #ai4 ,in five minutes the darkness equaled that of midnight4 ,consternation4 ,i think that some of us are likely to overdo our own superiority and the absurd fears of the ,middle ,ages-- ,oshkosh4 ,people in the streets rushing in all directions--horses running away--women and children running into cellars--little modern touch after all3 gas meters instead of images and relics of saints4 ,this darkness1 which lasted from eight to ten minutes1 occurred in a day that had been light but cloudy4 ,it passed from west to east1 and brightness followed3 then came reports from towns to the west of ,oshkosh3 that the same phenomenon had already occurred there4 ,a wave of total darkness had passed from west to east4 ,other instances are recorded in the ,monthly ,weather ,review1 but1 as to all of them1 we have a sense of being pretty well-eclipsed1 ourselves1 by the conventional explanation that the obscuring body was only a very dense mass of clouds4 ,but some of the instances are interesting--intense darkness at ,memphis1 ,tenn41 for about fifteen minutes1 at #aj ,a4,m41 ,dec4 #b1 #aijd--,we are told that in some quarters a panic prevailed1 and that some were shouting and praying and imagining that the end of the world had come4 7,m4,w4,r41 #cb-ebb47 ,at ,louisville1 ,ky41 ,march #g1 #aiaa1 at about #h ,a4,m43 duration about half an hour2 had been raining moderately1 and then hail had fallen4 ,the intense blackness and general ominous appearance of the storm spread terror throughout the city4 7,m4,w4,r41 #ci-cde47 ,however1 this merger between possible eclipses by unknown dark bodies and commonplace terrestrial phenomena is formidable4 ,as to darknesses that have fallen upon vast areas1 conventionality is--smoke from forest fires4 ,in the ,u4,s4 ,forest ,service ,bulletin1 ,no4 #aag1 ,f4,g4 ,plummer gives a list of eighteen darknesses that have occurred in the ,united ,states and ,canada4 ,he is one of the primitives1 but ,i should say that his dogmatism is shaken by vibrations from the new ,dominant4 ,his difficulty1 which he acknowledges1 but which he would have disregarded had he written a decade or so earlier1 is the profundity of some of these obscurations4 ,he says that mere smokiness cannot account for such awe-inspiring dark days4 ,so he conceives of eddies in the air1 concentrating the smoke from forest fires4 ,then1 in the inconsistency or discord of all quasi-intellection that is striving for consistency or harmony1 he tells of the vastness of some of these darknesses4 ,of course ,mr4 ,plummer did not really think upon this subject1 but one does feel that he might have approximated higher to real thinking than by speaking of concentration and then listing data of enormous area1 or the opposite of circumstances of concentration--because1 of his nineteen instances1 nine are set down as covering all ,new ,england4 ,in quasi-existence1 everything generates or is part of its own opposite4 ,every attempt at peace prepares the way for war2 all attempts at justice result in injustice in some other respect3 so ,mr4 ,plummer's attempt to bring order into his data1 with the explanation of darkness caused by smoke from forest fires1 results in such confusion that he ends up by saying that these daytime darknesses have occurred often with little or no turbidity of the air near the earth's surface--or with no evidence at all of smoke--except that there is almost always a forest fire somewhere4 ,however1 of the eighteen instances1 the only one that ,i'd bother to contest is the profound darkness in ,canada and northern parts of the ,united ,states1 ,nov4 #ai1 #ahai--which we have already considered4 ,its concomitants3 ,lights in the sky2 ,fall of a black substance2 ,shocks like those of an earthquake4 ,in this instance1 the only available forest fire was one to the south of the ,ohio ,river4 ,for all ,i know1 soot from a very great fire south of the ,ohio might fall in ,montreal1 ,canada1 and conceivably1 by some freak of reflection1 light from it might be seen in ,montreal1 but the earthquake is not assimilable with a forest fire4 ,on the other hand1 it will soon be our expression that profound darkness1 fall of matter from the sky1 lights in the sky1 and earthquakes are phenomena of the near approach of other worlds to this world4 ,it is such comprehensiveness1 as contrasted with inclusion of a few factors and disregard for the rest1 that we call higher approximation to realness--or universalness4 ,a darkness1 of ,april #ag1 #aijd1 at ,wimbledon1 ,england 7,symons' ,met4 ,mag41 #ci-fi74 ,it came from a smokeless region3 no rain1 no thunder2 lasted #aj minutes2 too dark to go even out in the open4 ,as to darknesses in ,great ,britain1 one thinks of fogs--but in ,nature1 #be-bhi1 there are some observations by ,major ,j4 ,herschel1 upon an obscuration in ,london1 ,jan4 #bb1 #ahhb1 at #aj3cj ,a4,m41 so great that he could hear persons upon the opposite side of the street1 but could not see them--,it was obvious that there was no fog to speak of4 ,annual ,register1 #aheg-acb3 ,an account by ,charles ,a4 ,murray1 ,british ,envoy to ,persia1 of a darkness of ,may #bj1 #aheg1 that came upon ,bagdad--a darkness more intense than ordinary midnight1 when neither stars nor moon are visible4444 ,after a short time the black darkness was succeeded by a red1 lurid gloom1 such as ,i never saw in any part of the world4 ,panic seized the whole city4 ,a dense volume of red sand fell4 ,this matter of sand falling seems to suggest conventional explanation enough1 or that a simoon1 heavily charged with terrestrial sand1 had obscured the sun1 but ,mr4 ,murray1 who says that he had had experience with simoons1 gives his opinion that it cannot have been a simoon4 ,it is our comprehensiveness now1 or this matter of concomitants of darknesses that we are going to capitalize4 ,it is all very complicated and tremendous1 and our own treatment can be but impressionistic1 but a few of the rudiments of ,advanced ,seismology we shall now take up--or the four principal phenomena of another world's close approach to this world4 ,if a large substantial mass1 or super-construction1 should enter this earth's atmosphere1 it is our acceptance that it would sometimes--depending upon velocity--appear luminous or look like a cloud1 or like a cloud with a luminous nucleus4 ,later we shall have an expression upon luminosity--different from the luminosity of incandescence--that comes upon objects falling from the sky1 or entering this earth's atmosphere4 ,now our expression is that worlds have often come close to this earth1 and that smaller objects--size of a haystack or size of several dozen skyscrapers lumped1 have often hurtled through this earth's atmosphere1 and have been mistaken for clouds1 because they were enveloped in clouds-- ,or that around something coming from the intense cold of inter-planetary space--that is of some regions3 our own suspicion is that other regions are tropical--the moisture of this earth's atmosphere would condense into a cloud-like appearance around it4 ,in ,nature1 #bj-aba1 there is an account by ,mr4 ,s4,w4 ,clifton1 ,collector of ,customs1 at ,freemantle1 ,western ,australia1 sent to the ,melbourne ,observatory--a clear day--appearance of a small black cloud1 moving not very swiftly--bursting into a ball of fire1 of the apparent size of the moon-- ,or that something with the velocity of an ordinary meteorite could not collect vapor around it1 but that slower-moving objects--speed of a railway train1 say--may4 ,the clouds of tornadoes have so often been described as if they were solid objects that ,i now accept that sometimes they are3 that some so-called tornadoes are objects hurtling through this earth's atmosphere1 not only generating disturbances by their suctions1 but crushing1 with their bulk1 all things in their way1 rising and falling and finally disappearing1 demonstrating that gravitation is not the power that the primitives think it is1 if an object moving at relatively low velocity be not pulled to this earth1 or being so momentarily affected1 bounds away4 ,in ,finley's ,reports on the ,character of #fjj ,tornadoes very suggestive bits of description occur3 ,cloud bounded along the earth like a ball-- ,or that it was no meteorological phenomenon1 but something very much like a huge solid ball that was bounding along1 crushing and carrying with it everything within its field-- ,cloud bounded along1 coming to the earth every eight hundred or one thousand yards4 ,here's an interesting bit that ,i got somewhere else4 ,i offer it as a datum in super-biology1 which1 however1 is a branch of advanced science that ,i'll not take up1 restricting to things indefinitely called objects-- ,the tornado came wriggling1 jumping1 whirling like a great green snake1 darting out a score of glistening fangs4 ,though it's interesting1 ,i think that's sensational1 myself4 ,it may be that vast green snakes sometimes rush past this earth1 taking a swift bite wherever they can1 but1 as ,i say1 that's a super-biologic phenomenon4 ,finley gives dozens of instances of tornado clouds that seem to me more like solid things swathed in clouds1 than clouds4 ,he notes that1 in the tornado at ,americus1 ,georgia1 ,july #ah1 #ahha1 a strange sulphurous vapor was emitted from the cloud4 ,in many instances1 objects1 or meteoritic stones1 that have come from this earth's externality1 have had a sulphurous odor4 ,why a wind effect should be sulphurous is not clear4 ,that a vast object from external regions should be sulphurous is in line with many data4 ,this phenomenon is described in the ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,july1 #ahha1 as a strange sulphurous vapor 444 burning and sickening all who approached close enough to breathe it4 ,the conventional explanation of tornadoes as wind-effects--which we do not deny in some instances--is so strong in the ,united ,states that it is better to look elsewhere for an account of an object that has hurtled through this earth's atmosphere1 rising and falling and defying this earth's gravitation4 ,nature1 #g-aab3 ,that1 according to a correspondent to the ,birmingham ,morning ,news1 the people living near ,king's ,sutton1 ,banbury1 saw1 about one o'clock1 ,dec4 #g1 #ahgb1 something like a haycock hurtling through the air4 ,like a meteor it was accompanied by fire and a dense smoke and made a noise like that of a railway train4 ,it was sometimes high in the air and sometimes near the ground4 ,the effect was tornado-like3 trees and walls were knocked down4 ,it's a late day now to try to verify this story1 but a list is given of persons whose property was injured4 ,we are told that this thing then disappeared all at once4 ,these are the smaller objects1 which may be derailed railway trains or big green snakes1 for all ,i know--but our expression upon approach to this earth by vast dark bodies-- ,that likely they'd be made luminous3 would envelop in clouds1 perhaps1 or would have their own clouds-- ,but that they'd quake1 and that they'd affect this earth with quakes-- ,and that then would occur a fall of matter from such a world1 or rise of matter from this earth to a nearby world1 or both fall and rise1 or exchange of matter--process known to ,advanced ,seismology as celestio-metathesis-- ,except that--if matter from some other world--and it would be like someone to get it into his head that we absolutely deny gravitation1 just because we cannot accept orthodox dogmas--except that1 if matter from another world1 filling the sky of this earth1 generally1 as to a hemisphere1 or locally1 should be attracted to this earth1 it would seem thinkable that the whole thing should drop here1 and not merely its surface-materials4 ,objects upon a ship's bottom4 ,from time to time they drop to the bottom of the ocean4 ,the ship does not4 ,or1 like our acceptance upon dripping from aerial ice-fields1 we think of only a part of a nearby world succumbing1 except in being caught in suspension1 to this earth's gravitation1 and surface-materials falling from that part-- ,explain or express or accept1 and what does it matter8 ,our attitude is3 ,here are the data4 ,see for yourself4 ,what does it matter what my notions may be8 ,here are the data4 ,but think for yourself1 or think for myself1 all mixed up we must be4 ,a long time must go by before we can know ,florida from ,long ,island4 ,so we've had data of fishes that have fallen from our now established and respectabilized ,super-,sargasso ,sea--which we've almost forgotten1 it's now so respectable--but we shall have data of fishes that have fallen during earthquakes4 ,these we accept were dragged down from ponds or other worlds that have been quaked1 when only a few miles away1 by this earth1 some other world also quaking this earth4 ,in a way1 or in its principle1 our subject is orthodox enough4 ,only grant proximity of other worlds--which1 however1 will not be a matter of granting1 but will be a matter of data--and one conventionally conceives of their surfaces quaked--even of a whole lake full of fishes being quaked and dragged down from one of them4 ,the lake full of fishes may cause a little pain to some minds1 but the fall of sand and stones is pleasantly enough thought of4 ,more scientific persons1 or more faithful hypnotics than we1 have taken up this subject1 unpainfully1 relatively to the moon4 ,for instance1 ,perrey has gone over #ae1jjj records of earthquakes1 and he has correlated many with proximities of the moon1 or has attributed many to the pull of the moon when nearest this earth4 ,also there is a paper upon this subject in the ,proc4 ,roy4 ,soc4 of ,cornwall1 #ahde4 ,or1 theoretically1 when at its closest to this earth1 the moon quakes the face of this earth1 and is itself quaked--but does not itself fall to this earth4 ,as to showers of matter that may have come from the moon at such times--one can go over old records and find what one pleases4 ,that is what we now shall do4 ,our expressions are for acceptance only4 ,our data3 ,we take them from four classes of phenomena that have preceded or accompanied earthquakes3 ,unusual clouds1 darkness profound1 luminous appearances in the sky1 and falls of substances and objects whether commonly called meteoritic or not4 ,not one of these occurrences fits in with principles of primitive1 or primary1 seismology1 and every one of them is a datum of a quaked body passing close to this earth or suspended over it4 ,to the primitives there is not a reason in the world why a convulsion of this earth's surface should be accompanied by unusual sights in the sky1 by darkness1 or by the fall of substances or objects from the sky4 ,as to phenomena like these1 or storms1 preceding earthquakes1 the irreconcilability is still greater4 ,it was before #ahfj that ,perrey made his great compilation4 ,we take most of our data from lists compiled long ago4 ,only the safe and unpainful have been published in recent years--at least in ambitious1 voluminous form4 ,the restraining hand of the ,system--as we call it1 whether it has any real existence or not--is tight upon the sciences of today4 ,the uncanniest aspect of our quasi-existence that ,i know of is that everything that seems to have one identity has also as high a seeming of everything else4 ,in this oneness of allness1 or continuity1 the protecting hand strangles2 the parental stifles2 love is inseparable from phenomena of hate4 ,there is only ,continuity--that is in quasi-existence4 ,nature1 at least in its correspondents' columns1 still evades this protective strangulation1 and the ,monthly ,weather ,review is still a rich field of unfaithful observation3 but1 in looking over other long-established periodicals1 ,i have noted their glimmers of quasi-individuality fade gradually1 after about #ahfj1 and the surrender of their attempted identities to a higher attempted organization4 ,some of them1 expressing ,intermediateness-wide endeavor to localize the universal1 or to localize self1 soul1 identity1 entity--or positiveness or realness--held out until as far as #ahhj2 traces findable up to #ahij--;and then1 expressing the universal process--except that here and there in the world's history there may have been successful approximations to positiveness by individuals--who only then became individuals and attained to selves or souls of their own--surrendered1 submitted1 became parts of a higher organization's attempt to individualize or systematize into a complete thing1 or to localize the universal or the attributes of the universal4 ,after the death of ,richard ,proctor1 whose occasional illiberalities ,i'd not like to emphasize too much1 all succeeding volumes of ,knowledge have yielded scarcely an unconventionality4 ,note the great number of times that the ,american ,journal of ,science and the ,report of the ,british ,association are quoted3 note that1 after1 say1 #ahhe1 they're scarcely mentioned in these inspired but illicit pages--as by hypnosis and inertia1 we keep on saying4 ,about #ahhj4 ,throttle and disregard4 ,but the coercion could not be positive1 and many of the excommunicated continued to creep in2 or1 even to this day1 some of the strangled are faintly breathing4 ,some of our data have been hard to find4 ,we could tell stories of great labor and fruitless quests that would1 though perhaps imperceptibly1 stir the sympathy of a ,mr4 ,symons4 ,but1 in this matter of concurrence of earthquakes with aerial phenomena1 which are as unassociable with earthquakes1 if internally caused1 as falls of sand on convulsed small boys full of sour apples1 the abundance of so-called evidence is so great that we can only sketchily go over the data1 beginning with ,robert ,mallet's ,catalogue 7,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #aheb71 omitting some extraordinary instances1 because they occurred before the eighteenth century3 ,earthquake preceded by a violent tempest1 ,england1 ,jan4 #h1 #agjd--preceded by a brilliant meteor1 ,switzerland1 ,nov4 #d1 #agjd--luminous cloud1 moving at high velocity1 disappearing behind the horizon1 ,florence1 ,dec4 #i1 #agca--thick mists in the air1 through which a dim light was seen3 several weeks before the shock1 globes of light had been seen in the air1 ,swabia1 ,may #bb1 #agcb--rain of earth1 ,carpentras1 ,france1 ,oct4 #ah1 #agcg--;a black cloud1 ,london1 ,march #ai1 #agej--violent storm and a strange star of octagonal shape1 ,slavange1 ,norway1 ,april #ae1 #ageb--;balls of fire from a streak in the sky1 ,augermannland1 #ageb--numerous meteorites1 ,lisbon1 ,oct4 #ae1 #agee--terrible tempests over and over--falls of hail and brilliant meteors1 instance after instance--an immense globe1 ,switzerland1 ,nov4 #b1 #agfa--oblong1 sulphurous cloud1 ,germany1 ,april1 #agfg--;extraordinary mass of vapor1 ,boulogne1 ,april1 #aghj--;heavens obscured by a dark mist1 ,grenada1 ,aug4 #g1 #ahjd--strange1 howling noises in the air1 and large spots obscuring the sun1 ,palermo1 ,italy1 ,april #af1 #ahag--luminous meteor moving in the same direction as the shock1 ,naples1 ,nov4 #bb1 #ahba--;fire ball appearing in the sky3 apparent size of the moon1 ,thuringerwald1 ,nov4 #bi1 #ahca4 ,and1 unless you be polarized by the ,new ,dominant1 which is calling for recognition of multiplicities of external things1 as a ,dominant1 dawning new over ,europe in #adib1 called for recognition of terrestrial externality to ,europe--unless you have this contact with the new1 you have no affinity for these data--beans that drop from a magnet--irreconcilables that glide from the mind of a ,thomson-- ,or my own acceptance that we do not really think at all2 that we correlate around super-magnets that ,i call ,dominants--a ,spiritual ,dominant in one age1 and responsively to it up spring monasteries1 and the stake and the cross are its symbols3 a ,materialist ,dominant1 and up spring laboratories1 and microscopes and telescopes and crucibles are its ikons--that we're nothing but iron filings relatively to a succession of magnets that displace preceding magnets4 ,with no soul of your own1 and with no soul of my own--except that some day some of us may no longer be ,intermediatisms1 but may hold out against the cosmos that once upon a time thousands of fishes were cast from one pail of water--we have psycho-valency for these data1 if we're obedient slaves to the ,new ,dominant1 and repulsion to them1 if we're mere correlates to the ,old ,dominant4 ,i'm a soulless and selfless correlate to the ,new ,dominant1 myself3 ,i see what ,i have to see4 ,the only inducement ,i can hold out1 in my attempt to rake up disciples1 is that some day the ,new will be fashionable3 the new correlates will sneer at the old correlates4 ,after all1 there is some inducement to that--and ,i'm not altogether sure it's desirable to end up as a fixed star4 ,as a correlate to the ,new ,dominant1 ,i am very much impressed with some of these data--the luminous object that moved in the same direction as an earthquake--it seems very acceptable that a quake followed this thing as it passed near this earth's surface4 ,the streak that was seen in the sky--or only a streak that was visible of another world--and objects1 or meteorites1 that were shaken down from it4 ,the quake at ,carpentras1 ,france3 and that1 above ,carpentras1 was a smaller world1 more violently quaked1 so that earth was shaken down from it4 ,but ,i like best the super-wolves that were seen to cross the sun during the earthquake at ,palermo4 ,they howled4 ,or the loves of the worlds4 ,the call they feel for one another4 ,they try to move closer and howl when they get there4 ,the howls of the planets4 ,i have discovered a new unintelligibility4 ,in the ,edinburgh ,new ,philosophical ,journal--have to go away back to #ahda--;days of less efficient strangulation--,sir ,david ,milne lists phenomena of quakes in ,great ,britain4 ,i pick out a few that indicate to me that other worlds were near this earth's surface3 ,violent storm before a shock of #agjc--;ball of fire preceding1 #agej--;a large ball of fire seen upon day following a quake1 #agee--uncommon phenomenon in the air3 a large luminous body1 bent like a crescent1 which stretched itself over the heavens1 #ahaf--vast ball of fire1 #agej--;black rains and black snows1 #agee--numerous instances of upward projection--or upward attraction8--during quakes--preceded by a cloud1 very black and lowering1 #agie--;fall of black powder1 preceding a quake1 by six hours1 #ahcg4 ,some of these instances seem to me to be very striking--a smaller world3 it is greatly racked by the attraction of this earth--black substance is torn down from it--not until six hours later1 after an approach still closer1 does this earth suffer perturbation4 ,as to the extraordinary spectacle of a thing1 world1 super-construction1 that was seen in the sky1 in #ahaf1 ,i have not yet been able to find out more4 ,i think that here our acceptance is relatively sound3 that this occurrence was tremendously of more importance than such occurrence as1 say1 transits of ,venus1 upon which hundreds of papers have been written--that not another mention have ,i found1 though ,i have not looked so especially as ,i shall look for more data--that all but undetailed record of this occurrence was suppressed4 ,altogether we have considerable agreement here between data of vast masses that do not fall to this earth1 but from which substances fall1 and data of fields of ice from which ice may not fall1 but from which water may drip4 ,i'm beginning to modify3 that1 at a distance from this earth1 gravitation has more effect than we have supposed1 though less effect than the dogmatists suppose and prove4 ,i'm coming out stronger for the acceptance of a ,neutral ,zone--that this earth1 like other magnets1 has a neutral zone1 in which is the ,super-,sargasso ,sea1 and in which other worlds may be buoyed up1 though projecting parts may be subject to this earth's attraction-- ,but my preference3 ,here are the data4 ,i now have one of the most interesting of the new correlates4 ,i think ,i should have brought it in before1 but1 whether out of place here1 because not accompanied by earthquake1 or not1 we'll have it4 ,i offer it as an instance of an eclipse1 by a vast1 dark body1 that has been seen and reported by an astronomer4 ,the astronomer is ,m4 ,lias3 the phenomenon was seen by him1 at ,pernambuco1 ,april #aa1 #ahfj4 ,comptes ,rendus1 #ej-aaig3 ,it was about noon--sky cloudless--suddenly the light of the sun was diminished4 ,the darkness increased1 and1 to illustrate its intensity1 we are told that the planet ,venus shone brilliant4 ,but ,venus was of low visibility at this time4 ,the observation that burns incense to the ,new ,dominant is3 ,that around the sun appeared a corona4 ,there are many other instances that indicate proximity of other world's during earthquakes4 ,i note a few--quake and an object in the sky1 called a large1 luminous meteor 7,quar4 ,jour4 ,roy4 ,inst41 #e-acb72 luminous body in the sky1 earthquake1 and fall of sand1 ,italy1 ,feb4 #ab and #ac1 #ahgj 7,la ,science ,pour ,tous1 #ae-aei72 many reports upon luminous object in the sky and earthquake1 ,connecticut1 ,feb4 #bg1 #ahhc 7,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,february1 #ahhc72 luminous object1 or meteor1 in the sky1 fall of stones from the sky1 and earthquake1 ,italy1 ,jan4 #bj1 #ahia 7,l',astronomie1 #ahia-aed72 earthquake and prodigious number of luminous bodies1 or globes1 in the air1 ,boulogne1 ,france1 ,june #g1 #aggi 7,sestier1 ,la ,foudre1 #a-afi72 earthquake at ,manila1 #ahfc1 and curious luminous appearance in the sky 7,ponton1 ,earthquakes1 p4 #abd74 ,the most notable appearance of fishes during an earthquake is that of ,riobamba4 ,humboldt sketched one of them1 and it's an uncanny-looking thing4 ,thousands of them appeared upon the ground during this tremendous earthquake4 ,humboldt says that they were cast up from subterranean sources4 ,i think not myself1 and have data for thinking not1 but there'd be such a row arguing back and forth that it's simpler to consider a clearer instance of the fall of living fishes from the sky1 during an earthquake4 ,i can't quite accept1 myself1 whether a large lake1 and all the fishes in it1 was torn down from some other world1 or a lake in the ,super-,sargasso ,sea1 distracted between two pulling worlds1 was dragged down to this earth-- ,here are the data3 ,la ,science ,pour ,tous1 #f-aia3 ,feb4 #af1 #ahfa4 ,an earthquake at ,singapore4 ,then came an extraordinary downpour of rain--or as much water as any good-sized lake would consist of4 ,for three days this rain or this fall of water came down in torrents4 ,in pools on the ground1 formed by this deluge1 great numbers of fishes were found4 ,the writer says that he had1 himself1 seen nothing but water fall from the sky4 ,whether ,i'm emphasizing what a deluge it was or not1 he says that so terrific had been the downpour that he had not been able to see three steps away from him4 ,the natives said that the fishes had fallen from the sky4 ,three days later the pools dried up and many dead fishes were found1 but1 in the first place--though that's an expression for which we have an instinctive dislike--the fishes had been active and uninjured4 ,then follows material for another of our little studies in the phenomena of disregard4 ,a psycho-tropism here is mechanically to take pen in hand and mechanically write that fishes found on the ground after a heavy rainfall came from overflowing streams4 ,the writer of the account says that some of the fishes had been found in his courtyard1 which was surrounded by high walls--paying no attention to this1 a correspondent 7,la ,science ,pour ,tous1 #f-cag7 explains that in the heavy rain a body of water had probably overflowed1 carrying fishes with it4 ,we are told by the first writer that these fishes of ,singapore were of a species that was very abundant near ,singapore4 ,so ,i think1 myself1 that a whole lakeful of them had been shaken down from the ,super-,sargasso ,sea1 under the circumstances we have thought of4 ,however1 if appearance of strange fishes after an earthquake be more pleasing in the sight1 or to the nostrils1 of the ,new ,dominant1 we faithfully and piously supply that incense--,an account of the occurrence at ,singapore was read by ,m4 de ,castelnau1 before the ,french ,academy4 ,m4 de ,castelnau recalled that1 upon a former occasion1 he had submitted to the ,academy the circumstance that fishes of a new species had appeared at the ,cape of ,good ,hope1 after an earthquake4 ,it seems proper1 and it will give luster to the new orthodoxy1 now to have an instance in which1 not merely quake and fall of rocks or meteorites1 or quake and either eclipse or luminous appearances in the sky have occurred1 but in which are combined all the phenomena1 one or more of which1 when accompanying earthquake1 indicate1 in our acceptance1 the proximity of another world4 ,this time a longer duration is indicated than in other instances4 ,in the ,canadian ,institute ,proceedings1 #b-g-aih1 there is an account1 by the ,deputy ,commissioner at ,dhurmsalla1 of the extraordinary ,dhurmsalla meteorite--coated with ice4 ,but the combination of events related by him is still more extraordinary3 ,that within a few months of the fall of this meteorite there had been a fall of live fishes at ,benares1 a shower of red substance at ,furruckabad1 a dark spot observed on the disk of the sun1 an earthquake1 an unnatural darkness of some duration1 and a luminous appearance in the sky that looked like an aurora borealis-- ,but there's more to this climax3 ,we are introduced to a new order of phenomena3 ,visitors4 ,the ,deputy ,commissioner writes that1 in the evening1 after the fall of the ,dhurmsalla meteorite1 or mass of stone covered with ice1 he saw lights4 ,some of them were not very high4 ,they appeared and went out and reappeared4 ,i have read many accounts of the ,dhurmsalla meteorite--,july #bh1 #ahfj--;but never in any other of them a mention of this new correlate--something as out of place in the nineteenth century as would have been an aeroplane--the invention of which would not1 in our acceptance1 have been permitted1 in the nineteenth century1 though adumbrations to it were permitted4 ,this writer says that the lights moved like fire balloons1 but3 ,i am sure that they were neither fire balloons1 lanterns1 nor bonfires1 or any other thing of that sort1 but bona fide lights in the heavens4 ,it's a subject for which we shall have to have a separate expression--trespassers upon territory to which something else has a legal right--perhaps someone lost a rock1 and he and his friends came down looking for it1 in the evening--or secret agents1 or emissaries1 who had an appointment with certain esoteric ones near ,dhurmsalla--things or beings coming down to explore1 and unable to stay down long-- ,in a way1 another strange occurrence during an earthquake is suggested4 ,the ancient ,chinese tradition--the marks like hoof marks in the ground4 ,we have thought--with a low degree of acceptance--of another world that may be in secret communication with certain esoteric ones of this earth's inhabitants--and of messages in symbols like hoof marks that are sent to some receptor1 or special hill1 upon this earth--and of messages that at times miscarry4 ,this other world comes close to this world--there are quakes--but advantage of proximity is taken to send a message--the message1 designed for a receptor in ,india1 perhaps1 or in ,central ,europe1 miscarries all the way to ,england--marks like the marks of the ,chinese tradition are found upon a beach1 in ,cornwall1 after an earthquake-- ,phil4 ,trans41 #ej-ejj3 ,after the quake of ,july #ae1 #ageg1 upon the sands of ,penzance1 ,cornwall1 in an area of more than #ajj square yards1 were found marks like hoof prints1 except that they were not crescentic4 ,we feel a similarity1 but note an arbitrary disregard of our own1 this time4 ,it seems to us that marks described as little cones surrounded by basins of equal diameter would be like hoof prints1 if hoofs printed complete circles4 ,other disregards are that there were black specks on the tops of cones1 as if something1 perhaps gaseous1 had issued from them2 that from one of these formations came a gush of water as thick as a man's wrist4 ,of course the opening of springs is common in earthquakes--but we suspect1 myself1 that the ,negative ,absolute is compelling us to put in this datum and its disorders4 ,there's another matter in which the ,negative ,absolute seems to work against us4 ,though to super-chemistry1 we have introduced the principle of celestio-metathesis1 we have no good data of exchange of substances during proximities4 ,the data are all of falls and not of upward translations4 ,of course upward impulses are common during earthquakes1 but ,i haven't a datum upon a tree or a fish or a brick or a man that ever did go up and stay up and that never did come down again4 ,our classic of the horse and barn occurred in what was called a whirlwind4 ,it is said that1 in an earthquake in ,calabria1 paving stones shot up far in the air4 ,the writer doesn't specifically say that they came down again1 but something seems to tell me they did4 ,the corpses of ,riobamba4 ,humboldt reported that1 in the quake of ,riobamba1 bodies were torn upward from graves2 that the vertical motion was so strong that bodies were tossed several hundred feet in the air4 ,i explain4 ,i explain that1 if in the center of greatest violence of an earthquake1 anything ever has gone up1 and has kept on going up1 the thoughts of the nearest observers were very likely upon other subjects4 ,the quay of ,lisbon4 ,we are told that it went down4 ,a vast throng of persons ran to the quay for refuge4 ,the city of ,lisbon was in profound darkness4 ,the quay and all the people on it disappeared4 ,if it and they went down--not a single corpse1 not a shred of clothing1 not a plank of the quay1 nor so much as a splinter of it ever floated to the surface4 #ah ,the ,new ,dominant4 ,i mean primarily all that opposes ,exclusionism-- ,that ,development or ,progress or ,evolution is ,attempt to ,positivize1 and is a mechanism by which a positive existence is recruited--that what we call existence is a womb of infinitude1 and is itself only incubatory--that eventually all attempts are broken down by the falsely excluded4 ,subjectively1 the breaking down is aided by our own sense of false and narrow limitations4 ,so the classic and academic artists wrought positivist paintings1 and expressed the only ideal that ,i am conscious of1 though we so often hear of ideals instead of different manifestations1 artistically1 scientifically1 theologically1 politically1 of the ,one ,ideal4 ,they sought to satisfy1 in its artistic aspect1 cosmic craving for unity or completeness1 sometimes called harmony1 called beauty in some aspects4 ,by disregard they sought completeness4 ,but the light-effects that they disregarded1 and their narrow confinement to standardized subjects brought on the revolt of the ,impressionists4 ,so the ,puritans tried to systematize1 and they disregarded physical needs1 or vices1 or relaxations3 they were invaded and overthrown when their narrowness became obvious and intolerable4 ,all things strive for positiveness1 for themselves1 or for quasi-systems of which they are parts4 ,formality and the mathematic1 the regular and the uniform are aspects of the positive state--but the ,positive is the ,universal--so all attempted positiveness that seems to satisfy in the aspects of formality and regularity1 sooner or later disqualifies in the aspect of wideness or universalness4 ,so there is revolt against the science of today1 because the formulated utterances that were regarded as final truths in a past generation1 are now seen to be insufficiencies4 ,every pronouncement that has opposed our own acceptances has been found to be a composition like any academic painting3 something that is arbitrarily cut off from relations with environment1 or framed off from interfering and disturbing data1 or outlined with disregards4 ,our own attempt has been to take in the included1 but also to take in the excluded into wider expressions4 ,we accept1 however1 that for every one of our expressions there are irreconcilables somewhere--that final utterance would include all things4 ,however1 of such is the gossip of angels4 ,the final is unutterable in quasi-existence1 where to think is to include but also to exclude1 or be not final4 ,if we admit that for every opinion we have expressed1 there must somewhere be an irreconcilable1 we are ,intermediatists and not positivists2 not even higher positivists4 ,of course it may be that some day we shall systematize and dogmatize and refuse to think of anything that we may be accused of disregarding1 and believe instead of merely accepting3 then1 if we could have a wider system1 which would acknowledge no irreconcilables we'd be higher positivists4 ,so long as we only accept1 we are not higher positivists1 but our feeling is that the ,new ,dominant1 even though we have thought of it only as another enslavement1 will be the nucleus for higher positivism--and that it will be the means of elevating into infinitude a new batch of fixed stars--until1 as a recruiting instrument1 it1 too1 will play out1 and will give way to some new medium for generating absoluteness4 ,it is our acceptance that all astronomers of today have lost their souls1 or1 rather1 all chance of attaining ,entity1 but that ,copernicus and ,kepler and ,galileo and ,newton1 and1 conceivably1 ,leverrier are now fixed stars4 ,some day ,i shall attempt to identify them4 ,in all this1 ,i think we're quite a ,moses4 ,we point out the ,promised ,land1 but1 unless we be cured of our ,intermediatism1 will never be reported in ,monthly ,notices1 ourself4 ,in our acceptance1 ,dominants1 in their succession1 displace preceding ,dominants not only because they are more nearly positive1 but because the old ,dominants1 as recruiting mediums1 play out4 ,our expression is that the ,new ,dominant1 of ,wider ,inclusions1 is now manifesting throughout the world1 and that the old ,exclusionism is everywhere breaking down4 ,in physics ,exclusionism is breaking down by its own researches in radium1 for instance1 and in its speculations upon electrons1 or its merging away into metaphysics1 and by the desertion that has been going on for many years1 by such men as ,gurney1 ,crookes1 ,wallace1 ,flammarion1 ,lodge1 to formerly disregarded phenomena--no longer called spiritualism but now psychic research4 ,biology is in chaos3 conventional ,darwinites mixed up with mutationists and orthogenesists and followers of ,wisemann1 who take from ,darwinism one of its pseudo-bases1 and nevertheless try to reconcile their heresies with orthodoxy4 ,the painters are metaphysicians and psychologists4 ,the breaking down of ,exclusionism in ,china and ,japan and in the ,united ,states has astonished ,history4 ,the science of astronomy is going downward so that1 though ,pickering1 for instance1 did speculate upon a ,trans-,neptunian planet1 and ,lowell did try to have accepted heretical ideas as to marks on ,mars1 attention is now minutely focused upon such technicalities as variations in shades of ,jupiter's fourth satellite4 ,i think that1 in general acceptance1 over-refinement indicates decadence4 ,i think that the stronghold of ,inclusionism is in aeronautics4 ,i think that the stronghold of the ,old ,dominant1 when it was new1 was in the invention of the telescope4 ,or that coincidentally with the breakdown of ,exclusionism appears the means of finding out--whether there are vast aerial fields of ice and floating lakes full of frogs and fishes or not--where carved stones and black substances and great quantities of vegetable matter and flesh1 which may be dragons' flesh1 come from--whether there are inter-planetary trade routes and vast areas devastated by ,super-,tamerlanes--whether sometimes there are visitors to this earth--who might be pursued and captured and questioned4 #ai ,i have industriously sought data for an expression upon birds1 but the prospecting has not been very quasi-satisfactory4 ,i think ,i rather emphasize our industriousness1 because a charge likely to be brought against the attitude of ,acceptance is that one who only accepts must be one of languid interest and little application of energy4 ,it doesn't seem to work out3 we are very industrious4 ,i suggest to some of our disciples that they look into the matter of messages upon pigeons1 of course attributed to earthly owners1 but said to be undecipherable4 ,i'd do it1 ourselves1 only that would be selfish4 ,that's more of the ,intermediatism that will keep us out of the firmament3 ,positivism is absolute egoism4 ,but look back in the time of ,andree's ,polar ,expedition4 ,pigeons that would have no publicity ordinarily1 were often reported at that time4 ,in the ,zoologist1 #c-ah-ba1 is recorded an instance of a bird 7puffin7 that had fallen to the ground with a fractured head4 ,interesting1 but mere speculation--but what solid object1 high in the air1 had that bird struck against8 ,tremendous red rain in ,france1 ,oct4 #af and #ag1 #ahdf2 great storm at the time1 and red rain supposed to have been colored by matter swept up from this earth's surface1 and then precipitated 7,comptes ,rendus1 #bc-hcb74 ,but in ,comptes ,rendus1 #bd-fbe1 the description of this red rain differs from one's impression of red1 sandy or muddy water4 ,it is said that this rain was so vividly red and so blood-like that many persons in ,france were terrified4 ,two analyses are given 7,comptes ,rendus1 #bd-hab74 ,one chemist notes a great quantity of corpuscles--whether blood-like corpuscles or not--in the matter4 ,the other chemist sets down organic matter at #ce per cent4 ,it may be that an inter-planetary dragon had been slain somewhere1 or that this red fluid1 in which were many corpuscles1 came from something not altogether pleasant to contemplate1 about the size of the ,catskill ,mountains1 perhaps--but the present datum is that with this substance1 larks1 quail1 ducks1 and water hens1 some of them alive1 fell at ,lyons and ,grenoble and other places4 ,i have notes upon other birds that have fallen from the sky1 but unaccompanied by the red rain that makes the fall of birds in ,france peculiar1 and very peculiar1 if it be accepted that the red substance was extra-mundane4 ,the other notes are upon birds that have fallen from the sky1 in the midst of storms1 or of exhausted1 but living1 birds1 falling not far from a storm-area4 ,but now we shall have an instance for which ,i can find no parallel3 fall of dead birds1 from a clear sky1 far-distant from any storm to which they could be attributed--so remote from any discoverable storm that-- ,my own notion is that1 in the summer of #ahif1 something1 or some beings1 came as near to this earth as they could1 upon a hunting expedition2 that1 in the summer of #ahif1 an expedition of super-scientists passed over this earth1 and let down a dragnet--and what would it catch1 sweeping through the air1 supposing it to have reached not quite to this earth8 ,in the ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,may1 #aiag1 ,w4,l4 ,mc,atee quotes from the ,baton ,rouge correspondence to the ,philadelphia ,times3 ,that1 in the summer of #ahif1 into the streets of ,baton ,rouge1 ,la41 and from a clear sky1 fell hundreds of dead birds4 ,there were wild ducks and cat birds1 woodpeckers1 and many birds of strange plumage1 some of them resembling canaries4 ,usually one does not have to look very far from any place to learn of a storm4 ,but the best that could be done in this instance was to say3 ,there had been a storm on the coast of ,florida4 ,and1 unless he have psycho-chemic repulsion for the explanation1 the reader feels only momentary astonishment that dead birds from a storm in ,florida should fall from an unstormy sky in ,louisiana1 and with his intellect greased like the plumage of a wild duck1 the datum then drops off4 ,our greasy1 shiny brains4 ,that they may be of some use after all3 that other modes of existence place a high value upon them as lubricants2 that we're hunted for them2 a hunting expedition to this earth--the newspapers report a tornado4 ,if from a clear sky1 or a sky in which there were no driven clouds1 or other evidences of still-continuing wind-power--or1 if from a storm in ,florida1 it could be accepted that hundreds of birds had fallen far away1 in ,louisiana1 ,i conceive1 conventionally1 of heavier objects having fallen in ,alabama1 say1 and of the fall of still heavier objects still nearer the origin in ,florida4 ,the sources of information of the ,weather ,bureau are widespread4 ,it has no records of such falls4 ,so a dragnet that was let down from above somewhere-- ,or something that ,i learned from the more scientific of the investigators of psychic phenomena3 ,the reader begins their works with prejudice against telepathy and everything else of psychic phenomena4 ,the writers deny spirit-communication1 and say that the seeming data are data of only telepathy4 ,astonishing instances of seeming clairvoyance--only telepathy4 ,after a while the reader finds himself agreeing that it's only telepathy--which1 at first1 had been intolerable to him4 ,so maybe1 in #ahif1 a super-dragnet did not sweep through this earth's atmosphere1 gathering up all the birds within its field1 the meshes then suddenly breaking-- ,or that the birds of ,baton ,rouge were only from the ,super-,sargasso ,sea-- ,upon which we shall have another expression4 ,we thought we'd settled that1 and we thought we'd establish that1 but nothing's ever settled1 and nothing's ever established1 in a real sense1 if1 in a real sense1 there is nothing in quasiness4 ,i suppose there had been a storm somewhere1 the storm in ,florida1 perhaps1 and many birds had been swept upward into the ,super-,sargasso ,sea4 ,it has frigid regions and it has tropical regions--that birds of diverse species had been swept upward1 into an icy region1 where1 huddling together for warmth1 they had died4 ,then1 later1 they had been dislodged--meteor coming along--boat--bicycle--dragon--don't know what did come along--something dislodged them4 ,so leaves of trees1 carried up there in whirlwinds1 staying there years1 ages1 perhaps only a few months1 but then falling to this earth at an unseasonable time for dead leaves--fishes carried up there1 some of them dying and drying1 some of them living in volumes of water that are in abundance up there1 or that fall sometimes in the deluges that we call cloudbursts4 ,the astronomers won't think kindly of us1 and we haven't done anything to endear ourselves to the meteorologists--but we're weak and mawkish ,intermediatists--several times we've tried to get the aeronauts with us--extraordinary things up there3 things that curators of museums would give up all hope of ever being fixed stars1 to obtain3 things left over from whirlwinds of the time of the ,pharaohs1 perhaps3 or that ,elijah did go up in the sky in something like a chariot1 and may not be ,vega1 after all1 and that there may be a wheel or so left of whatever he went up in4 ,we basely suggest that it would bring a high price--but sell soon1 because after a while there'd be thousands of them hawked around-- ,we weakly drop a hint to the aeronauts4 ,in the ,scientific ,american1 #cc-aig1 there is an account of some hay that fell from the sky4 ,from the circumstances we incline to accept that this hay went up1 in a whirlwind1 from this earth1 in the first place1 reached the ,super-,sargasso ,sea1 and remained there a long time before falling4 ,an interesting point in this expression is the usual attribution to a local and coinciding whirlwind1 and identification of it--and then data that make that local whirlwind unacceptable-- ,that1 upon ,july #bg1 #ahge1 small masses of damp hay had fallen at ,monkstown1 ,ireland4 ,in the ,dublin ,daily ,express1 ,dr4 ,j4,w4 ,moore had explained3 he had found a nearby whirlwind1 to the south of ,monkstown1 that coincided4 ,but1 according to the ,scientific ,american1 a similar fall had occurred near ,wrexham1 ,england1 two days before4 ,in ,november1 #aiah1 ,i made some studies upon light objects thrown into the air4 ,armistice-day4 ,i suppose ,i should have been more emotionally occupied1 but ,i made notes upon torn-up papers thrown high in the air from windows of office buildings4 ,scraps of paper did stay together for a while4 ,several minutes1 sometimes4 ,cosmos1 #c-d-egd3 ,that1 upon the #ajth of ,april1 #ahfi1 at ,autriche 7,indre-et-,loire7 a great number of oak leaves--enormous segregation of them--fell from the sky4 ,very calm day4 ,so little wind that the leaves fell almost vertically4 ,fall lasted about ten minutes4 ,flammarion1 in ,the ,atmosphere1 p4 #dab1 tells this story4 ,he has to find a storm4 ,he does find a squall--but it had occurred upon ,april #crd4 ,flammarion's two incredibilities are--that leaves could remain a week in the air3 that they could stay together a week in the air4 ,think of some of your own observations upon papers thrown from an aeroplane4 ,our one incredibility3 ,that these leaves had been whirled up six months before1 when they were common on the ground1 and had been sustained1 of course not in the air1 but in a region gravitationally inert2 and had been precipitated by the disturbances of ,april rains4 ,i have no records of leaves that have so fallen from the sky in ,october or ,november1 the season when one might expect dead leaves to be raised from one place and precipitated somewhere else4 ,i emphasize that this occurred in ,april4 ,la ,nature1 #ahhi-b-id3 ,that1 upon ,april #ai1 #ahhi1 dried leaves1 of different species1 oak1 elm1 etc41 fell from the sky4 ,this day1 too1 was a calm day4 ,the fall was tremendous4 ,the leaves were seen to fall fifteen minutes1 but1 judging from the quantity on the ground1 it is the writer's opinion that they had already been falling half an hour4 ,i think that the geyser of corpses that sprang from ,riobamba toward the sky must have been an interesting sight4 ,if ,i were a painter1 ,i'd like that subject4 ,but this cataract of dried leaves1 too1 is a study in the rhythms of the dead4 ,in this datum1 the point most agreeable to us is the very point that the writer in ,la ,nature emphasizes4 ,windlessness4 ,he says that the surface of the ,loire was absolutely smooth4 ,the river was strewn with leaves as far as he could see4 ,l',astronomie1 #ahid-aid3 ,that1 upon the #gth of ,april1 #ahid1 dried leaves fell at ,clairvaux and ,outre-,aube1 ,france4 ,the fall is described as prodigious4 ,half an hour4 ,then1 upon the #aath1 a fall of dried leaves occurred at ,pontcarre4 ,it is in this recurrence that we found some of our opposition to the conventional explanation4 ,the ,editor 7,flammarion7 explains4 ,he says that the leaves had been caught up in a cyclone which had expended its force2 that the heavier leaves had fallen first4 ,we think that that was all right for #ahid1 and that it was quite good enough for #ahid4 ,but1 in these more exacting days1 we want to know how wind-power insufficient to hold some leaves in the air could sustain others four days4 ,the factors in this expression are unseasonableness1 not for dried leaves1 but for prodigious numbers of dried leaves2 direct fall1 windlessness1 month of ,april1 and localization in ,france4 ,the factor of localization is interesting4 ,not a note have ,i upon fall of leaves from the sky1 except these notes4 ,were the conventional explanation1 or old correlate acceptable1 it would seem that similar occurrences in other regions should be as frequent as in ,france4 ,the indication is that there may be quasi-permanent undulations in the ,super-,sargasso ,sea1 or a pronounced inclination toward ,france-- ,inspiration3 ,that there may be a nearby world complementary to this world1 where autumn occurs at the time that is springtime here4 ,let some disciple have that4 ,but there may be a dip toward ,france1 so that leaves that are borne high there1 are more likely to be held in suspension than highflying leaves elsewhere4 ,some other time ,i shall take up ,super-geography1 and be guilty of charts4 ,i think1 now1 that the ,super-,sargasso ,sea is an oblique belt1 with changing ramifications1 over ,great ,britain1 ,france1 ,italy1 and on to ,india4 ,relatively to the ,united ,states ,i am not very clear1 but think especially of the ,southern ,states4 ,the preponderance of our data indicates frigid regions aloft4 ,nevertheless such phenomena as putrefaction have occurred often enough to make super-tropical regions1 also1 acceptable4 ,we shall have one more datum upon the ,super-,sargasso ,sea4 ,it seems to me that1 by this time1 our requirements of support and reinforcement and agreement have been quite as rigorous for acceptance as ever for belief3 at least for full acceptance4 ,by virtue of mere acceptance1 we may1 in some later book1 deny the ,super-,sargasso ,sea1 and find that our data relate to some other complementary world instead--or the moon--and have abundant data for accepting that the moon is not more than twenty or thirty miles away4 ,however1 the ,super-,sargasso ,sea functions very well as a nucleus around which to gather data that oppose ,exclusionism4 ,that is our main motive3 to oppose ,exclusionism4 ,or our agreement with cosmic processes4 ,the climax of our general expression upon the ,super-,sargasso ,sea4 ,coincidentally appears something else that may overthrow it later4 ,notes and ,queries1 #h-ab-bbh3 ,that in the province of ,macerata1 ,italy 7summer of #ahig87 an immense number of small1 blood-colored clouds covered the sky4 ,about an hour later a storm broke1 and myriad seeds fell to the ground4 ,it is said that they were identified as products of a tree found only in ,central ,africa and the ,antilles4 ,if--in terms of conventional reasoning--these seeds had been high in the air1 they had been in a cold region4 ,but it is our acceptance that these seeds had1 for a considerable time1 been in a warm region1 and for a time longer than is attributable to suspension by wind-power3 ,it is said that a great number of the seeds were in the first stage of germination4 #bj ,the ,new ,dominant4 ,inclusionism4 ,in it we have a pseudo-standard4 ,we have a datum1 and we give it an interpretation1 in accordance with our pseudo-standard4 ,at present we have not the delusions of ,absolutism that may have translated some of the positivists of the nineteenth century to heaven4 ,we are ,intermediatists--but feel a lurking suspicion that we may some day solidify and dogmatize and illiberalize into higher positivists4 ,at present we do not ask whether something be reasonable or preposterous1 because we recognize that by reasonableness and preposterousness are meant agreement and disagreement with a standard--which must be a delusion--though not absolutely1 of course--and must some day be displaced by a more advanced quasi-delusion4 ,scientists in the past have taken the positivist attitude--is this or that reasonable or unreasonable8 ,analyze them and we find that they meant relatively to a standard1 such as ,newtonism1 ,daltonism1 ,darwinism1 or ,lyellism4 ,but they have written and spoken and thought as if they could mean real reasonableness and real unreasonableness4 ,so our pseudo-standard is ,inclusionism1 and1 if a datum be a correlate to a more widely inclusive outlook as to this earth and its externality and relations with externality1 its harmony with ,inclusionism admits it4 ,such was the process1 and such was the requirement for admission in the days of the ,old ,dominant3 our difference is in underlying ,intermediatism1 or consciousness that though we're more nearly real1 we and our standards are only quasi-- ,or that all things--in our intermediate state--are phantoms in a super-mind in a dreaming state--but striving to awaken to realness4 ,though in some respects our own ,intermediatism is unsatisfactory1 our underlying feeling is-- ,that in a dreaming mind awakening is accelerated--if phantoms in that mind know that they're only phantoms in a dream4 ,of course1 they too are quasi1 or--but in a relative sense--they have an essence of what is called realness4 ,they are derived from experience or from senes-relations1 even though grotesque distortions4 ,it seems acceptable that a table that is seen when one is awake is more nearly real than a dreamed table1 which1 with fifteen or twenty legs1 chases one4 ,so now1 in the twentieth century1 with a change of terms1 and a change in underlying consciousness1 our attitude toward the ,new ,dominant is the attitude of the scientists of the nineteenth century to the ,old ,dominant4 ,we do not insist that our data and interpretations shall be as shocking1 grotesque1 evil1 ridiculous1 childish1 insincere1 laughable1 ignorant to nineteenth-centuryites as were their data and interpretations to the medieval-minded4 ,we ask only whether data and interpretations correlate4 ,if they do1 they are acceptable1 perhaps only for a short time1 or as nuclei1 or scaffolding1 or preliminary sketches1 or as gropings and tentativenesses4 ,later1 of course1 when we cool off and harden and radiate into space most of our present mobility1 which expresses in modesty and plasticity1 we shall acknowledge no scaffoldings1 gropings or tentativenesses1 but think we utter absolute facts4 ,a point in ,intermediatism here is opposed to most current speculations upon ,development4 ,usually one thinks of the spiritual as higher than the material1 but1 in our acceptance1 quasi-existence is a means by which the absolutely immaterial materializes absolutely1 and1 being intermediate1 is a state in which nothing is finally either immaterial or material1 all objects1 substances1 thoughts1 occupying some grade of approximation one way or the other4 ,final solidification of the ethereal is1 to us1 the goal of cosmic ambition4 ,positivism is ,puritanism4 ,heat is ,evil4 ,final ,good is ,absolute ,frigidity4 ,an ,arctic winter is very beautiful1 but ,i think that an interest in monkeys chattering in palm trees accounts for our own ,intermediatism4 ,visitors4 ,our confusion here1 out of which we are attempting to make quasi-order1 is as great as it has been throughout this book1 because we have not the positivist's delusion of homogeneity4 ,a positivist would gather all data that seem to relate to one kind of visitors and coldly disregard all other data4 ,i think of as many different kinds of visitors to this earth as there are visitors to ,new ,york1 to a jail1 to a church--some persons go to church to pick pockets1 for instance4 ,my own acceptance is that either a world or a vast super-construction--or a world1 if red substances and fishes fell from it--hovered over ,india in the summer of #ahfj4 ,something then fell from somewhere1 ,july #ag1 #ahfj1 at ,dhurmsalla4 ,whatever it was1 it is so persistently alluded to as a meteorite that ,i look back and see that ,i adopted this convention myself4 ,but in the ,london ,times1 ,dec4 #bf1 #ahfj1 ,syed ,abdoolah1 ,professor of ,hindustani1 ,university ,college1 ,london1 writes that he had sent to a friend in ,dhurmsalla1 for an account of the stones that had fallen at that place4 ,the answer3 444 divers forms and sizes1 many of which bore great resemblance to ordinary cannon balls just discharged from engines of war4 ,it's an addition to our data of spherical objects that have arrived upon this earth4 ,note that they are spherical stone objects4 ,and1 in the evening of this same day that something--took a shot at ,dhurmsalla--or sent objects upon which there may be decipherable markings--lights were seen in the air-- ,i think1 myself1 of a number of things1 beings1 whatever they were1 trying to get down1 but resisted1 like balloonists1 at a certain altitude1 trying to get farther up1 but resisted4 ,not in the least except to good positivists1 or the homogeneous-minded1 does this speculation interfere with the concept of some other world that is in successful communication with certain esoteric ones upon this earth1 by a code of symbols that print in rock1 like symbols of telephotographers in selenium4 ,i think that sometimes1 in favorable circumstances1 emissaries have come to this earth--secret meetings-- ,of course it sounds-- ,but3 ,secret meetings--emissaries--esoteric ones in ,europe1 before the war broke out-- ,and those who suggested that such phenomena could be4 ,however1 as to most of our data1 ,i think of super-things that have passed close to this earth with no more interest in this earth than have passengers upon a steamship in the bottom of the sea--or passengers may have a keen interest1 but circumstances of schedules and commercial requirements forbid investigation of the bottom of the sea4 ,then1 on the other hand1 we may have data of super-scientific attempts to investigate phenomena of this earth from above--perhaps by beings from so far away that they had never even heard that something1 somewhere1 asserts a legal right to this earth4 ,altogether1 we're good intermediatists1 but we can't be very good hypnotists4 ,still another source of the merging away of our data3 ,that1 upon general principles of ,continuity1 if super-vessels1 or super-vehicles1 have traversed this earth's atmosphere1 there must be mergers between them and terrestrial phenomena3 observations upon them must merge away into observations upon clouds and balloons and meteors4 ,we shall begin with data that we cannot distinguish ourselves and work our way out of mergers into extremes4 ,in the ,observatory1 #ce-afh1 it is said that1 according to a newspaper1 ,march #f1 #aiab1 residents of ,warmley1 ,england1 were greatly excited by something that was supposed to be a splendidly illuminated aeroplane1 passing over the village4 ,the machine was apparently traveling at a tremendous rate1 and came from the direction of ,bath1 and went on toward ,gloucester4 ,the ,editor says that it was a large1 triple-headed fireball4 ,tremendous indeed6 he says4 ,but we are prepared for anything nowadays4 ,that is satisfactory4 ,we'd not like to creep up stealthily and then jump out of a corner with our data4 ,this ,editor1 at least1 is prepared to read-- ,nature1 ,oct4 #bg1 #ahih3 ,a correspondent writes that1 in the ,county ,wicklow1 ,ireland1 at about #f o'clock in the evening1 he had seen1 in the sky1 an object that looked like the moon in its three-quarter aspect4 ,we note the shape which approximates to triangularity1 and we note that in color it is said to have been golden yellow4 ,it moved slowly1 and in about five minutes disappeared behind a mountain4 ,the ,editor gives his opinion that the object may have been an escaped balloon4 ,in ,nature1 ,aug4 #aa1 #ahih1 there is a story1 taken from the ,july number of the ,canadian ,weather ,review1 by the meteorologist1 ,f4,f4 ,payne3 that he had seen1 in the ,canadian sky1 a large1 pear-shaped object1 sailing rapidly4 ,at first he supposed that the object was a balloon1 its outline being sharply defined4 ,but1 as no cage was seen1 it was concluded that it must be a mass of cloud4 ,in about six minutes this object became less definite--whether because of increasing distance or not--the mass became less dense1 and finally it disappeared4 ,as to cyclonic formation--no whirling motion could be seen4 ,nature1 #eh-bid3 ,that1 upon ,july #h1 #ahih1 a correspondent had seen1 at ,kiel1 an object in the sky1 colored red by the sun1 which had set4 ,it was about as broad as a rainbow1 and about twelve degrees high4 ,it remained in its original brightness about five minutes1 and then faded rapidly1 and then remained almost stationary again1 finally disappearing about eight minutes after ,i first saw it4 ,in an intermediate existence1 we quasi-persons have nothing to judge by because everything is its own opposite4 ,if a hundred dollars a week be a standard of luxurious living to some persons1 it is poverty to others4 ,we have instances of three objects that were seen in the sky in a space of three months1 and this concurrence seems to me to be something to judge by4 ,science has been built upon concurrence3 so have been most of the fallacies and fanaticisms4 ,i feel the positivism of a ,leverrier1 or instinctively take to the notion that all three of these observations relate to the same object4 ,however1 ,i don't formulate them and predict the next transit4 ,here's another chance for me to become a fixed star--but as usual--oh1 well-- ,a point in ,intermediatism3 ,that the ,intermediatist is likely to be a flaccid compromiser4 ,our own attitude3 ,ours is a partly positive and partly negative state1 or a state in which nothing is finally positive or finally negative-- ,but1 if positivism attract you1 go ahead and try3 you will be in harmony with cosmic endeavor--but ,continuity will resist you4 ,only to have appearance in quasiness is to be proportionately positive1 but beyond a degree of attempted positivism1 ,continuity will rise to pull you back4 ,success1 as it is called--though there is only success-failure in ,intermediateness--will1 in ,intermediateness1 be yours proportionately as you are in adjustment with its own state1 or some positivism mixed with compromise and retreat4 ,to be very positive is to be a ,napoleon ,bonaparte1 against whom the rest of civilization will sooner or later combine4 ,for interesting data1 see newspaper accounts of fate of one ,dowie1 of ,chicago4 ,intermediatism1 then1 is recognition that our state is only a quasi-state3 it is no bar to one who desires to be positive3 it is recognition that he cannot be positive and remain in a state that is positive-negative4 ,or that a great positivist--isolated--with no system to support him--will be crucified1 or will starve to death1 or will be put in jail and beaten to death--that these are the birth-pangs of translation to the ,positive ,absolute4 ,so1 though positive-negative1 myself1 ,i feel the attraction of the positive pole of our intermediate state1 and attempt to correlate these three data3 to see them homogeneously2 to think that they relate to one object4 ,in the aeronautic journals and in the ,london ,times there is no mention of escaped balloons1 in the summer or fall of #ahih4 ,in the ,new ,york ,times there is no mention of ballooning in ,canada or the ,united ,states1 in the summer of #ahih4 ,london ,times1 ,sept4 #bi1 #ahhe3 ,a clipping from the ,royal ,gazette1 of ,bermuda1 of ,sept4 #h1 #ahhe1 sent to the ,times by ,general ,lefroy3 ,that1 upon ,aug4 #bg1 #ahhe1 at about #h3cj ,a4,m41 there was observed by ,mrs4 ,adelina ,d4 ,bassett1 a strange object in the clouds1 coming from the north4 ,she called the attention of ,mrs4 ,l4 ,lowell to it1 and they were both somewhat alarmed4 ,however1 they continued to watch the object steadily for some time4 ,it drew nearer4 ,it was of triangular shape1 and seemed to be about the size of a pilot-boat mainsail1 with chains attached to the bottom of it4 ,while crossing the land it had appeared to descend1 but1 as it went out to sea1 it ascended1 and continued to ascend1 until it was lost to sight high in the clouds4 ,or with such power to ascend1 ,i don't think much myself of the notion that it was an escaped balloon1 partly deflated4 ,nevertheless1 ,general ,lefroy1 correlating with ,exclusionism1 attempts to give a terrestrial interpretation to this occurrence4 ,he argues that the thing may have been a balloon that had escaped from ,france or ,england--or the only aerial thing of terrestrial origin that1 even to this date of about thirty-five years later1 has been thought to have crossed the ,atlantic ,ocean4 ,he accounts for the triangular form by deflation--a shapeless bag1 barely able to float4 ,my own acceptance is that great deflation does not accord with observations upon its power to ascend4 ,in the ,times1 ,oct4 #a1 #ahhe1 ,charles ,harding1 of the ,r4,m4,s41 argues that if it had been a balloon from ,europe1 surely it would have been seen and reported by many vessels4 ,whether he was as good a ,briton as the ,general or not1 he shows awareness of the ,united ,states--or that the thing may have been a partly collapsed balloon that had escaped from the ,united ,states4 ,general ,lefroy wrote to ,nature about it 7,nature1 #cc-ii71 saying--whatever his sensitivenesses may have been--that the columns of the ,times were hardly suitable for such a discussion4 ,if1 in the past1 there had been more persons like ,general ,lefroy1 we'd have better than the mere fragments of data that in most cases are too broken up very well to piece together4 ,he took the trouble to write to a friend of his1 ,w4,h4 ,gosling1 of ,bermuda--who also was an extraordinary person4 ,he went to the trouble of interviewing ,mrs4 ,bassett and ,mrs4 ,lowell4 ,their description to him was somewhat different3 ,an object from which nets were suspended-- ,deflated balloon1 with its network hanging from it-- ,a super-dragnet8 ,that something was trawling overhead8 ,the birds of ,baton ,rouge4 ,mr4 ,gosling wrote that the item of chains1 or suggestion of a basket that had been attached1 had originated with ,mr4 ,bassett1 who had not seen the object4 ,mr4 ,gosling mentioned a balloon that had escaped from ,paris in ,july4 ,he tells of a balloon that fell in ,chicago1 ,september #ag1 or three weeks later than the ,bermuda object4 ,it's one incredibility against another1 with disregards and convictions governed by whichever of the two ,dominants looms stronger in each reader's mind4 ,that he can't think for himself any more than ,i can is understood4 ,my own correlates3 ,i think that we're fished for4 ,it may be that we're highly esteemed by super-epicures somewhere4 ,it makes me more cheerful when ,i think that we may be of some use after all4 ,i think that dragnets have often come down and have been mistaken for whirlwinds and waterspouts4 ,some accounts of seeming structure in whirlwinds and waterspouts are astonishing4 ,and ,i have data that1 in this book1 ,i can't take up at all--mysterious disappearances4 ,i think we're fished for4 ,but this is a little expression on the side3 relates to trespassers2 has nothing to do with the subject that ,i shall take up at some other time--or our use to some other mode of seeming that has a legal right to us4 ,nature1 #cc-acg3 ,our ,paris correspondent writes that in relation to the balloon which is said to have been seen over ,bermuda1 in ,september1 no ascent took place in ,france which can account for it4 ,last of ,august3 not ,september4 ,in the ,london ,times there is no mention of balloon ascents in ,great ,britain1 in the summer of #ahhe1 but mention of two ascents in ,france4 ,both balloons had escaped4 ,in ,l',aeronaute1 ,august1 #ahhe1 it is said that these balloons had been sent up from fetes of the fourteenth of ,july--#dd days before the observation at ,bermuda4 ,the aeronauts were ,gower and ,eloy4 ,gower's balloon was found floating on the ocean1 but ,eloy's balloon was not found4 ,upon the #agth of ,july it was reported by a sea captain3 still in the air2 still inflated4 ,but this balloon of ,eloy's was a small exhibition balloon1 made for short ascents from fetes and fair grounds4 ,in ,la ,nature1 #ahhe-b-aca1 it is said that it was a very small balloon1 incapable of remaining long in the air4 ,as to contemporaneous ballooning in the ,united ,states1 ,i find only one account3 an ascent in ,connecticut1 ,july #bi1 #ahhe4 ,upon leaving this balloon1 the aeronauts had pulled the rip cord1 turning it inside out4 7,new ,york ,times1 ,aug4 #aj1 #ahhe47 ,to the ,intermediatist1 the accusation of anthropomorphism is meaningless4 ,there is nothing in anything that is unique or positively different4 ,we'd be materialists were it not quite as rational to express the material in terms of the immaterial as to express the immaterial in terms of the material4 ,oneness of allness in quasiness4 ,i will engage to write the formula of any novel in psycho-chemic terms1 or draw its graph in psycho-mechanic terms3 or write1 in romantic terms1 the circumstances and sequences of any chemic or electric or magnetic reaction3 or express any historic event in algebraic terms--or see ,boole and ,jevons for economic situations expressed algebraically4 ,i think of the ,dominants as ,i think of persons--not meaning that they are real persons--not meaning that we are real persons-- ,or the ,old ,dominant and its jealousy1 and its suppression of all things and thoughts that endangered its supremacy4 ,in reading discussions of papers1 by scientific societies1 ,i have often noted how1 when they approached forbidden--or irreconcilable--subjects1 the discussions were thrown into confusion and ramification4 ,it's as if scientific discussions have often been led astray--as if purposefully--as if by something directive1 hovering over them4 ,of course ,i mean only the ,spirit of all ,development4 ,just so1 in any embryo1 cells that would tend to vary from the appearances of their era are compelled to correlate4 ,in ,nature1 #ij-afi1 ,charles ,tilden ,smith writes that1 at ,chisbury1 ,wiltshire1 ,england1 ,april #h1 #aiab1 he saw something in the sky-- --unlike anything that ,i had ever seen before4 ,although ,i have studied the skies for many years1 ,i have never seen anything like it4 ,he saw two stationary dark patches upon clouds4 ,the extraordinary part3 ,they were stationary upon clouds that were rapidly moving4 ,they were fan-shaped--or triangular--and varied in size1 but kept the same position upon different clouds as cloud after cloud came along4 ,for more than half an hour ,mr4 ,smith watched these dark patches-- ,his impression as to the one that appeared first3 ,that it was really a heavy shadow cast upon a thin veil of clouds by some unseen object away in the west1 which was intercepting the sun's rays4 ,upon page #bdd1 of this volume of ,nature1 is a letter from another correspondent1 to the effect that similar shadows are cast by mountains upon clouds1 and that no doubt ,mr4 ,smith was right in attributing the appearance to some unseen object1 which was intercepting the sun's rays4 ,but the ,old ,dominant that was a jealous ,dominant1 and the wrath of the ,old ,dominant against such an irreconcilability as large1 opaque objects in the sky1 casting down shadows upon clouds4 ,still the ,dominants are suave very often1 or are not absolute gods1 and the way attention was led away from this subject is an interesting study in quasi-divine bamboozlement4 ,upon page #bfh1 ,charles ,j4,p4 ,cave1 the meteorologist1 writes that1 upon ,april #e and #h1 at ,ditcham ,park1 ,petersfield1 he had observed a similar appearance1 while watching some pilot balloons--but he describes something not in the least like a shadow on clouds1 but a stationary cloud--the inference seems to be that the shadows at ,chisbury may have been shadows of pilot balloons4 ,upon page #cbb1 another correspondent writes upon shadows cast by mountains2 upon page #cdh someone else carries on the divergence by discussing this third letter3 then someone takes up the third letter mathematically2 and then there is a correction of error in this mathematic demonstration--,i think it looks very much like what ,i think it looks like4 ,but the mystery here3 ,that the dark patches at ,chisbury could not have been cast by stationary pilot balloons that were to the west1 or that were between clouds and the setting sun4 ,if1 to the west of ,chisbury1 a stationary object were high in the air1 intercepting the sun's rays1 the shadow of the stationary object would not have been stationary1 but would have moved higher and higher with the setting of the sun4 ,i have to think of something that is in accord with no other data whatsoever3 ,a luminous body--not the sun--in the sky--but1 because of some unknown principle or atmospheric condition1 its light extended down only about to the clouds2 that from it were suspended two triangular objects1 like the object that was seen in ,bermuda2 that it was this light that fell short of the earth that these objects intercepted2 that the objects were drawn up and lowered from something overhead1 so that1 in its light1 their shadows changed size4 ,if my grope seem to have no grasp in it1 and1 if a stationary balloon will1 in half an hour1 not cast a stationary shadow from the setting sun1 we have to think of two triangular objects that accurately maintained positions in a line between sun and clouds1 and at the same time approached and receded from clouds4 ,whatever it may have been1 it's enough to make the devout make the sign of the crucible1 or whatever the devotees of the ,old ,dominant do in the presence of a new correlate4 ,vast1 black thing poised like a crow over the moon4 ,it is our acceptance that these two shadows of ,chisbury looked1 from the moon1 like vast things1 black as crows1 poised over the earth4 ,it is our acceptance that two triangular luminosities and then two triangular patches1 like vast black things1 poised like crows over the moon1 and1 like the triangularities at ,chisbury1 have been seen upon1 or over1 the moon3 ,scientific ,american1 #df-di3 ,two triangular1 luminous appearances reported by several observers in ,lebanon1 ,conn41 evening of ,july #c1 #ahhb1 on the moon's upper limb4 ,they disappeared1 and two dark triangular appearances that looked like notches were seen three minutes later upon the lower limb4 ,they approached each other1 met and instantly disappeared4 ,the merger here is notches that have at times been seen upon the moon's limb3 thought to be cross sections of craters 7,monthly ,notices1 ,r4,a4,s41 #cg-dcb74 ,but these appearances of ,july #c1 #ahhb1 were vast upon the moon--seemed to be cutting off or obliterating nearly a quarter of its surface4 ,something else that may have looked like a vast black crow poised over this earth from the moon3 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 #da-eii3 ,description of a shadow in the sky1 of some unseen body1 ,april #h1 #aiac1 ,fort ,worth1 ,texas--supposed to have been cast by an unseen cloud--this patch of shade moved with the declining sun4 ,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahed-daj3 ,account by two observers of a faint but distinctly triangular object1 visible for six nights in the sky4 ,it was observed from two stations that were not far apart4 ,but the parallax was considerable4 ,whatever it was1 it was1 acceptably1 relatively close to this earth4 ,i should say that relatively to phenomena of light we are in confusion as great as some of the discords that orthodoxy is in relatively to light4 ,broadly and intermediatistically1 our position is3 ,that light is not really and necessarily light--any more than is anything else really and necessarily anything--but an interpretation of a mode of force1 as ,i suppose we have to call it1 as light4 ,at sea level1 the earth's atmosphere interprets sunlight as red or orange or yellow4 ,high up on mountains the sun is blue4 ,very high up on mountains the zenith is black4 ,or it is orthodoxy to say that in inter-planetary space1 where there is no air1 there is no light4 ,so then the sun and comets are black1 but this earth's atmosphere1 or1 rather1 dust particles in it1 interpret radiations from these black objects as light4 ,we look up at the moon4 ,the jet-black moon is so silvery white4 ,i have about fifty notes indicating that the moon has atmosphere3 nevertheless most astronomers hold out that the moon has no atmosphere4 ,they have to3 the theory of eclipses would not work out otherwise4 ,so1 arguing in conventional terms1 the moon is black4 ,rather astonishing--explorers upon the moon--stumbling and groping in intense darkness--with telescopes powerful enough1 we could see them stumbling and groping in brilliant light4 ,or1 just because of familiarity1 it is not now obvious to us how the preposterousnesses of the old system must have seemed to the correlates of the system preceding it4 ,ye jet-black silvery moon4 ,altogether1 then1 it may be conceivable that there are phenomena of force that are interpretable as light as far down as the clouds1 but not in denser strata of air1 or just the opposite of familiar interpretations4 ,i now have some notes upon an occurrence that suggests a force not interpreted by air as light1 but interpreted1 or reflected by the ground as light4 ,i think of something that1 for a week1 was suspended over ,london3 of an emanation that was not interpreted as light until it reached the ground4 ,lancet1 ,june #a1 #ahfg3 ,that every night for a week1 a light had appeared in ,woburn ,square1 ,london1 upon the grass of a small park1 enclosed by railings4 ,crowds gathering--police called out for the special service of maintaining order and making the populace move on4 ,the ,editor of the ,lancet went to the ,square4 ,he says that he saw nothing but a patch of light falling upon an arbor at the northeast corner of the enclosure4 ,seems to me that that was interesting enough4 ,in this ,editor we have a companion for ,mr4 ,symons and ,dr4 ,gray4 ,he suggests that the light came from a street lamp--does not say that he could trace it to any such origin himself--but recommends that the police investigate neighboring street lamps4 ,i'd not say that such a commonplace as light from a street lamp would not attract and excite and deceive great crowds for a week--but ,i do accept that any cop who was called upon for extra work would have needed nobody's suggestion to settle that point the very first thing4 ,or that something in the sky hung suspended over a ,london ,square for a week4 #ba ,knowledge1 ,dec4 #bh1 #ahhc3 ,seeing so many meteorological phenomena in your excellent paper1 ,knowledge1 ,i am tempted to ask for an explanation of the following1 which ,i saw when on board the ,british ,india ,company's steamer ,patna1 while on a voyage up the ,persian ,gulf4 ,in ,may1 #ahhj1 on a dark night1 about #aa3cj ,p4,m41 there suddenly appeared on each side of the ship an enormous luminous wheel1 whirling around1 the spokes of which seemed to brush the ship along4 ,the spokes would be #bjj or #cjj yards long1 and resembled the birch rods of the dames' schools4 ,each wheel contained about sixteen spokes1 and1 although the wheels must have been some #ejj or #fjj yards in diameter1 the spokes could be distinctly seen all the way round4 ,the phosphorescent gleam seemed to glide along flat on the surface of the sea1 no light being visible in the air above the water4 ,the appearance of the spokes could be almost exactly represented by standing in a boat and flashing a bull's eye lantern horizontally along the surface of the water1 round and round4 ,i may mention that the phenomenon was also seen by ,captain ,avern1 of the ,patna1 and ,mr4 ,manning1 third officer4 ,lee ,fore ,brace4 ,p4,s4--,the wheels advanced along with the ship for about twenty minutes4--,l4,f4,b4 ,knowledge1 ,jan4 #aa1 #ahhd3 ,letter from ,a4 ,mc4 ,d43 ,that ,lee ,fore ,brace1 who sees 'so many meteorological phenomena in your excellent paper1' should have signed himself ',the ,modern ,ezekiel1' for his vision of wheels is quite as wonderful as the prophet's4 ,the writer then takes up the measurements that were given1 and calculates a velocity at the circumference of a wheel1 of about #aff yards per second1 apparently considering that especially incredible4 ,he then says3 ,from the nom de plume he assumes1 it might be inferred that your correspondent is in the habit of 'sailing close to the wind4' ,he asks permission to suggest an explanation of his own4 ,it is that before #aa3cj ,p4,m4 there had been numerous accidents to the main brace1 and that it had required splicing so often that almost any ray of light would have taken on a rotary motion4 ,in ,knowledge1 ,jan4 #be1 #ahhd1 ,mr4 ,brace answers and signs himself ,j4,w4 ,robertson3 ,i don't suppose ,a4 ,mc4 ,d4 means any harm1 but ,i do think it's rather unjust to say a man is drunk because he sees something out of the common4 ,if there's one thing ,i pride myself upon1 it's being able to say that never in my life have ,i indulged in anything stronger than water4 ,from this curiosity of pride1 he goes on to say that he had not intended to be exact1 but to give his impressions of dimensions and velocity4 ,he ends amiably3 ,however1 'no offense taken1 where ,i suppose none is meant4' ,to this letter ,mr4 ,proctor adds a note1 apologizing for the publication of ,a4 ,mc4 ,d's4 letter1 which had come about by a misunderstood instruction4 ,then ,mr4 ,proctor wrote disagreeable letters1 himself1 about other persons--what else would you expect in a quasi-existence8 ,the obvious explanation of this phenomenon is that1 under the surface of the sea1 in the ,persian ,gulf1 was a vast luminous wheel3 that it was the light from its submerged spokes that ,mr4 ,robertson saw1 shining upward4 ,it seems clear that this light did shine upward from origin below the surface of the sea4 ,but at first it is not so clear how vast luminous wheels1 each the size of a village1 ever got under the surface of the ,persian ,gulf3 also there may be some misunderstanding as to what they were doing there4 ,a deep-sea fish1 and its adaptation to a dense medium-- ,that1 at least in some regions aloft1 there is a medium dense even to gelatinousness-- ,a deep-sea fish1 brought to the surface of the ocean3 in a relatively attenuated medium1 it disintegrates-- ,super-constructions adapted to a dense medium in inter-planetary space--sometimes1 by stresses of various kinds1 they are driven into this earth's thin atmosphere-- ,later we shall have data to support just this3 that things entering this earth's atmosphere disintegrate and shine with a light that is not the light of incandescence3 shine brilliantly1 even if cold-- ,vast wheel-like super-constructions--they enter this earth's atmosphere1 and1 threatened with disintegration1 plunge for relief into an ocean1 or into a denser medium4 ,of course the requirements now facing us are3 ,not only data of vast wheel-like super-constructions that have relieved their distresses in the ocean1 but data of enormous wheels that have been seen in the air1 or entering the ocean1 or rising from the ocean and continuing their voyages4 ,very largely we shall concern ourselves with enormous fiery objects that have either plunged into the ocean or risen from the ocean4 ,our acceptance is that1 though disruption may intensify into incandescence1 apart from disruption and its probable fieriness1 things that enter this earth's atmosphere have a cold light which would not1 like light from molten matter1 be instantly quenched by water4 ,also it seems acceptable that a revolving wheel would1 from a distance1 look like a globe2 that a revolving wheel1 seen relatively close by1 looks like a wheel in few aspects4 ,the mergers of ball-lightning and meteorites are not resistances to us3 our data are of enormous bodies4 ,so we shall interpret--and what does it matter8 ,our attitude throughout this book3 ,that here are extraordinary data--that they never would be exhumed1 and never would be massed together1 unless-- ,here are the data3 ,our first datum is of something that was once seen to enter an ocean4 ,it's from the puritanic publication1 ,science1 which has yielded us little material1 or which1 like most puritans1 does not go upon a spree very often4 ,whatever the thing could have been1 my impression is of tremendousness1 or of bulk many times that of all meteorites in all museums combined3 also of relative slowness1 or of long warning of approach4 ,the story1 in ,science1 #e-bdb1 is from an account sent to the ,hydrographic ,office1 at ,washington1 from the branch office1 at ,san ,francisco3 ,that1 at midnight1 ,feb4 #bd1 #ahhe1 ,lat4 #cg deg4 ,n41 and ,long4 #agj deg4 ,e41 or somewhere between ,yokohama and ,victoria1 the captain of the bark ,innerwich was aroused by his mate1 who had seen something unusual in the sky4 ,this must have taken appreciable time4 ,the captain went on deck and saw the sky turning fiery red4 ,all at once1 a large mass of fire appeared over the vessel1 completely blinding the spectators4 ,the fiery mass fell into the sea4 ,its size may be judged by the volume of water cast up by it1 said to have rushed toward the vessel with a noise that was deafening4 ,the bark was struck flat aback1 and a roaring1 white sea passed ahead4 ,the master1 an old1 experienced mariner1 declared that the awfulness of the sight was beyond description4 ,in ,nature1 #cg-ahg1 and ,l',astronomie2 #ahhg-gf1 we are told that an object1 described as a large ball of fire1 was seen to rise from the sea1 near ,cape ,race4 ,we are told that it rose to a height of fifty feet1 and then advanced close to the ship1 then moving away1 remaining visible about five minutes4 ,the supposition in ,nature is that it was ball lightning1 but ,flammarion1 ,thunder and ,lightning1 p4 #fh1 says that it was enormous4 ,details in the ,american ,meteorological ,journal1 #f-ddc--,nov4 #ab1 #ahhg--;,british steamer ,siberian--that the object had moved against the wind before retreating--that ,captain ,moore said that at about the same place he had seen such appearances before4 ,report of the ,british ,association1 #ahfa-cj3 ,that1 upon ,june #ah1 #ahde1 according to the ,malta ,times1 from the brig ,victoria1 about #ijj miles east of ,adalia1 ,asia ,minor 7#cf deg4 #dj' #ef1 ,n4 ,lat43 #ac deg4 #dd' #cf ,e4 ,long471 three luminous bodies were seen to issue from the sea1 at about half a mile from the vessel4 ,they were visible about ten minutes4 ,the story was never investigated1 but other accounts that seem acceptably to be other observations upon this same sensational spectacle came in1 as if of their own accord1 and were published by ,prof4 ,baden-,powell4 ,one is a letter from a correspondent at ,mt4 ,lebanon4 ,he describes only two luminous bodies4 ,apparently they were five times the size of the moon3 each had appendages1 or they were connected by parts that are described as sail-like or streamer-like1 looking like large flags blown out by a gentle breeze4 ,the important point here is not only suggestion of structure1 but duration4 ,the duration of meteors is a few seconds3 duration of fifteen seconds is remarkable1 but ,i think there are records up to half a minute4 ,this object1 if it were all one object1 was visible at ,mt4 ,lebanon about one hour4 ,an interesting circumstance is that the appendages did not look like trains of meteors1 which shine by their own light1 but seemed to shine by light from the main bodies4 ,about #ijj miles west of the position of the ,victoria is the town of ,adalia1 ,asia ,minor4 ,at about the time of the observation reported by the captain of the ,victoria1 the ,rev4 ,f4 ,hawlett1 ,f4,r4,a4,s41 was in ,adalia4 ,he1 too1 saw this spectacle1 and sent an account to ,prof4 ,baden-,powell4 ,in his view it was a body that appeared and then broke up4 ,he places duration at twenty minutes to half an hour4 ,in the ,report of the ,british ,association1 #ahfj-hb1 the phenomenon was reported from ,syria and ,malta1 as two very large bodies nearly joined4 ,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahfj-gg3 ,that1 at ,cherbourg1 ,france1 ,jan4 #ab1 #ahcf1 was seen a luminous body1 seemingly two-thirds the size of the moon4 ,it seemed to rotate on an axis4 ,central to it there seemed to be a dark cavity4 ,for other accounts1 all indefinite1 but distortable into data of wheel-like objects in the sky1 see ,nature1 #bb-fag2 ,london ,times1 ,oct4 #ae1 #ahei2 ,nature1 #ba-bbe2 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 #ahhc-bfd4 ,l',astronomie1 #ahid-aeg3 ,that1 upon the morning of ,dec4 #bj1 #ahic1 an appearance in the sky was seen by many persons in ,virginia1 ,north ,carolina1 and ,south ,carolina4 ,a luminous body passed overhead1 from west to east1 until at about #ae degrees in the eastern horizon1 it appeared to stand still for fifteen or twenty minutes4 ,according to some descriptions it was the size of a table4 ,to some observers it looked like an enormous wheel4 ,the light was a brilliant white4 ,acceptably it was not an optical illusion--the noise of its passage through the air was heard4 ,having been stationary1 or having seemed to stand still fifteen or twenty minutes1 it disappeared1 or exploded4 ,no sound of explosion was heard4 ,vast wheel-like constructions4 ,they're especially adapted to roll through a gelatinous medium from planet to planet4 ,sometimes1 because of miscalculations1 or because of stresses of various kinds1 they enter this earth's atmosphere4 ,they're likely to explode4 ,they have to submerge in the sea4 ,they stay in the sea awhile1 revolving with relative leisureliness1 until relieved1 and then emerge1 sometimes close to vessels4 ,seamen tell of what they see3 their reports are interred in scientific morgues4 ,i should say that the general route of these constructions is along latitudes not far from the latitudes of the ,persian ,gulf4 ,journal of the ,royal ,meteorological ,society1 #bh-bi3 ,that1 upon ,april #d1 #aija1 about #h3cj1 in the ,persian ,gulf1 ,captain ,hoseason1 of the steamship ,kilwa1 according to a paper read before the ,society by ,captain ,hoseason1 was sailing in a sea in which there was no phosphorescence--there being no phosphorescence in the water4 ,i suppose ,i'll have to repeat that3 444 there being no phosphorescence in the water4 ,vast shafts of light--though the captain uses the word ripples--suddenly appeared4 ,shaft followed shaft1 upon the surface of the sea4 ,but it was only a faint light1 and1 in about fifteen minutes1 died out3 having appeared suddenly1 having died out gradually4 ,the shafts revolved at a velocity of about #fj miles an hour4 ,phosphorescent jellyfish correlate with the ,old ,dominant3 in one of the most heroic compositions of disregards in our experience1 it was agreed1 in the discussion of ,capt4 ,hoseason's paper1 that the phenomenon was probably pulsations of long strings of jellyfish4 ,nature1 #ba-daj3 ,reprint of a letter from ,r4,e4 ,harris1 ,commander of the ,a4,h4,n4 ,co4's steamship ,shahjehan1 to the ,calcutta ,englishman1 ,jan4 #ba1 #ahhj3 ,that upon the #eth of ,june1 #ahhj1 off the coast of ,malabar1 at #aj ,p4,m41 water calm1 sky cloudless1 he had seen something that was so foreign to anything that he had ever seen before1 that he had stopped his ship4 ,he saw what he describes as waves of brilliant light1 with spaces between4 ,upon the water were floating patches of a substance that was not identified4 ,thinking in terms of the conventional explanation of all phosphorescence at sea1 the captain at first suspected this substance4 ,however1 he gives his opinion that it did no illuminating but was1 with the rest of the sea1 illuminated by tremendous shafts of light4 ,whether it was a thick and oily discharge from the engine of a submerged construction or not1 ,i think that ,i shall have to accept this substance as a concomitant1 because of another note4 ,as wave succeeded wave1 one of the most grand and brilliant1 yet solemn1 spectacles that one could think of1 was here witnessed4 ,jour4 ,roy4 ,met4 ,soc41 #cb-bhj3 ,extract from a letter from ,mr4 ,douglas ,carnegie1 ,blackheath1 ,england4 ,date some time in #aijf-- ,this last voyage we witnessed a weird and most extraordinary electric display4 ,in the ,gulf of ,oman1 he saw a bank of apparently quiescent phosphorescence3 but1 when within twenty yards of it1 shafts of brilliant light came sweeping across the ship's bows at a prodigious speed1 which might be put down as anything between #fj and #bjj miles an hour4 ,these light bars were about #bj feet apart and most regular4 ,as to phosphorescence--,i collected a bucketful of water1 and examined it under the microscope1 but could not detect anything abnormal4 ,that the shafts of light came up from something beneath the surface--,they first struck us on our broadside1 and ,i noticed that an intervening ship had no effect on the light beams3 they started away from the lee side of the ship1 just as if they had traveled right through it4 ,the ,gulf of ,oman is at the entrance to the ,persian ,gulf4 ,jour4 ,roy4 ,met4 ,soc41 #cc-bid3 ,extract from a letter by ,mr4 ,s4,c4 ,patterson1 second officer of the ,p4 and ,o4 steamship ,delta3 a spectacle which the ,journal continues to call phosphorescent3 ,malacca ,strait1 #b ,a4,m41 ,march #ad1 #aijg3 444 shafts which seemed to move round a center--like the spokes of a wheel--and appeared to be about #cjj yards long4 ,the phenomenon lasted about half an hour1 during which time the ship had traveled six or seven miles4 ,it stopped suddenly4 ,l',astronomie1 #ahia-cab3 ,a correspondent writes that1 in ,october1 #ahia1 in the ,china ,sea1 he had seen shafts or lances of light that had had the appearance of rays of a searchlight1 and that had moved like such rays4 ,nature1 #bj-bia3 ,report to the ,admiralty by ,capt4 ,evans1 the ,hydrographer of the ,british ,navy3 ,that ,commander ,j4,e4 ,pringle1 of ,h4,m4,s4 ,vulture1 had reported that1 at ,lat4 #bf deg4 #bf' ,n41 and ,long4 #ec deg4 #aa' ,e4--in the ,persian ,gulf--,may #ae1 #ahgi1 he had noticed luminous waves or pulsations in the water1 moving at great speed4 ,this time we have a definite datum upon origin somewhere below the surface4 ,it is said that these waves of light passed under the ,vulture4 ,on looking toward the east1 the appearance was that of a revolving wheel with a center on that bearing1 and whose spokes were illuminated1 and1 looking toward the west1 a similar wheel appeared to be revolving1 but in the opposite direction4 ,or finally as to submergence--,these waves of light extended from the surface well under the water4 ,it is ,commander ,pringle's opinion that the shafts constituted one wheel1 and that doubling was an illusion4 ,he judges the shafts to have been about #be feet broad1 and the spaces about #ajj4 ,velocity about #hd miles an hour4 ,duration about #ce minutes4 ,time #i3dj ,p4,m4 ,before and after this display the ship had passed through patches of floating substance described as oily-looking fish spawn4 ,upon page #dbh of this number of ,nature1 ,e4,l4 ,moss says that1 in ,april1 #ahge1 when upon ,h4,m4,s4 ,bulldog1 a few miles north of ,vera ,cruz1 he had seen a series of swift lines of light4 ,he had dipped up some of the water1 finding in it animalcule1 which would1 however1 not account for phenomena of geometric formation and high velocity4 ,if he means ,vera ,cruz1 ,mexico1 this is the only instance we have out of oriental waters4 ,scientific ,american1 #ajf-ea3 ,that1 in the ,nautical ,meteorological ,annual1 published by the ,danish ,meteorological ,institute1 appears a report upon a singular phenomenon that was seen by ,capt4 ,gabe1 of the ,danish ,east ,asiatic ,co4's steamship ,bintang4 ,at #c ,a4,m41 ,june #aj1 #aiji1 while sailing through the ,straits of ,malacca1 ,captain ,gabe saw a vast revolving wheel of light1 flat upon the water--long arms issuing from a center around which the whole system appeared to rotate4 ,so vast was the appearance that only half of it could be seen at a time1 the center lying near the horizon4 ,this display lasted about fifteen minutes4 ,heretofore we have not been clear upon the important point that forward motions of these wheels do not synchronize with a vessel's motions1 and freaks of disregard1 or1 rather1 commonplaces of disregard1 might attempt to assimilate with lights of a vessel4 ,this time we are told that the vast wheel moved forward1 decreasing in brilliancy1 and also in speed of rotation1 disappearing when the center was right ahead of the vessel--or my own interpretation would be that the source of light was submerging deeper and deeper and slowing down because meeting more and more resistance4 ,the ,danish ,meteorological ,institute reports another instance3 ,that1 when ,capt4 ,breyer1 of the ,dutch steamer ,valentijn1 was in the ,south ,china ,sea1 midnight1 ,aug4 #ab1 #aiaj1 he saw a rotation of flashes4 ,it looked like a horizontal wheel1 turning rapidly4 ,this time it is said that the appearance was above water4 ,the phenomenon was observed by the captain1 the first and second mates1 and the first engineer1 and upon all of them it made a somewhat uncomfortable impression4 ,in general1 if our expression be not immediately acceptable1 we recommend to rival interpreters that they consider the localization--with one exception--of this phenomenon1 to the ,indian ,ocean and adjacent waters1 or ,persian ,gulf on one side and ,china ,sea on the other side4 ,though we're ,intermediatists1 the call of attempted ,positivism1 in the aspect of ,completeness1 is irresistible4 ,we have expressed that from few aspects would wheels of fire in the air look like wheels of fire1 but1 if we can get it1 we must have observation upon vast luminous wheels1 not interpretable as optical illusions1 but enormous1 substantial things that have smashed down material resistances1 and have been seen to plunge into the ocean3 ,athenaeum1 #ahdh-hcc3 ,that at the meeting of the ,british ,association1 #ahdh1 ,sir ,w4,s4 ,harris said that he had recorded an account sent to him of a vessel toward which had whirled two wheels of fire1 which the men described as rolling millstones of fire4 ,when they came near1 an awful crash took place3 the topmasts were shivered to pieces4 ,it is said that there was a strong sulphurous odor4 #bb ,journal of the ,royal ,meteorological ,society1 #a-aeg3 ,extract from the log of the bark ,lady of the ,lake1 by ,capt4 ,f4,w4 ,banner3 ,communicated by ,r4,h4 ,scott1 ,f4,r4,s43 ,that1 upon the #bbnd of ,march1 #ahgj1 at ,lat4 #e deg4 #dg' ,n41 ,long4 #bg deg4 #eb' ,w41 the sailors of the ,lady of the ,lake saw a remarkable object1 or cloud1 in the sky4 ,they reported to the captain4 ,according to ,capt4 ,banner1 it was a cloud of circular form1 with an included semi-circle divided into four parts1 the central dividing shaft beginning at the center of the circle and extending far outward1 and then curving backward4 ,geometricity and complexity and stability of form3 and the small likelihood of a cloud maintaining such diversity of features1 to say nothing of appearance of organic form4 ,the thing traveled from a point at about #bj degrees above the horizon to a point about #hj degrees above4 ,then it settled down to the northeast1 having appeared from the south1 southeast4 ,light gray in color1 or it was cloud-color4 ,it was much lower than the other clouds4 ,and this datum stands out3 ,that1 whatever it may have been1 it traveled against the wind4 ,it came up obliquely against the wind1 and finally settled down right in the wind's eye4 ,for half an hour this form was visible4 ,when it did finally disappear that was not because it disintegrated like a cloud1 but because it was lost to sight in the evening darkness4 ,capt4 ,banner draws the following diagram3 ,illustration #bc ,text-books tell us that the ,dhurmsalla meteorites were picked up soon1 or within half an hour4 ,given a little time the conventionalists may argue that these stones were hot when they fell1 but that their great interior coldness had overcome the molten state of their surfaces4 ,according to the ,deputy ,commissioner of ,dhurmsalla1 these stones had been picked up immediately by passing coolies4 ,these stones were so cold that they benumbed the fingers4 ,but they had fallen with a great light4 ,it is described as a flame of fire about two feet in depth and nine feet in length4 ,acceptably this light was not the light of molten matter4 ,in this chapter we are very intermediatistic--and unsatisfactory4 ,to the intermediatist there is but one answer to all questions3 ,sometimes and sometimes not4 ,another form of this intermediatist solution of all problems is3 ,yes and no4 ,everything that is1 also isn't4 ,a positivist attempts to formulate3 so does the intermediatist1 but with less rigorousness3 he accepts but also denies3 he may seem to accept in one respect and deny in some other respect1 but no real line can be drawn between any two aspects of anything4 ,the intermediatist accepts that which seems to correlate with something that he has accepted as a dominant4 ,the positivist correlates with a belief4 ,in the ,dhurmsalla meteorites we have support for our expression that things entering this earth's atmosphere sometimes shine with a light that is not the light of incandescence--or so we account1 or offer an expression upon1 thunderstones1 or carved stones that have fallen luminously to this earth1 in streaks that have looked like strokes of lightning--but we accept1 also1 that some things that have entered this earth's atmosphere1 disintegrate with the intensity of flame and molten matter--but some things1 we accept1 enter this earth's atmosphere and collapse non-luminously1 quite like deep-sea fishes brought to the surface of the ocean4 ,whatever agreement we have is an indication that somewhere aloft there is a medium denser than this earth's atmosphere4 ,i suppose our stronghold is in that such is not popular belief-- ,or the rhythm of all phenomena3 ,air dense at sea level upon this earth--less and less dense as one ascends--then denser and denser4 ,a good many bothersome questions arise-- ,our attitude3 ,here are the data3 ,luminous rains sometimes fall 7,nature1 ,march #i1 #ahhb2 ,nature1 #be-dcg74 ,this is light that is not the light of incandescence1 but no one can say that these occasional1 or rare1 rains come from this earth's externality4 ,we simply note cold light of falling bodies4 ,for luminous rain1 snow1 and dust1 see ,hartwig1 ,aerial ,world1 p4 #cai4 ,as to luminous clouds1 we have more nearly definite observations and opinions3 they mark transition between the ,old ,dominant and the ,new ,dominant4 ,we have already noted the transition in ,prof4 ,schwedoffs theory of external origin of some hailstones--and the implications that1 to a former generation1 seemed so preposterous--droll was the word--that there are in inter-planetary regions volumes of water--whether they have fishes and frogs in them or not4 ,now our acceptance is that clouds sometimes come from external regions1 having had origin from super-geographical lakes and oceans that we shall not attempt to chart1 just at present--only suggesting to enterprising aviators--and we note that we put it all up to them1 and show no inclination to go ,columbusing on our own account--that they take bathing suits1 or1 rather1 deep-sea diving-suits along4 ,so then that some clouds come from inter-planetary oceans--of the ,super-,sargasso ,sea--if we still accept the ,super-,sargasso ,sea--and shine1 upon entering this earth's atmosphere4 ,in ,himmel und ,erde1 ,february1 #ahhi--;a phenomenon of transition of thirty years ago--,herr ,o4 ,jesse1 in his observations upon luminous night-clouds1 notes the great height of them1 and drolly or sensibly suggests that some of them may have come from regions external to this earth4 ,i suppose he means only from other planets4 ,but it's a very droll and sensible idea either way4 ,in general ,i am accounting for a great deal of this earth's isolation3 that it is relatively isolated by circumstances that are similar to the circumstances that make for relative isolation of the bottom of the ocean--except that there is a clumsiness of analogy now4 ,to call ourselves deep-sea fishes has been convenient1 but1 in a quasi-existence1 there is no convenience that will not sooner or later turn awkward--so1 if there be denser regions aloft1 these regions should now be regarded as analogues of far-submerged oceanic regions1 and things coming to this earth would be like things rising to an attenuated medium--and exploding--sometimes incandescently1 sometimes with cold light--sometimes non-luminously1 like deep-sea fishes brought to the surface--altogether conditions of inhospitality4 ,i have a suspicion that1 in their own depths1 deep-sea fishes are not luminous4 ,if they are1 ,darwinism is mere jesuitism1 in attempting to correlate them4 ,such advertising would so attract attention that all advantages would be more than offset4 ,darwinism is largely a doctrine of concealment3 here we have brazen proclamation--if accepted4 ,fishes in the ,mammoth ,cave need no light to see by4 ,we might have an expression that deep-sea fishes turn luminous upon entering a less dense medium--but models in the ,american ,museum of ,natural ,history3 specialized organs of luminosity upon these models4 ,of course we do remember that awfully convincing dodo1 and some of our sophistications we trace to him--at any rate disruption is regarded as a phenomenon of coming from a dense to a less dense medium4 ,an account by ,m4 ,acharius1 in the ,transactions of the ,swedish ,academy of ,sciences1 #ahjh-bae1 translated for the ,north ,american ,review1 #c-cai3 ,that ,m4 ,acharius1 having heard of an extraordinary and probably hitherto unseen phenomenon1 reported from near the town of ,skeninge1 ,sweden1 investigated3 ,that1 upon the #afth of ,may1 #ahjh1 at about #d ,p4,m41 the sun suddenly turned dull brick-red4 ,at the same time there appeared1 upon the western horizon1 a great number of round bodies1 dark brown1 and seemingly the size of a hat crown4 ,they passed overhead and disappeared in the eastern horizon4 ,tremendous procession4 ,it lasted two hours4 ,occasionally one fell to the ground4 ,when the place of a fall was examined1 there was found a film1 which soon dried and vanished4 ,often1 when approaching the sun1 these bodies seemed to link together1 or were then seen to be linked together1 in groups not exceeding eight1 and1 under the sun1 they were seen to have tails three or four fathoms long4 ,away from the sun the tails were invisible4 ,whatever their substance may have been1 it is described as gelatinous--soapy and jellied4 ,i place this datum here for several reasons4 ,it would have been a good climax to our expression upon hordes of small bodies that1 in our acceptance1 were not seeds1 nor birds1 nor ice-crystals3 but the tendency would have been to jump to the homogeneous conclusion that all our data in that expression related to this one kind of phenomena1 whereas we conceive of infinite heterogeneity of the external3 of crusaders and rabbles and emigrants and tourists and dragons and things like gelatinous hat crowns4 ,or that all things1 here1 upon this earth1 that flock together1 are not necessarily sheep1 ,presbyterians1 gangsters1 or porpoises4 ,the datum is important to us1 here1 as indication of disruption in this earth's atmosphere--dangers in entering this earth's atmosphere4 ,i think1 myself1 that thousands of objects have been seen to fall from aloft1 and have exploded luminously1 and have been called ball lightning4 ,as to what ball lightning is1 we have not yet begun to make intelligent guesses4 7,monthly ,weather ,review1 #cd-ag47 ,in general1 it seems to me that when we encounter the opposition ball lightning we should pay little attention1 but confine ourselves to guesses that are at least intelligent1 that stand phantom-like in our way4 ,we note here that in some of our acceptances upon intelligence we should more clearly have pointed out that they were upon the intelligent as opposed to the instinctive4 ,in the ,monthly ,weather ,review1 #cc-dji1 there is an account of ball lightning that struck a tree4 ,it made a dent such as a falling object would make4 ,some other time ,i shall collect instances of ball lightning1 to express that they are instances of objects that have fallen from the sky1 luminously1 exploding terrifically4 ,so bewildered is the old orthodoxy by these phenomena that many scientists have either denied ball lightning or have considered it very doubtful4 ,i refer to ,dr4 ,sestier's list of one hundred and fifty instances1 which he considered authentic4 ,in accord with our disaccord is an instance related in the ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,march1 #ahhg--something that fell luminously from the sky1 accompanied by something that was not so affected1 or that was dark3 ,that1 according to ,capt4 ,c4,d4 ,sweet1 of the ,dutch bark1 ,j4,p4,a41 upon ,march #ai1 #ahhg1 ,n4 #cg deg4 #ci'1 ,w4 #eg deg4 #jj'1 he encountered a severe storm4 ,he saw two objects in the air above the ship4 ,one was luminous1 and might be explained in several ways1 but the other was dark4 ,one or both fell into the sea1 with a roar and the casting up of billows4 ,it is our acceptance that these things had entered this earth's atmosphere1 having first crashed through a field of ice--immediately afterward lumps of ice fell4 ,one of the most astonishing of the phenomena of ball lightning is a phenomenon of many meteorites3 violence of explosion out of all proportion to size and velocity4 ,we accept that the icy meteorites of ,dhurmsalla could have fallen with no great velocity1 but the sound from them was tremendous4 ,the soft substance that fell at the ,cape of ,good ,hope was carbonaceous1 but was unburned1 or had fallen with velocity insufficient to ignite it4 ,the tremendous report that it made was heard over an area more than seventy miles in diameter4 ,that some hailstones have been formed in a dense medium1 and violently disintegrate in this earth's relatively thin atmosphere3 ,nature1 #hh-cej3 ,large hailstones noted at the ,university of ,missouri1 ,nov4 #aa1 #aiaa3 they exploded with sounds like pistol shots4 ,the writer says that he had noticed a similar phenomenon1 eighteen years before1 at ,lexington1 ,kentucky4 ,hailstones that seemed to have been formed in a denser medium3 when melted under water they gave out bubbles larger than their central air spaces4 7,monthly ,weather ,review1 #cc-dde47 ,our acceptance is that many objects have fallen from the sky1 but that many of them have disintegrated violently4 ,this acceptance will co-ordinate with data still to come1 but1 also1 we make it easy for ourselves in our expressions upon super-constructions1 if we're asked why1 from thinkable wrecks of them1 girders1 plates1 or parts recognizably of manufactured metal have not fallen from the sky4 ,however1 as to composition1 we have not this refuge1 so it is our expression that there have been reported instances of the fall of manufactured metal from the sky4 ,the meteorite of ,rutherford1 ,north ,carolina1 is of artificial material3 mass of pig iron4 ,it is said to be fraudulent4 7,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #b-cd-bih47 ,the object that was said to have fallen at ,marblehead1 ,mass41 in #aheh1 is described in the ,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #b-cd-ace1 as a furnace product1 formed in smelting copper ores1 or iron ores containing copper4 ,it is said to be fraudulent4 ,according to ,ehrenberg1 the substance reported by ,capt4 ,callam to have fallen upon his vessel1 near ,java1 offered complete resemblance to the residue resulting from combustion of a steel wire in a flask of oxygen4 7,zurcher1 ,meteors1 p4 #bci47 ,nature1 ,nov4 #ba1 #ahgh1 publishes a notice that1 according to the ,yuma ,sentinel1 a meteorite that resembles steel had been found in the ,mohave ,desert4 ,in ,nature1 ,feb4 #ae1 #ahid1 we read that one of the meteorites brought to the ,united ,states by ,peary1 from ,greenland1 is of tempered steel4 ,the opinion is that meteoric iron had fallen in water or snow1 quickly cooling and hardening4 ,this does not apply to composition4 ,nov4 #e1 #ahih1 ,nature publishes a notice of a paper by ,prof4 ,berwerth1 of ,vienna1 upon the close connection between meteoric iron and steel-works' steel4 ,at the meeting of ,nov4 #bd1 #aijf1 of the ,essex ,field ,club1 was exhibited a piece of metal said to have fallen from the sky1 ,oct4 #i1 #aijf1 at ,braintree4 ,according to the ,essex ,naturalist1 ,dr4 ,fletcher1 of the ,british ,museum1 had declared this metal to be smelted iron--so that the mystery of its reported 'fall' remained unexplained4 #bd ,we shall have an outcry of silences4 ,if a single instance of anything be disregarded by a ,system--our own attitude is that a single instance is a powerless thing4 ,of course our own method of agreement of many instances is not a real method4 ,in ,continuity1 all things must have resemblances with all other things4 ,anything has any quasi-identity you please4 ,some time ago conscription was assimilated with either autocracy or democracy with equal facility4 ,note the need for a dominant to correlate to4 ,scarcely anybody said simply that we must have conscription3 but that we must have conscription1 which correlates with democracy1 which was taken as a base1 or something basically desirable4 ,of course between autocracy and democracy nothing but false demarcation can be drawn4 ,so ,i can conceive of no subject upon which there should be such poverty as a single instance1 if anything one pleases can be whipped into line4 ,however1 we shall try to be more nearly real than the ,darwinites who advance concealing coloration as ,darwinism1 and then drag in proclaiming luminosity1 too1 as ,darwinism4 ,i think the ,darwinites had better come in with us as to the deep-sea fishes--and be sorry later1 ,i suppose4 ,it will be amazing or negligible to read all the instances now to come of things that have been seen in the sky1 and to think that all have been disregarded4 ,my own opinion is that it is not possible1 or very easy1 to disregard them1 now that they have been brought together--but that1 if prior to about this time we had attempted such an assemblage1 the ,old ,dominant would have withered our typewriter--as it is the letter e has gone back on us1 and the s is temperamental4 ,most extraordinary and singular phenomenon1 ,north ,wales1 ,aug4 #bf1 #ahid2 a disk from which projected an orange-colored body that looked like an elongated flatfish1 reported by ,admiral ,ommanney 7,nature1 #ej-ebd72 disk from which projected a hook-like form1 ,india1 about #ahch2 diagram of it given2 disk about size of the moon1 but brighter than the moon2 visible about twenty minutes2 by ,g4 ,pettit1 in ,prof4 ,baden-,powell's ,catalogue 7,rept4 ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahdi72 very brilliant hook-like form1 seen in the sky at ,poland1 ,trumbull ,co41 ,ohio1 during the stream of meteors1 of #ahcc2 visible more than an hour3 large luminous body1 almost stationary for a time2 shaped like a square table2 ,niagara ,falls1 ,nov4 #ac1 #ahcc 7,amer4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #a-be-cia72 something described as a bright white cloud1 at night1 ,nov4 #c1 #ahhf1 at ,hamar1 ,norway2 from it were emitted brilliant rays of light2 drifted across the sky2 retained throughout its original form 7,nature1 ,dec4 #af1 #ahhf-aeh72 thing with an oval nucleus1 and streamers with dark bands and lines very suggestive of structure2 ,new ,zealand1 ,may #d1 #ahhh 7,nature1 #db-djb72 luminous object1 size of full moon1 visible an hour and a half1 ,chili1 ,nov4 #e1 #ahhc 7,comptes ,rendus1 #ajc-fhb72 bright object near sun1 ,dec4 #ba1 #ahhb 7,knowledge1 #c-ac72 light that looked like a great flame1 far out at sea1 off ,ryook ,phyoo1 ,dec4 #b1 #ahde 7,london ,roy4 ,soc4 ,proc41 #e-fbg72 something like a gigantic trumpet1 suspended1 vertical1 oscillating gently1 visible five or six minutes1 length estimated at #dbe feet1 at ,oaxaca1 ,mexico1 ,july #f1 #ahgd 7,sci4 ,am4 ,sup41 #f-bcfe72 two luminous bodies1 seemingly united1 visible five or six minutes1 ,june #c1 #ahih 7,la ,nature1 #ahih-a-abg72 thing with a tail1 crossing moon1 transit half a minute1 ,sept4 #bf1 #ahgj 7,london ,times1 ,sept4 #cj1 #ahgj72 object four or five times size of moon1 moving slowly across sky1 ,nov4 #a1 #ahhe1 near ,adrianople 7,l',astronomie1 #ahhf-cji72 large body1 colored red1 moving slowly1 visible #ae minutes1 reported by ,coggia1 ,marseilles1 ,aug4 #a1 #ahga 7,chem4 ,news1 #bd-aic72 details of this observation1 and similar observation by ,guillemin1 and other instances by de ,fonville 7,comptes ,rendus1 #gc-big1 #gee72 thing that was large and that was stationary twice in seven minutes1 ,oxford1 ,nov4 #ai1 #ahdg2 listed by ,lowe 7,rec4 ,sci41 #a-acf72 grayish object that looked to be about three and a half feet long1 rapidly approaching the earth at ,saarbruck1 ,april #a1 #ahbf2 sound like thunder2 object expanding like a sheet 7,am4 ,jour4 ,sci41 #a-bf-acc2 ,quar4 ,jour4 ,roy4 ,inst41 #bd-dhh72 report by an astronomer1 ,n4,s4 ,drayton1 upon an object duration of which seemed to him extraordinary2 duration three-quarters of a minute1 ,jersey ,city1 ,july #f1 #ahhb 7,sci4 ,amer41 #dg-ec72 object like a comet1 but with proper motion of #aj degrees an hour2 visible one hour2 reported by ,purine and ,glancy from the ,cordoba ,observatory1 ,argentina1 ,march #ad1 #aiaf 7,sci4 ,amer41 #aae-dic72 something like a signal light1 reported by ,glaisher1 ,oct4 #d1 #ahdd2 bright as ,jupiter1 sending out quick flickering waves of light 7,year ,book of ,facts1 #ahde-bgh74 ,i think that with the object known as ,eddie's comet passes away the last of our susceptibility to the common fallacy of personifying4 ,it is one of the most deep-rooted of positivist illusions--that people are persons4 ,we have been guilty too often of spleens and spites and ridicules against astronomers1 as if they were persons1 or final unities1 individuals1 completenesses1 or selves--instead of indeterminate parts4 ,but1 so long as we remain in quasi-existence1 we can cast out illusion only with some other illusion1 though the other illusion may approximate higher to reality4 ,so we personify no more--but we super-personify4 ,we now take into full acceptance our expression that ,development is an ,autocracy of ,successive ,dominants--which are not final--but which approximate higher to individuality or self-ness1 than do the human tropisms that irresponsibly correlate to them4 ,eddie reported a celestial object1 from the ,observatory at ,grahamstown1 ,south ,africa4 ,it was in #ahij4 ,the ,new ,dominant was only heir presumptive then1 or heir apparent but not obvious4 ,the thing that ,eddie reported might as well have been reported by a night watchman1 who had looked up through an unplaced sewer pipe4 ,it did not correlate4 ,the thing was not admitted to ,monthly ,notices4 ,i think myself that if the ,editor had attempted to let it in--earthquake--or a mysterious fire in his publishing house4 ,the ,dominants are jealous gods4 ,in ,nature1 presumably a vassal of the new god1 though of course also plausibly rendering homage to the old1 is reported a comet-like body1 of ,oct4 #bg1 #ahij1 observed at ,grahamstown1 by ,eddie4 ,it may have looked comet-like1 but it moved #ajj degrees while visible1 or one hundred degrees in three-quarters of an hour4 ,see ,nature1 #dc-hi1 #ij4 ,in ,nature1 #dd-eai1 ,prof4 ,copeland describes a similar appearance that he had seen1 ,sept4 #aj1 #ahia4 ,dreyer says 7,nature1 #dd-eda7 that he had seen this object at the ,armagh ,observatory4 ,he likens it to the object that was reported by ,eddie4 ,it was seen by ,dr4 ,alexander ,graham ,bell1 ,sept4 #aa1 #ahia1 in ,nova ,scotia4 ,but the ,old ,dominant was a jealous god4 ,so there were different observations upon something that was seen in ,november1 #ahhc4 ,these observations were ,philistines in #ahhc4 ,in the ,amer4 ,met4 ,jour41 #a-aaj1 a correspondent reports having seen an object like a comet1 with two tails1 one up and one down1 ,nov4 #aj or #ab1 #ahhc4 ,very likely this phenomenon should be placed in our expression upon torpedo-shaped bodies that have been seen in the sky--our data upon dirigibles1 or super-,zeppelins--but our attempted classifications are far from rigorous--or are mere gropes4 ,in the ,scientific ,american1 #ej-dj1 a correspondent writes from ,humacao1 ,porto ,rico1 that1 ,nov4 #ba1 #ahhc1 he and several other--persons--or persons1 as it were--had seen a majestic appearance1 like a comet4 ,visible three successive nights3 disappeared then4 ,the ,editor says that he can offer no explanation4 ,if accepted1 this thing must have been close to the earth4 ,if it had been a comet1 it would have been seen widely1 and the news would have been telegraphed over the world1 says the ,editor4 ,upon page #ig of this volume of the ,scientific ,american1 a correspondent writes that1 at ,sulphur ,springs1 ,ohio1 he had seen a wonder in the sky1 at about the same date4 ,it was torpedo-shaped1 or something with a nucleus1 at each end of which was a tail4 ,again the ,editor says that he can offer no explanation3 that the object was not a comet4 ,he associates it with the atmospheric effects general in #ahhc4 ,but it will be our expression that1 in ,england and ,holland1 a similar object was seen in ,november1 #ahhb4 ,in the ,scientific ,american1 #dj-bid1 is published a letter from ,henry ,harrison1 of ,jersey ,city1 copied from the ,new ,york ,tribune3 that upon the evening of ,april #ac1 #ahgi1 ,mr4 ,harrison was searching for ,brorsen's comet1 when he saw an object that was moving so rapidly that it could not have been a comet4 ,he called a friend to look1 and his observation was confirmed4 ,at two o'clock in the morning this object was still visible4 ,in the ,scientific ,american ,supplement1 #g-bhhe1 ,mr4 ,harrison disclaims sensationalism1 which he seems to think unworthy1 and gives technical details3 he says that the object was seen by ,mr4 ,j4 ,spencer ,devoe1 of ,manhattanville4 #be ,a formation having the shape of a dirigible4 ,it was reported from ,huntington1 ,west ,virginia 7,sci4 ,amer41 #aae-bda74 ,luminous object that was seen ,july #ai1 #aiaf1 at about #aa ,p4,m4 ,observed through rather powerful field glasses1 it looked to be about two degrees long and half a degree wide4 ,it gradually dimmed1 disappeared1 reappeared1 and then faded out of sight4 ,another person--as we say3 it would be too inconvenient to hold to our intermediatist recognitions--another person who observed this phenomenon suggested to the writer of the account that the object was a dirigible1 but the writer says that faint stars could be seen behind it4 ,this would seem really to oppose our notion of a dirigible visitor to this earth--except for the inconclusiveness of all things in a mode of seeming that is not final--or we suggest that behind some parts of the object1 thing1 construction1 faint stars were seen4 ,we find a slight discussion here4 ,prof4 ,h4,m4 ,russell thinks that the phenomenon was a detached cloud of aurora borealis4 ,upon page #cfi of this volume of the ,scientific ,american1 another correlator suggests that it was a light from a blast furnace--disregarding that1 if there be blast furnaces in or near ,huntington1 their reflections would be commonplaces there4 ,we now have several observations upon cylindrical-shaped bodies that have appeared in this earth's atmosphere3 cylindrical1 but pointed at both ends1 or torpedo-shaped4 ,some of the accounts are not very detailed1 but out of the bits of description my own acceptance is that super-geographical routes are traversed by torpedo-shaped super-constructions that have occasionally visited1 or that have occasionally been driven into this earth's atmosphere4 ,from data1 the acceptance is that upon entering this earth's atmosphere1 these vessels have been so racked that had they not sailed away1 disintegration would have occurred3 that1 before leaving this earth1 they have1 whether in attempted communication or not1 or in mere wantonness or not1 dropped objects1 which did almost immediately violently disintegrate or explode4 ,upon general principles we think that explosives have not been purposely dropped1 but that parts have been racked off1 and have fallen1 exploding like the things called ball lightning4 ,many have been objects of stone or metal with inscriptions upon them1 for all we know1 at present4 ,in all instances1 estimates of dimensions are valueless1 but ratios of dimensions are more acceptable4 ,a thing said to have been six feet long may have been six hundred feet long2 but shape is not so subject to the illusions of distance4 ,nature1 #dj-dae3 ,that1 ,aug4 #e1 #ahhi1 during a violent storm1 an object that looked to be about #ae inches long and #e inches wide1 fell1 rather slowly1 at ,east ,twickenham1 ,england4 ,it exploded4 ,no substance from it was found4 ,l',annee ,scientifique1 #ahfd-ed3 ,that1 ,oct4 #aj1 #ahfd1 ,m4 ,leverrier had sent to the ,academy three letters from witnesses of a long luminous body1 tapering at both ends1 that had been seen in the sky4 ,in ,thunder and ,lightning1 p4 #hg1 ,flammarion says that on ,aug4 #bj1 #ahhj1 during a rather violent storm1 ,m4,a4 ,trecul1 of the ,french ,academy1 saw a very brilliant yellowish-white body1 apparently #ce to #dj centimeters long1 and about #be centimeters wide4 ,torpedo-shaped4 ,or a cylindrical body1 with slightly conical ends4 ,it dropped something1 and disappeared in the clouds4 ,whatever it may have been that was dropped1 it fell vertically1 like a heavy object1 and left a luminous train4 ,the scene of this occurrence may have been far from the observer4 ,no sound was heard4 ,for ,m4 ,trecul's account1 see ,comptes ,rendus1 #ajc-hdi4 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 #aijg-caj3 ,that1 ,july #b1 #aijg1 in the town of ,burlington1 ,vermont1 a terrific explosion had been heard throughout the city4 ,a ball of light1 or a luminous object1 had been seen to fall from the sky--or from a torpedo-shaped thing1 or construction1 in the sky4 ,no one had seen this thing that had exploded fall from a larger body that was in the sky--but if we accept that at the same time there was a larger body in the sky-- ,my own acceptance is that a dirigible in the sky1 or a construction that showed every sign of disrupting1 had barely time to drop--whatever it did drop--and to speed away to safety above4 ,the following story is told1 in the ,review1 by ,bishop ,john ,s4 ,michaud3 ,i was standing on the corner of ,church and ,college ,streets1 just in front of the ,howard ,bank1 and facing east1 engaged in conversation with ,ex-,governor ,woodbury and ,mr4 ,a4,a4 ,buell1 when1 without the slightest indication1 or warning1 we were startled by what sounded like a most unusual and terrific explosion1 evidently very nearby4 ,raising my eyes1 and looking eastward along ,college ,street1 ,i observed a torpedo-shaped body1 some #cjj feet away1 stationary in appearance1 and suspended in the air1 about #ej feet above the tops of the buildings4 ,in size it was about #f feet long by #h inches in diameter1 the shell1 or covering1 having a dark appearance1 with here and there tongues of fire issuing from spots on the surface1 resembling red-hot1 unburnished copper4 ,although stationary when first noticed1 this object soon began to move1 rather slowly1 and disappeared over ,dolan ,brothers' store1 southward4 ,as it moved1 the covering seemed rupturing in places1 and through these the intensely red flames issued4 ,bishop ,michaud attempts to correlate it with meteorological observations4 ,because of the nearby view this is perhaps the most remarkable of the new correlates1 but the correlate now coming is extraordinary because of the great number of recorded observations upon it4 ,my own acceptance is that1 upon ,nov4 #ag1 #ahhb1 a vast dirigible crossed ,england1 but by the definiteness-indefiniteness of all things quasi-real1 some observations upon it can be correlated with anything one pleases4 ,e4,w4 ,maunder1 invited by the ,editors of the ,observatory to write some reminiscences for the #ejjth number of their magazine1 gives one that he says stands out 7,observatory1 #ci-bad74 ,it is upon something that he terms a strange celestial visitor4 ,maunder was at the ,royal ,observatory1 ,greenwich1 ,nov4 #ag1 #ahhb1 at night4 ,there was an aurora1 without features of special interest4 ,in the midst of the aurora1 a great circular disk of greenish light appeared and moved smoothly across the sky4 ,but the circularity was evidently the effect of foreshortening4 ,the thing passed above the moon1 and was1 by other observers1 described as cigar-shaped1 like a torpedo1 a spindle1 a shuttle4 ,the idea of foreshortening is not mine3 ,maunder says this4 ,he says3 ,had the incident occurred a third of a century later1 beyond doubt everyone would have selected the same simile--it would have been 'just like a ,zeppelin4' ,the duration was about two minutes4 ,color said to have been the same as that of the auroral glow in the north4 ,nevertheless1 ,maunder says that this thing had no relation to auroral phenomena4 ,it appeared to be a definite body4 ,motion too fast for a cloud1 but nothing could be more unlike the rush of a meteor4 ,in the ,philosophical ,magazine1 #e-ae-cah1 ,j4 ,rand ,capron1 in a lengthy paper1 alludes throughout to this phenomenon as an auroral beam1 but he lists many observations upon its torpedo-shape1 and one observation upon a dark nucleus in it--host of most confusing observations--estimates of height between #dj and #bjj miles--observations in ,holland and ,belgium4 ,we are told that according to ,capron's spectroscopic observations the phenomenon was nothing but a beam of auroral light4 ,in the ,observatory1 #f-aib1 is ,maunder's contemporaneous account4 ,he gives apparent approximate length and breadth at twenty-seven degrees and three degrees and a half4 ,he gives other observations seeming to indicate structure--remarkable dark marking down the center4 ,in ,nature1 #bg-hd1 ,capron says that because of the moonlight he had been able to do little with the spectroscope4 ,color white1 but aurora rosy 7,nature1 #bg-hg74 ,bright stars seen through it1 but not at the zenith1 where it looked opaque4 ,this is the only assertion of transparency 7,nature1 #bg-hg74 ,too slow for a meteor1 but too fast for a cloud 7,nature1 #bg-hf74 ,surface had a mottled appearance 7,nature1 #bg-hg74 ,very definite in form1 like a torpedo 7,nature1 #bg-ajj74 ,probably a meteoric object 7,dr4 ,groneman1 ,nature1 #bg-bif74 ,technical demonstration by ,dr4 ,groneman1 that it was a cloud of meteoric matter 7,nature1 #bh-aje74 ,see ,nature1 #bg-cae1 #cch1 #cfe1 #chh1 #dab1 #dcd4 ,very little doubt it was an electric phenomenon 7,proctor1 ,knowledge1 #b-dai74 ,in the ,london ,times1 ,nov4 #bj1 #ahhb1 the ,editor says that he had received a great number of letters upon this phenomenon4 ,he publishes two4 ,one correspondent describes it as well-defined and shaped like a fish444 extraordinary and alarming4 ,the other correspondent writes of it as a most magnificent luminous mass1 shaped somewhat like a torpedo4 #bf ,notes and ,queries1 #e-c-cjf3 ,about #h lights that were seen in ,wales1 over an area of about #h miles1 all keeping their own ground1 whether moving together perpendicularly1 horizontally1 or over a zigzag course4 ,they looked like electric lights--disappearing1 reappearing dimly1 then shining as bright as ever4 ,we have seen them three or four at a time afterward1 on four or five occasions4 ,london ,times1 ,oct4 #e1 #ahgg3 ,from time to time the west coast of ,wales seems to have been the scene of mysterious lights4444 ,and now we have a statement from ,towyn that within the last few weeks lights of various colors have been seen moving over the estuary of the ,dysynni ,river1 and out to sea4 ,they are generally in a northerly direction1 but sometimes they hug the shore1 and move at high velocity for miles toward ,aberdovey1 and suddenly disappear4 ,l',annee ,scientifique1 #ahgg-de3 ,lights that appeared in the sky1 above ,vence1 ,france1 ,march #bc1 #ahgg2 described as balls of fire of dazzling brightness2 appeared from a cloud about a degree in diameter2 moved relatively slowly4 ,they were visible more than an hour1 moving northward4 ,it is said that eight or ten years before similar lights or objects had been seen in the sky1 at ,vence4 ,london ,times1 ,sept4 #ai1 #ahdh3 ,that1 at ,inverness1 ,scotland1 two large1 bright lights that looked like stars had been seen in the sky3 sometimes stationary1 but occasionally moving at high velocity4 ,l',annee ,scientifique1 #ahhh-ff3 ,observed near ,st4 ,petersburg1 ,july #cj1 #ahhj1 in the evening3 a large spherical light and two smaller ones1 moving along a ravine3 visible three minutes2 disappearing without noise4 ,nature1 #ce-agc3 ,that1 at ,yloilo1 ,sept4 #cj1 #ahhf1 was seen a luminous object the size of the full moon4 ,it floated slowly northward1 followed by smaller ones close to it4 ,the ,false ,lights of ,durham4 ,every now and then in the ,english newspapers1 in the middle of the nineteenth century1 there is something about lights that were seen against the sky1 but as if not far above land1 oftenest upon the coast of ,durham4 ,they were mistaken for beacons by sailors4 ,wreck after wreck occurred4 ,the fishermen were accused of displaying false lights and profiting by wreckage4 ,the fishermen answered that mostly only old vessels1 worthless except for insurance1 were so wrecked4 ,in #ahff 7,london ,times1 ,jan4 #i1 #ahff7 popular excitement became intense4 ,there was an investigation4 ,before a commission1 headed by ,admiral ,collinson1 testimony was taken4 ,one witness described the light that had deceived him as considerably elevated above ground4 ,no conclusion was reached3 the lights were called the mysterious lights4 ,but whatever the false lights of ,durham may have been1 they were unaffected by the investigation4 ,in #ahfg1 the ,tyne ,pilotage ,board took the matter up4 ,opinion of the ,mayor of ,tyne--a mysterious affair4 ,in the ,report of the ,british ,association1 #ahgg-aeb1 there is a description of a group of meteors that traveled with remarkable slowness4 ,they were in sight about three minutes4 ,remarkable1 it seems1 is scarcely strong enough3 one reads of remarkable as applied to a duration of three seconds4 ,these meteors had another peculiarity2 they left no train4 ,they are described as seemingly huddled together like a flock of wild geese1 and moving with the same velocity and grace of regularity4 ,jour4 ,roy4 ,astro4 ,soc4 of ,canada1 ,november and ,december1 #aiac3 ,that1 according to many observations collected by ,prof4 ,chant1 of ,toronto1 there appeared1 upon the night of ,feb4 #i1 #aiac1 a spectacle that was seen in ,canada1 the ,united ,states1 and at sea1 and in ,bermuda4 ,a luminous body was seen4 ,to it there was a long tail4 ,the body grew rapidly larger4 ,observers differ as to whether the body was single1 or was composed of three or four parts1 with a tail to each part4 ,the group1 or complex structure1 moved with a peculiar1 majestic deliberation4 ,it disappeared in the distance1 and another group emerged from its place of origin4 ,onward they moved1 at the same deliberate pace1 in twos or threes or fours4 ,they disappeared4 ,a third group1 or a third structure1 followed4 ,some observers compared the spectacle to a fleet of airships3 others to battleships attended by cruisers and destroyers4 ,according to one writer3 ,there were probably #cj or #cb bodies1 and the peculiar thing about them was their moving in fours and threes and twos1 abreast of one another2 and so perfect was the lining up that you would have thought it was an aerial fleet maneuvering after rigid drilling4 ,nature1 ,may #be1 #ahic3 ,a letter from ,capt4 ,charles ,j4 ,norcock1 of ,h4,m4,s4 ,caroline3 ,that1 upon the #bdth of ,february1 #ahic1 at #aj ,p4,m41 between ,shanghai and ,japan1 the officer of the watch had reported some unusual lights4 ,they were between the ship and a mountain4 ,the mountain was about #f1jjj feet high4 ,the lights seemed to be globular4 ,they moved sometimes massed1 but sometimes strung out in an irregular line4 ,they bore northward1 until lost to sight4 ,duration two hours4 ,the next night the lights were seen again4 ,they were1 for a time1 eclipsed by a small island4 ,they bore north at about the same speed and in about the same direction as speed and direction of the ,caroline4 ,but they were lights that cast a reflection3 there was a glare upon the horizon under them4 ,a telescope brought out but few details3 that they were reddish1 and seemed to emit a faint smoke4 ,this time the duration was seven and a half hours4 ,then ,capt4 ,norcock says that1 in the same general locality1 and at about the same time1 ,capt4 ,castle1 of ,h4,m4,s4 ,leander1 had seen lights4 ,he had altered his course and had made toward them4 ,the lights had fled from him4 ,at least1 they had moved higher in the sky4 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,march1 #aijd-aae3 ,report from the observations of three members of his crew by ,lieut4 ,frank ,h4 ,schofield1 ,u4,s4,n1 of the ,u4,s4,s4 ,supply3 ,feb4 #bd1 #aijd4 ,three luminous objects1 of different sizes1 the largest having an apparent area of about six suns4 ,when first sighted1 they were not very high4 ,they were below clouds of an estimated height of about one mile4 ,they fled1 or they evaded1 or they turned4 ,they went up into the clouds below which they had1 at first1 been sighted4 ,their unison of movement4 ,but they were of different sizes1 and of different susceptibilities to all forces of this earth and of the air4 ,monthly ,weather ,review1 ,august1 #ahih-ceh3 ,two letters from ,c4,n4 ,crotsenburg1 ,crow ,agency1 ,montana3 ,that1 in the summer of #ahif1 when this writer was a railroad postal clerk--or one who was experienced in train-phenomena--while his train was going northward1 from ,trenton1 ,mo41 he and another clerk saw1 in the darkness of a heavy rain1 a light that appeared to be round1 and of a dull-rose color1 and seemed to be about a foot in diameter4 ,it seemed to float within a hundred feet of the earth1 but soon rose high1 or midway between horizon and zenith4 ,the wind was quite strong from the east1 but the light held a course almost due north4 ,its speed varied4 ,sometimes it seemed to outrun the train considerably4 ,at other times it seemed to fall behind4 ,the mail-clerks watched until the town of ,linville1 ,iowa1 was reached4 ,behind the depot of this town1 the light disappeared1 and was not seen again4 ,all this time there had been rain1 but very little lightning1 but ,mr4 ,crotsenburg offers the explanation that it was ball lightning4 ,the ,editor of the ,review disagrees4 ,he thinks that the light may have been a reflection from the rain1 or fog1 or from leaves of trees1 glistening with rain1 or the train's light--not lights4 ,in the ,december number of the ,review is a letter from ,edward ,m4 ,boggs--that the light was a reflection1 perhaps1 from the glare--one light1 this time--from the locomotive's fire-box1 upon wet telegraph wires--an appearance that might not be striated by the wires1 but consolidated into one rotundity--that it had seemed to oscillate with the undulations of the wires1 and had seemed to change horizontal distance with the varying angles of reflection1 and had seemed to advance or fall behind1 when the train had rounded curves4 ,all of which is typical of the best of quasi-reasoning4 ,it includes and assimilates diverse data3 but it excludes that which will destroy it3 ,that1 acceptably1 the telegraph wires were alongside the track beyond1 as well as leading to ,linville4 ,mr4 ,crotsenburg thinks of ball lightning1 which1 though a sore bewilderment to most speculation1 is usually supposed to be a correlate with the old system of thought3 but his awareness of something else is expressed in other parts of his letters1 when he says that he has something to tell that is so strange that ,i should never have mentioned it1 even to my friends1 had it not been corroborated444 so unreal that ,i hesitated to speak of it1 fearing that it was some freak of the imagination4 #bg ,vast and black4 ,the thing that was poised1 like a crow over the moon4 ,round and smooth4 ,cannon balls4 ,things that have fallen from the sky to this earth4 ,our slippery brains4 ,things like cannon balls have fallen1 in storms1 upon this earth4 ,like cannon balls are things that1 in storms1 have fallen to this earth4 ,showers of blood4 ,showers of blood4 ,showers of blood4 ,whatever it may have been1 something like red-brick dust1 or a red substance in a dried state1 fell at ,piedmont1 ,italy1 ,oct4 #bg1 #ahad 7,electric ,magazine1 #fh-dcg74 ,a red powder fell1 in ,switzerland1 winter of #ahfg 7,pop4 ,sci4 ,rev41 #aj-aab7-- ,that something1 far from this earth1 had bled--super-dragon that had rammed a comet-- ,or that there are oceans of blood somewhere in the sky--substance that dries1 and falls in a powder--wafts for ages in powdered form--that there is a vast area that will some day be known to aviators as the ,desert of ,blood4 ,we attempt little of super-topography1 at present1 but ,ocean of ,blood1 or ,desert of ,blood--or both--,italy is nearest to it--or to them4 ,i suspect that there were corpuscles in the substance that fell in ,switzerland1 but all that could be published in #ahfg was that in this substance there was a high proportion of variously shaped organic matter4 ,at ,giessen1 ,germany1 in #ahba1 according to the ,report of the ,british ,association1 #e-b1 fell a rain of a peach-red color4 ,in this rain were flakes of a hyacinthine tint4 ,it is said that this substance was organic3 we are told that it was pyrrhine4 ,but distinctly enough1 we are told of one red rain that it was of corpuscular composition--red snow1 rather4 ,it fell1 ,march #ab1 #ahgf1 near the ,crystal ,palace1 ,london 7,year ,book of ,facts1 #ahgf-hi2 ,nature1 #ac-dad74 ,as to the red snow of polar and mountainous regions1 we have no opposition1 because that snow has never been seen to fall from the sky3 it is a growth of micro-organisms1 or of a protococcus1 that spreads over snow that is on the ground4 ,this time nothing is said of sand from the ,sahara4 ,it is said of the red matter that fell in ,london1 ,march #ab1 #ahgf1 that it was composed of corpuscles-- ,of course3 ,that they looked like vegetable cells4 ,a note3 ,that nine days before had fallen the red substance--flesh--whatever it may have been--of ,bath ,county1 ,kentucky4 ,i think that a super-egotist1 vast1 but not so vast as it had supposed1 had refused to move to one side for a comet4 ,we summarize our general super-geographical expressions3 ,gelatinous regions1 sulphurous regions1 frigid and tropical regions3 a region that has been ,source of ,life relatively to this earth3 regions wherein there is density so great that things from them1 entering this earth's thin atmosphere1 explode4 ,we have had a datum of explosive hailstones4 ,we now have support to the acceptance that they had been formed in a medium far denser than air of this earth at sea-level4 ,in the ,popular ,science ,news1 #bb-ch1 is an account of ice that had been formed1 under great pressure1 in the laboratory of the ,university of ,virginia4 ,when released and brought into contact with ordinary air1 this ice exploded4 ,and again the flesh-like substance that fell in ,kentucky3 its flake-like formation4 ,here is a phenomenon that is familiar to us3 it suggests flattening1 under pressure4 ,but the extraordinary inference is--pressure not equal on all sides4 ,in the ,annual ,record of ,science1 #ahgc-cej1 it is said that1 in #ahgc1 after a heavy thunderstorm in ,louisiana1 a tremendous number of fish scales were found1 for a distance of forty miles1 along the banks of the ,mississippi ,river3 bushels of them picked up in single places3 large scales that were said to be of the gar fish1 a fish that weighs from five to fifty pounds4 ,it seems impossible to accept this identification3 one thinks of a substance that had been pressed into flakes or scales4 ,and round hailstones with wide thin margins of ice irregularly around them--still1 such hailstones seem to me more like things that had been stationary3 had been held in a field of thin ice4 ,in the ,illustrated ,london ,news1 #cd-edf1 are drawings of hailstones so margined1 as if they had been held in a sheet of ice4 ,some day we shall have an expression which will be1 to our advanced primitiveness1 a great joy3 ,that devils have visited this earth3 foreign devils3 human-like beings1 with pointed beards3 good singers2 one shoe ill-fitting--but with sulphurous exhalations1 at any rate4 ,i have been impressed with the frequent occurrence of sulphurousness with things that come from the sky4 ,a fall of jagged pieces of ice1 ,orkney1 ,july #bd1 #ahah 7,trans4 ,roy4 ,soc4 ,edin41 #i-ahg74 ,they had a strong sulphurous odor4 ,and the coke--or the substance that looked like coke--that fell at ,mortree1 ,france1 ,april #bd1 #ahhg3 with it fell a sulphurous substance4 ,the enormous round things that rose from the ocean1 near the ,victoria4 ,whether we still accept that they were super-constructions that had come from a denser atmosphere and1 in danger of disruption1 had plunged into the ocean for relief1 then rising and continuing on their way to ,jupiter or ,uranus--it was reported that they spread a stench of sulphur4 ,at any rate1 this datum of proximity is against the conventional explanation that these things did not rise from the ocean1 but rose far away above the horizon1 with illusion of nearness4 ,and the things that were seen in the sky ,july1 #ahih3 ,i have another note4 ,in ,nature1 #eh-bbd1 a correspondent writes that1 upon ,july #a1 #ahih1 at ,sedberg1 he had seen in the sky--a red object--or1 in his own wording1 something that looked like the red part of a rainbow1 about #aj degrees long4 ,but the sky was dark at the time4 ,the sun had set4 ,a heavy rain was falling4 ,throughout this book1 the datum that we are most impressed with3 ,successive falls4 ,or that1 if upon one small area1 things fall from the sky1 and then1 later1 fall again upon the same small area1 they are not products of a whirlwind1 which though sometimes axially stationary1 discharges tangentially-- ,so the frogs that fell at ,wigan4 ,i have looked that matter up again4 ,later more frogs fell4 ,as to our data of gelatinous substance said to have fallen to this earth with meteorites1 it is our expression that meteorites1 tearing through the shaky1 protoplasmic seas of ,genesistrine--against which we warn aviators1 or they may find themselves suffocating in a reservoir of life1 or stuck like currants in a blanc mange--that meteorites detach gelatinous1 or protoplasmic1 lumps that fall with them4 ,now the element of positiveness in our composition yearns for the appearance of completeness4 ,super-geographical lakes with fishes in them4 ,meteorites that plunge through these lakes1 on their way to this earth4 ,the positiveness in our make-up must have expression in at least one record of a meteorite that has brought down a lot of fishes with it-- ,nature1 #c-eab3 ,that1 near the bank of a river1 in ,peru1 ,feb4 #d1 #ahga1 a meteorite fell4 ,on the spot1 it is reported1 several dead fishes were found1 of different species4 ,the attempt to correlate is--that the fishes are supposed to have been lifted out of the river and dashed against the stones4 ,whether this be imaginable or not depends upon each one's own hypnoses4 ,nature1 #d-afi3 ,that the fishes had fallen among the fragments of the meteorite4 ,popular ,science ,review1 #d-abf3 ,that one day1 ,mr4 ,le ,gould1 an ,australian scientist1 was traveling in ,queensland4 ,he saw a tree that had been broken off close to the ground4 ,where the tree had been broken was a great bruise4 ,near by was an object that resembled a ten-inch shot4 ,a good many pages back there was an instance of over-shadowing1 ,i think4 ,the little carved stone that fell at ,tarbes is my own choice as the most impressive of our new correlates4 ,it was coated with ice1 remember4 ,suppose we should sift and sift and discard half the data in this book--suppose only that one datum should survive4 ,to call attention to the stone of ,tarbes would1 in my opinion1 be doing well enough1 for whatever the spirit of this book is trying to do4 ,nevertheless1 it seems to me that a datum that preceded it was slightingly treated4 ,the disk of quartz1 said to have fallen from the sky1 after a meteoric explosion3 ,said to have fallen at the plantation ,bleijendal1 ,dutch ,guiana3 sent to the ,museum of ,leyden by ,m4 van ,sypesteyn1 adjutant to the ,governor of ,dutch ,guiana 7,notes and ,queries1 #b-h-ib74 ,and the fragments that fall from super-geographic ice fields3 flat pieces of ice with icicles on them4 ,i think that we did not emphasize enough that1 if these structures were not icicles1 but crystalline protuberances1 such crystalline formations indicate long suspension quite as notably as would icicles4 ,in the ,popular ,science ,news1 #bd-cd1 it is said that in #ahfi1 near ,tiflis1 fell large hailstones with long protuberances4 ,the most remarkable point in connection with the hailstones is the fact that1 judging from our present knowledge1 a very long time must have been occupied in their formation4 ,according to the ,geological ,magazine1 #g-bg1 this fall occurred ,may #bg1 #ahfi4 ,the writer in the ,geological ,magazine says that of all theories that he had ever heard of1 not one could give him light as to this occurrence--these growing crystalline forms must have been suspended a long time-- ,again and again this phenomenon3 ,fourteen days later1 at about the same place1 more of these hailstones fell4 ,rivers of blood that vein albuminous seas1 or an egg-like composition in the incubation of which this earth is a local center of development--that there are super-arteries of blood in ,genesistrine3 that sunsets are consciousness of them3 that they flush the skies with northern lights sometimes3 super-embryonic reservoirs from which life-forms emanate-- ,or that our whole solar system is a living thing3 that showers of blood upon this earth are its internal hemorrhages-- ,or vast living things in the sky1 as there are vast living things in the oceans-- ,or some one especial thing3 an especial time3 an especial place4 ,a thing the size of the ,brooklyn ,bridge4 ,it's alive in outer space--something the size of ,central ,park kills it-- ,it drips4 ,we think of the ice fields above this earth3 which do not1 themselves1 fall to this earth1 but from which water does fall-- ,popular ,science ,news1 #ce-ajd3 ,that1 according to ,prof4 ,luigi ,palazzo1 head of the ,italian ,meteorological ,bureau1 upon ,may #ae1 #ahij1 at ,messignadi1 ,calabria1 something the color of fresh blood fell from the sky4 ,this substance was examined in the public-health laboratories of ,rome4 ,it was found to be blood4 ,the most probable explanation of this terrifying phenomenon is that migratory birds 7quails or swallows7 were caught and torn in a violent wind4 ,so the substance was identified as birds' blood-- ,what matters it what the microscopists of ,rome said--or had to say--and what matters it that we point out that there is no assertion that there was a violent wind at the time--and that such a substance would be almost infinitely dispersed in a violent wind--that no bird was said to have fallen from the sky--or said to have been seen in the sky--that not a feather of a bird is said to have been seen-- ,this one datum3 ,the fall of blood from the sky-- ,but later1 in the same place1 blood again fell from the sky4 #bh ,notes and ,queries1 #g-h-ejh3 ,a correspondent who had been to ,devonshire writes for information as to a story that he had heard there3 of an occurrence of about thirty-five years before the date of writing3 ,of snow upon the ground--of all ,south ,devonshire waking up one morning to find such tracks in the snow as had never before been heard of--clawed footmarks of an unclassifiable form--alternating at huge but regular intervals with what seemed to be the impression of the point of a stick--but the scattering of the prints--amazing expanse of territory covered--obstacles1 such as hedges1 walls1 houses1 seemingly surmounted-- ,intense excitement--that the track had been followed by huntsmen and hounds1 until they had come to a forest--from which the hounds had retreated1 baying and terrified1 so that no one had dared to enter the forest4 ,notes and ,queries1 #g-i-ah3 ,whole occurrence well-remembered by a correspondent3 a badger had left marks in the snow3 this was determined1 and the excitement had dropped to a dead calm in a single day4 ,notes and ,queries1 #g-i-gj3 ,that for years a correspondent had had a tracing of the prints1 which his mother had taken from those in the snow in her garden1 in ,exmouth3 that they were hoof-like marks--but had been made by a biped4 ,notes and ,queries1 #g-i-bec3 ,well remembered by another correspondent1 who writes of the excitement and consternation of some classes4 ,he says that a kangaroo had escaped from a menagerie--the footprints being so peculiar and far apart gave rise to a scare that the devil was loose4 ,we have had a story1 and now we shall tell it over from contemporaneous sources4 ,we have had the later accounts first very largely for an impression of the correlating effect that time brings about1 by addition1 disregard and distortion4 ,for instance1 the dead calm in a single day4 ,if ,i had found that the excitement did die out rather soon1 ,i'd incline to accept that nothing extraordinary had occurred4 ,i found that the excitement had continued for weeks4 ,i recognize this as a well-adapted thing to say1 to divert attention from a discorrelate4 ,all phenomena are explained in the terms of the ,dominant of their era4 ,this is why we give up trying really to explain1 and content ourselves with expressing4 ,devils that might print marks in snow are correlates to the third ,dominant back from this era4 ,so it was an adjustment by nineteenth-century correlates1 or human tropisms1 to say that the marks in the snow were clawed4 ,hoof-like marks are not only horsey but devilish4 ,it had to be said in the nineteenth century that those prints showed claw-marks4 ,we shall see that this was stated by ,prof4 ,owen1 one of the greatest biologists of his day--except that ,darwin didn't think so4 ,but ,i shall give reference to two representations of them that can be seen in the ,new ,york ,public ,library4 ,in neither representation is there the faintest suggestion of a claw-mark4 ,there never has been a ,prof4 ,owen who has explained3 he has correlated4 ,another adaptation1 in the later accounts1 is that of leading this discorrelate to the ,old ,dominant into the familiar scenery of a fairy story1 and discredit it by assimilation to the conventionally fictitious--so the idea of the baying1 terrified hounds1 and forest like enchanted forests1 which no one dared to enter4 ,hunting parties were organized1 but the baying1 terrified hounds do not appear in contemporaneous accounts4 ,the story of the kangaroo looks like adaptation to needs for an animal that could spring far1 because marks were found in the snow on roofs of houses4 ,but so astonishing is the extent of snow that was marked that after a while another kangaroo was added4 ,but the marks were in single lines4 ,my own acceptance is that not less than a thousand one-legged kangaroos1 each shod with a very small horseshoe1 could have marked that snow of ,devonshire4 ,london ,times1 ,feb #af1 #ahee3 ,considerable sensation has been caused in the towns of ,topsham1 ,lymphstone1 ,exmouth1 ,teignmouth1 and ,dawlish1 in ,devonshire1 in consequence of the discovery of a vast number of foot tracks of a most strange and mysterious description4 ,the story is of an incredible multiplicity of marks discovered in the morning of ,feb4 #h1 #ahee1 in the snow1 by the inhabitants of many towns and regions between towns4 ,this great area must of course be disregarded by ,prof4 ,owen and the other correlators4 ,the tracks were in all kinds of unaccountable places3 in gardens enclosed by high walls1 and up on the tops of houses1 as well as in the open fields4 ,there was in ,lymphstone scarcely one unmarked garden4 ,we've had heroic disregards but ,i think that here disregard was titanic4 ,and1 because they occurred in single lines1 the marks are said to have been more like those of a biped than of a quadruped--as if a biped would place one foot precisely ahead of another--unless it hopped--but then we have to think of a thousand1 or of thousands4 ,it is said that the marks were generally #h inches in advance of each other4 ,the impression of the foot closely resembles that of a donkey's shoe1 and measured from an inch and a half1 in some instances1 to two and a half inches across4 ,or the impressions were cones in incomplete1 or crescentic basins4 ,the diameters equaled diameters of very young colts' hoofs3 too small to be compared with marks of donkey's hoofs4 ,on ,sunday last the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,musgrave alluded to the subject in his sermon and suggested the possibility of the footprints being those of a kangaroo1 but this could scarcely have been the case1 as they were found on both sides of the ,este4 ,at present it remains a mystery1 and many superstitious people in the above-named towns are actually afraid to go outside their doors after night4 ,the ,este is a body of water two miles wide4 ,london ,times1 ,march #f1 #ahee3 ,the interest in this matter has scarcely yet subsided1 many inquiries still being made into the origin of the footprints1 which caused so much consternation upon the morning of the #hth ult4 ,in addition to the circumstances mentioned in the ,times a little while ago1 it may be stated that at ,dawlish a number of persons sallied out1 armed with guns and other weapons1 for the purpose1 if possible1 of discovering and destroying the animal which was supposed to have been so busy in multiplying its footprints4 ,as might have been expected1 the party returned as they went4 ,various speculations have been made as to the cause of the footprints4 ,some have asserted that they are those of a kangaroo1 while others affirm that they are the impressions of claws of large birds driven ashore by stress of weather4 ,on more than one occasion reports have been circulated that an animal from a menagerie had been caught1 but the matter at present is as much involved in mystery as ever it was4 ,in the ,illustrated ,london ,news1 the occurrence is given a great deal of space4 ,in the issue of ,feb4 #bd1 #ahee1 a sketch is given of the prints4 ,i call them cones in incomplete basins4 ,except that they're a little longish1 they look like prints of hoofs of horses--or1 rather1 of colts4 ,but they're in a single line4 ,it is said that the marks from which the sketch was made were #h inches apart1 and that this spacing was regular and invariable in every parish4 ,also other towns besides those named in the ,times are mentioned4 ,the writer1 who had spent a winter in ,canada1 and was familiar with tracks in snow1 says that he had never seen a more clearly defined track4 ,also he brings out the point that was so persistently disregarded by ,prof4 ,owen and the other correlators--that no known animal walks in a line of single footsteps1 not even man4 ,with these wider inclusions1 this writer concludes with us that the marks were not footprints4 ,it may be that his following observation hits upon the crux of the whole occurrence3 ,that whatever it may have been that had made the marks1 it had removed1 rather than pressed1 the snow4 ,according to his observations the snow looked as if branded with a hot iron4 ,illustrated ,london ,news1 ,march #c1 #ahee-bad3 ,prof4 ,owen1 to whom a friend had sent drawings of the prints1 writes that there were claw-marks4 ,he says that the track was made by a badger4 ,six other witnesses sent letters to this number of the ,news4 ,one mentioned1 but not published1 is a notion of a strayed swan4 ,always this homogeneous-seeing--a badger--a swan--a track4 ,i should have listed the other towns as well as those mentioned in the ,times4 ,a letter from ,mr4 ,musgrave is published4 ,he1 too1 sends a sketch of the prints4 ,it1 too1 shows a single line4 ,there are four prints1 of which the third is a little out of line4 ,there is no sign of a claw-mark4 ,the prints look like prints of longish hoofs of a very young colt1 but they are not so definitely outlined as in the sketch of ,february #bdth1 as if drawn after disturbance by wind1 or after thawing had set in4 ,measurements at places a mile and a half apart1 gave the same inter-spacing--exactly eight inches and a half apart4 ,we now have a little study in the psychology and genesis of an attempted correlation4 ,mr4 ,musgrave says3 ,i found a very apt opportunity to mention the name 'kangaroo' in allusion to the report then current4 ,he says that he had no faith in the kangaroo-story himself1 but was glad that a kangaroo was in the wind1 because it opposed a dangerous1 degrading1 and false impression that it was the devil4 ,mine was a word in season and did good4 ,whether it's ,jesuitical or not1 and no matter what it is or isn't1 that is our own acceptance3 that1 though we've often been carried away from this attitude controversially1 that is our acceptance as to every correlate of the past that has been considered in this book--relatively to the ,dominant of its era4 ,another correspondent writes that1 though the prints in all cases resembled hoof marks1 there were indistinct traces of claws--that an otter had made the marks4 ,after that many other witnesses wrote to the ,news4 ,the correspondence was so great that1 in the issue of ,march #ajth1 only a selection could be given4 ,there's a jumping-rat solution and a hopping-toad inspiration1 and then someone came out strong with an idea of a hare that had galloped with pairs of feet held close together1 so as to make impressions in a single line4 ,london ,times1 ,march #ad1 #ahdj3 ,among the high mountains of that elevated district where ,glenorchy1 ,glenlyon and ,glenochay are contiguous1 there have been met with several times1 during this and also the former winter1 upon the snow1 the tracks of an animal seemingly unknown at present in ,scotland4 ,the print1 in every respect1 is an exact resemblance to that of a foal of considerable size1 with this small difference1 perhaps1 that the sole seems a little longer1 or not so round2 but as no one has had the good fortune as yet to have obtained a glimpse of this creature1 nothing more can be said of its shape or dimensions2 only it has been remarked1 from the depth to which the feet sank in the snow1 that it must be a beast of considerable size4 ,it has been observed also that its walk is not like that of the generality of quadrupeds1 but that it is more like the bounding or leaping of a horse when scared or pursued4 ,it is not in one locality that its tracks have been met with1 but through a range of at least twelve miles4 ,in the ,illustrated ,london ,news1 ,march #ag1 #ahee1 a correspondent from ,heidelberg writes1 upon the authority of a ,polish ,doctor of ,medicine1 that on the ,piashowa-gora 7,sand ,hill7 a small elevation on the border of ,galicia1 but in ,russian ,poland1 such marks are to be seen in the snow every year1 and sometimes in the sand of this hill1 and are attributed by the inhabitants to supernatural influences4