tigated. Later we're going to investigate some investigations--but
never mind that now. Dr. Troost reported that the substance was clear
blood and portions of flesh scattered upon tobacco fields. He argued
that a whirlwind might have taken an animal up from one place, mauled it
around, and have precipitated its remains somewhere else.

But, in volume 44, page 216, of the _Journal_, there is an apology. The
whole matter is, upon newspaper authority, said to have been a hoax by
Negroes, who had pretended to have seen the shower, for the sake of
practicing upon the credulity of their masters: that they had scattered
the decaying flesh of a dead hog over the tobacco fields.

If we don't accept this datum, at least we see the sociologically
necessary determination to have all falls accredited to earthly
origins--even when they're falls that don't fall.

_Annual Register_, 1821-687:

That, upon the 13th of August, 1819, something had fallen from the sky
at Amherst, Mass. It had been examined and described by Prof. Graves,
formerly lecturer at Dartmouth College. It was an object that had upon
it a nap, similar to that of milled cloth. Upon removing this nap, a
buff-colored, pulpy substance was found. It had an offensive odor, and,
upon exposure to the air, turned to a vivid red. This thing was said to
have fallen with a brilliant light.

Also see the _Edinburgh Philosophical Journal_, 5-295. In the _Annales
de Chimie_, 1821-67, M. Arago accepts the datum, and gives four
instances of similar objects or substances said to have fallen from the
sky, two of which we shall have with our data of gelatinous, or viscous
matter, and two of which I omit, because it seems to me that the dates
given are too far back.

In the _American Journal of Science_, 1-2-335, is Professor Graves'
account, communicated by Professor Dewey:

That, upon the evening of August 13, 1819, a light was seen in
Amherst--a falling object--sound as if of an explosion.

In the home of Prof. Dewey, this light was reflected upon a wall of a
room in which were several members of Prof. Dewey's family.

The next morning, in Prof. Dewey's front yard, in what is said to have
been the only position from which the light that had been seen in the
room, the night before, could have been reflected, was found a substance
"unlike anything before observed by anyone who saw it." It was a
bowl-shaped object, about 8 inches in diameter, and one inch thick.
Bright buff-colo