An occasion upon which the phenomena might be described as those of "mischievous elementals," and also of apports, is referred to in the summing up of tactile phenomena, though it did not occur during the tenancy of Colonel Taylor.
On the other hand, the phenomena were often more active when least looked for, and some of those most expected never occurred. As there was not even a servant, nor even a dumb animal, common to the occupation of the S—— family and the tenancy of the H——s or Colonel Taylor, we are at a loss to know who the person can be who lives at B—— through all the changes, and supplies force during the past twenty years.
APPENDIX II
BARISAL GUNS. ([See page 221.])
Readers not acquainted with this phenomenon may be referred to an interesting correspondence in the pages of Nature (Oct. 1895, and Seq.), opened by Professor G.H. Darwin—
"In the delta of the Ganges," he says, "dull sounds, more or less resembling distant artillery, are often heard. These are called Barisal guns, but I do not know the meaning of the term."
The same sounds have been recorded by M. Rutot of the Geological Survey along the Belgian coast, and are alleged to be pretty common in the North of France. M. van der Broeck, Conservator of the Museum of Natural History of Belgium, says—
"I have constantly noticed these sounds in the plain of Limburg since 1880;—more than ten of my personal acquaintances have observed the fact. The detonations are dull and distant, and are repeated a dozen times or more at irregular intervals. They are usually heard in the daytime, when the sky is clear, and especially towards evening after a very hot day. The noise does not at all resemble artillery, blasting in mines, or the growling of distant thunder."