of fire,
1750--black rains and black snows, 1755--numerous instances of upward
projection--or upward attraction?--during quakes--preceded by a cloud,
very black and lowering," 1795--fall of black powder, preceding a quake,
by six hours, 1837.

Some of these instances seem to me to be very striking--a smaller world:
it is greatly racked by the attraction of this earth--black substance is
torn down from it--not until six hours later, after an approach still
closer, does this earth suffer perturbation. As to the extraordinary
spectacle of a thing, world, super-construction, that was seen in the
sky, in 1816, I have not yet been able to find out more. I think that
here our acceptance is relatively sound: that this occurrence was
tremendously of more importance than such occurrence as, say, transits
of Venus, upon which hundreds of papers have been written--that not
another mention have I found, though I have not looked so especially as
I shall look for more data--that all but undetailed record of this
occurrence was suppressed.

Altogether we have considerable agreement here between data of vast
masses that do not fall to this earth, but from which substances fall,
and data of fields of ice from which ice may not fall, but from which
water may drip. I'm beginning to modify: that, at a distance from this
earth, gravitation has more effect than we have supposed, though less
effect than the dogmatists suppose and "prove." I'm coming out stronger
for the acceptance of a Neutral Zone--that this earth, like other
magnets, has a neutral zone, in which is the Super-Sargasso Sea, and in
which other worlds may be buoyed up, though projecting parts may be
subject to this earth's attraction--

But my preference:

Here are the data.

I now have one of the most interesting of the new correlates. I think I
should have brought it in before, but, whether out of place here,
because not accompanied by earthquake, or not, we'll have it. I offer it
as an instance of an eclipse, by a vast, dark body, that has been seen
and reported by an astronomer. The astronomer is M. Lias: the phenomenon
was seen by him, at Pernambuco, April 11, 1860.

_Comptes Rendus_, 50-1197:

It was about noon--sky cloudless--suddenly the light of the sun was
diminished. The darkness increased, and, to illustrate its intensity, we
are told that the planet Venus shone brilliant. But Venus was of low
visibility at this time. The observation that burns incense to t