ring the
prevalence of rather heavy rain, the good people of Selby were
astonished at a remarkable phenomenon. It was rendered forcibly
apparent, that, with the descent of the rain, there was a shower of
another description, viz. a shower of frogs. The truth of this was
rendered more manifest by the circumstance that several of the frogs
were caught in their descent by holding out hats for that purpose. They
were about the size of a horse-bean, and remarkably lively after their
aerial but wingless flight. The same phenomenon was observed in the
immediate neighbourhood."

The editor of the _Zoologist_ immediately asked for confirmation of the
stated facts, from resident persons of science; but notwithstanding the
circumstantiality of the account, and especially the reported actual
capture of the little sprawlers in hats, no one replied to the demand,
and we are compelled to conclude that the report would not bear critical
investigation.

Yet incredulity may be pushed too far even here. For, in the continental
journals many more such statements occur than in those of this country,
and some of them vouched by apparently indisputable authority. If my
readers will refer to _L'Institut._ tom. ii. (1834) pp. 337, 346, 347,
353, 354, 386, 409; tom. iv. (1836) pp. 221, 314, 325; tom. vi. (1838)
p. 212, they will find mention made of this phenomenon,--showers of
toads. In two or three of these cases, the toads were not only observed
in countless numbers on the ground, during, and after, heavy storms of
rain, but were seen to strike upon the roofs of houses, bounding thence
into the streets; they even fell upon the hats, umbrellas, and clothes
of the observers, who were out in the storm, and, in one instance, were
actually received into the outstretched hand.[75]

Much more recently, namely, early in 1859, the newspapers of South Wales
recorded a shower of fish in the Valley of Aberdare. The repeated
statements attracted more notice than usual, and the Rev. John Griffith,
the vicar of the parish, communicated the following results of his
inquiries to the _Evening Mail_:--

"Many of your readers might, perhaps, like to see the facts connected
with this phenomenon. They will be better understood in the words of the
principal witness, as taken down by me on the spot where it happened.
This man's name is John Lewis, a sawyer in Messrs Nixon and Co.'s yard.
His evidence is as follows:--'On Wednesday, February 9, I was getting
out