ants and the holes in
trees and buildings. Several having been exposed to the air in a vessel
filled with snow, lived there till the 26th October; although, in that
interval, the thermometer had fallen to eight degrees below zero. Some
others which had been frozen continued alive equally long; for they were
not found exactly encrusted with the ice, but they had formed round their
bodies a space similar to the hollow of a tree. When they were plunged
into water they swam about as if they had received no injury; but those
which were carried into a warm place perished in a few minutes."

All these remarkable showers may be accounted for, when we consider the
mighty power of the wind; especially that form of it which is popularly
called the whirlwind. It is now pretty well ascertained, that in all, or
most of the great storms which agitate the atmosphere, the wind has a
circular or rotatory movement; and the same is probably the case in many
of the lesser storms, in which the air is whirled upwards in a spiral
curve with great velocity, carrying up any small bodies which may come
within the circuit. When such a storm happens at sea, the water-spout is
produced. In the deserts of Arabia, pillars of sand are formed; and, in
other places various light bodies are caught up; fishponds have been
entirely emptied in an instant, and the moving column, whether of water,
sand, or air, travels with the wind with great swiftness. When, however,
the storm has subsided, the various substances thus caught up and
sustained in the air, are deposited at great distances from the place
where they were first found, and thus produce these remarkable showers.
In some cases, however, the direct force of the wind has actually blown
small fish out of the water, and conveyed them several miles inland.

Showers of nutritious substances have been recorded on good authority.
We do not here refer to the manna which fell in such abundance about the
Hebrew camp, for that was a miracle specially wrought by the Almighty for
the preservation of his chosen people; but, it may be noticed here, that
in Arabia, a substance, called "manna," is found in great abundance on
the leaves of many trees and herbs, and may be gathered and removed by
the wind to a distance. A shower of this kind occurred in 1824. In
1828, a substance was exhibited at the French Academy, which fell in the
plains of Persia. It was eaten, and afforded nourishment to cattle, and
many