"FOSSIL RAIN."
In 1838, there was discovered at Liverpool, the impression of a fossil shower of rain upon sandstone. Dr. Buckland observes of the phenomenon:—"It could not be mistaken for ripple of the water, that was common enough: it had all the small-pox character, the pitted appearance, which a heavy shower of rain would leave, and which would be covered up by the next tide, and so preserved to future generations."
MELTING OF A WATCH BY LIGHTNING.
During a violent thunder-storm in 1844, a fishing-boat, belonging to one of the Shetland Islands, was struck by lightning. The electric fluid came down the mast, which it tore into shivers; and melted a watch in the pocket of a man who was sitting close by the side of the mast, without injuring him. Not only was the man altogether unhurt, but his clothes also were uninjured; and he was not aware of what had taken place until, on taking out his watch, he found it was fused into a mass!
THE INDIAN JUGGLERS' SECRET.
Lieutenant Hutton states, that the snakes which the Indian jugglers handle with impunity are drugged with opium, which renders them quiet and harmless. The effects of the drug will not wear off for a fortnight or three weeks; but a drugged snake which Lieutenant Hutton purchased, after the lapse of three weeks, flew at him unexpectedly, and nearly strangled him.