snails were
of a familiar land-species"--that they had been upon the ground "in the
first place."

He found that the snails had appeared after the rain: that "astonished
rustics had jumped to the conclusion that they had fallen."

He met one person who said that he had seen the snails fall.

"This was his error," says the investigator.

In the _Philosophical Magazine_, 58-310, there is an account of snails
said to have fallen at Bristol in a field of three acres, in such
quantities that they were shoveled up. It is said that the snails "may
be considered as a local species." Upon page 457, another correspondent
says that the numbers had been exaggerated, and that in his opinion they
had been upon the ground in the first place. But that there had been
some unusual condition aloft comes out in his observation upon "the
curious azure-blue appearance of the sun, at the time."

_Nature_, 47-278:

That, according to _Das Wetter_, December, 1892, upon Aug. 9, 1892, a
yellow cloud appeared over Paderborn, Germany. From this cloud, fell a
torrential rain, in which were hundreds of mussels. There is no mention
of whatever may have been upon the ground in the first place, nor of a
whirlwind.

Lizards--said to have fallen on the sidewalks of Montreal, Canada, Dec.
28, 1857. (_Notes and Queries_, 8-6-104.)

In the _Scientific American_, 3-112, a correspondent writes, from South
Granville, N.Y., that, during a heavy shower, July 3, 1860, he heard a
peculiar sound at his feet, and looking down, saw a snake lying as if
stunned by a fall. It then came to life. Gray snake, about a foot long.

These data have any meaning or lack of meaning or degree of damnation
you please: but, in the matter of the fall that occurred at Memphis,
Tennessee, occur some strong significances. Our quasi-reasoning upon
this subject applies to all segregations so far considered.

_Monthly Weather Review_, Jan. 15, 1877:

That, in Memphis, Tenn., Jan. 15, 1877, rather strictly localized, or
"in a space of two blocks," and after a violent storm in which the rain
"fell in torrents," snakes were found. They were crawling on sidewalks,
in yards, and in streets, and in masses--but "none were found on roofs
or any other elevation above ground" and "none were seen to fall."

If you prefer to believe that the snakes had always been there, or had
been upon the ground in the first place, and that it was only that
something occurred to call special attention