R DUST-SHOWERS AND RED RAIN. ECENT scientific investigations in Europe and America have thrown some interesting light on the nature of these very curious phenomena. The results arrived at may be brought familiarly before our readers. Mr. Charles Darwin, in the narrative of his voyage in the Beagle, states that while he was at St. Jago, one of the Cape de Verd islands, in January, 1832: "The atmosphere was generally very hazy; this appears chiefly due to an impalpable dust, which is constantly falling, even on vessels far out at sea. The dust," he goes on to say, "is of a brown color, and, under the blow-pipe, easily fuses into a black enamel. It is produced, as I believe, from the wear and tear of volcanic rocks, and must come from the coast of Africa." The same opinion was held by scientific men generally, as well of the dust met with in the North Atlantic, as of that which sometimes falls on the islands and shores of the Mediterranean: Africa was supposed to be the original source of the air-borne particles. Some of the dust, however, having been sent to Ehrenberg of Berlin, that celebrated savant, after a microscopical examination, laid an account of his inquiry before the Akademie der Wissenschaften, in May, 1844, in which he showed that the dust, so far from being inorganic, contained numerous specimens of a species of flint-shelled animalcules, or infusoria, known as polygastrica, and minute portions of terrestrial plants. The investigation led him to certain conclusions: 1. "That meteoric dust-rain is of terrestrial origin. 2. That the same is not a rain of volcanic ashes. 3. That it is necessarily a dust carried up to a great height by a strong current of air or whirlwind from a dried-up swamp-region. 4. That the dust neither demonstrably nor necessarily comes from Africa, notwithstanding that the wind may blow from thence as the nearest land when the dust falls, because there are in it no forms whatsoever exclusively native to Africa." These were remarkable facts, but warranted by the evidence: one, if not more, of the animalcules was proved to be peculiar to America, and that country was naturally inferred to be the quarter from which they had been derived. The inquiry once begun was followed up; other specimens of dust were submitted to the same critical test, and found generally to contain a much greater number and variety of infusoria than the first—mostly fresh-water forms, but with a few of marine origin; whence the conclusion, that they had been brought from a coastregion; and especially remarkable was the fact, that among all the forms there was not one peculiar to the African continent. One example was known to belong to the Isle of France, the others were chiefly South American. After an examination of six specimens, obtained at different intervals, Ehrenberg discovered that they contained four organisms in common. “I now consider myself," he observes, "justified in the conclusion, that all the Atlantic dust may come only from one and the same source, notwithstanding its extent and annual amount. The constant yellow and reddish color of the dust, produced by ferruginous matter, its falling with the tradewinds and not with the harmattan, increase the interest of the phenomena." It had always been supposed, that the dust which traversed the Mediterranean was borne from the Great Sahara; but in a quantity collected on board the ship Revenge, at Malta, infusoria peculiar to Chili were met with, which, with other characteristics, proved the dust to be the same as that observed on the Atlantic. Their color, too, was identical; while the Sahara is a "dazzling white sand:" hence the dust brought across the Mediterranean by the sirocco was not peculiar to Africa. The conclusion here arrived at was still further verified by another sirocco-storm, in May, 1846, which extended to Genoa, and bore with it a dust that "covered the roofs of the city in great abundance." This, as was clearly ascertained, contained formations identical with those which had been collected off the Cape de Verd; and it was shown that the dust-showers of the Atlantic, and those of Malta and Genoa, were "always of a yellow ochre-like color -not gray like those of the kamsin, in North Africa." The peculiar color of the dust was found to be caused by ironoxyd; and from one-sixth to one-third of the whole proved to consist" of determinable organic parts." In the following year, 1847, Ehrenberg had another opportunity of testing his conclusions, in specimens of dust which had fallen in Italy and Sicily in 1802 and 1813; the same result came out on examination-" several species peculiar to South America, and none peculiar to Africa." Thus, omitting the two last-mentioned instances, there had been five marked falls of dust between 1830 and 1846; how many others passed without notice, it would now be impossible to ascertain. The showers sometimes occur at a distance of eight hundred miles from the coast of Africa, and this region lies between the parallels of seventeen and twenty-five degrees north latitude, and whence, as we have seen, they extend to the northern shores of the Mediterranean. In the dust collected from these various falls, there have been found altogether nineteen species of infusoria; of which eight were polythalamia, seven polygastrica, and two phytolitharia, these chiefly constituting the flint-earth portion of the dust. The iron was composed of the gaillonilla, and "the carbonic chalk earth corresponded tolerably well to the smaller number of polythalamia." The uniform character of the specimens obtained at intervals over so long a course of years is especially remarkable. lobed vegetable scales;" which, as Ehrenberg observes, is sufficient to disprove the assertion, that the substance is formed in the atmosphere itself, and is not of European origin. For the first time, a living organism was met with-the " Eunotia amphyoxis, with its ovaries green, and therefore capable of life." Here was a solution of the mystery; the dust, mingling with the drops of water falling from the clouds, produced the red rain. Its appearance is that of reddened water, and it cannot be called blood-like without exaggeration. Again, in March, 1847, a colored snow fell in the Tyrol, presenting a most singular appearance, and, when dried, leaving behind brick-colored dust. Most of the organized forms therein contained were European and American, with a few African; and again the microscope showed it to be similar to the dust before examined, leaving no room to suppose it of local origin. "The predominating forms, numerically, of one kind of dust, are also the predominating forms in all the rest," as Ehrenberg observes; and says further: "Impossible as it is to conceive of all the storms now compared from 1830 to 1847, as having a continuous genetic connection, it is equally impossible also to imagine the masses of dust transported by them, with such a degree of similarity, not to have a genetic connection. . . . The great geographic extent of the phenomenon of a reddish dust nearly filling the atmosphere, and itself filled with organisms so similar, many of which are characteristic of South America, not only admits of, but demands a more earnest attention to the probable cyclical relations in the upper and lower atmosphere, whereby very great masses of fixed terrestrial matter, earths and metals, and especially flint-earths, chalk, iron, and coal, apparently heterogeneous, and yet related by certain peculiarities, are held swimming in the atmosphere, now like clouds thinly spread by whirlwinds or electricity over a broad space, and now condensed, and, like the dust of the fir-blossoms, falling in showers in every direction." To turn, now, for a few moments to the second phenomenon indicated in our title. In October, 1846, a fearful and furious hurricane visited Lyon and the district between that city and Grenoble, during which occurred a fall of blood-rain. A number of drops were caught and preserved, and when the moisture had evaporated, there was seen the same kind of dustof yellowish-brown or red color-as that which had fallen in a dry state on the occasions already referred to. The strictest pains were taken to ascertain that it was Ehrenberg then states his views as to not the common dust swept from roads the cause of the phenomenon. "Although during a gale of wind; and when placed far from attaching undue weight to an hyunder the microscope, it exhibited a greater pothesis, I cannot but consider it a matter proportion of fresh-water and marine for- of duty to seek for a connection in the mations than the former instances. Phyto- facts, and feel myself constrained-on litharia were numerous, as also "neatly-account of the above-mentioned particulars, VOL. I, No. 1.-F and in so far as they justify a conclusion is parched with drought, on which Lieutenant Maury observes: "May not, therefore, the whirlwinds which accompany the vernal equinox sweep over the lifeless plains of the Lower Orinoco, take up the "rain-dust," which descends in the northern hemisphere in April and May—and may it not be the atmospherical disturbances which accompany the autumnal equinox, that take up the microscopic organisms from the Upper Orinoco and the great Amazonian basin for the showers of October?" Humboldt gives a striking picture of the region in question, and, if the phrase may be permitted, of its dustproducing capabilities; so that the origin of this light powder, as regards one locality, may be said to be placed beyond a doubt. As yet, the reason why the dust falls, as it were, concretely, and not generally diffused through the atmosphere, is not known; it is one of the obscure points waiting further investigation. Why it should travel so far to fall in a particular spot is, in the present state of our knowledge, not easy to explain. The coarsest dust is generally the first to fall; and it seems clear, that the descent occurs when and where the conditions are favorable. Lieutenant Maury considers, "that certain Some progress has already been made by a transatlantic investigator in the explanation so much desired by the distinguished naturalist. Lieutenant Maury, of Washington, finds in Ehrenberg's researches a beautiful and interesting confirmation of his own theory; namely, that the trade-winds of either hemisphere cross the belt of equatorial calms. Observations at the Peak of Teneriffe have proved that, while the trade-wind is sweeping along the surface of the ocean in one direction, a current in the higher regions of the atmosphere is blowing in the reverse direction. According to Lieutenant Maury, a perpetual upper current prevails from South America to North Africa, the volume being equal to that which flows southward by the north-electrical conditions are necessary to a east trade-wind. This wind, it should be remembered, does not touch the African continent, but the limits of its northern border are variable; whence the fact, that the falls of dust vary between seventeen and twenty-five degrees of north latitude, as before stated. As the belt of calms shifts its position, so will there be a variation in the locality of the descending atmospheric current. shower of dust as well as to a thunderstorm ;" and that, in the periodical intervals, we may get a clew to the rate of motion of the upper aerial currents, which appear to be "remarkable for their general regularity, their general direction, and sharpness of limits." It is scarcely possible not to feel that the investigations here briefly sketched possess unusual interest. As Ehrenberg The dust-showers take place most fre- says, the subject is one "of vast, manifold, quently in spring and autumn; that is and rapidly-increasing importance, and is "after the equinoxes, but at intervals but the beginning of a future great departvarying from thirty to fifty days;" the ment of knowledge." Now that it has cause being, that the equatorial calms, at been published in a connected form, and the time of the vernal equinox, extend to the attention of scientific observers directed four degrees on either side the equator; to it, we may hope soon to hear of corand as the rainy season then prevails be- roborative evidence from all parts of the tween those limits, no dust can conse- world. We may mention, as bearing on quently be taken up in those latitudes. the question, that sand-showers are not But the same period is the dry season in unfrequent in China. Dr. M'Gowan of the valley of the Lower Orinoco, and the Ningpo, in a communication to the Asiatic surface of that extensive region is in a Society of Bengal, states, that, at the befavorable condition to give off dust; and ginning of 1851, three showers occurred at the time of the autumnal equinox, within five weeks; the last, which comanother part of the great Amazonian basin | menced on the 26th of March, and continued four days, being the heaviest. The wind during the time varied from north-east to north-west, the breeze interrupted by occasional calms. No rain had fallen for six weeks; and though, as the doctor observes, "neither cloud, fog, nor mist obscured the heavens, yet the sun and moon were scarcely visible; the orb of day appeared as if viewed through a smoked glass, the whole sky presenting a uniform rusty hue. At times, this sameness was disturbed, exhibiting between the spectator and the sun the appearance of a waterspout, owing to the gyratory motions of the impalpable mineral. The sand penetrated the most secluded apartments; furniture wiped in the morning, would be so covered with it in the afternoon, that one could write on it legibly. In the streets, it was annoying-entering the eyes, nostrils, and mouth, and grating under the teeth. My ophthalmic patients generally suffered a relapse, and an unusual number of new cases soon after presented themselves. Were such heavy sand-storms of frequent occurrence, diseases of the visual organs would prevail to a destructive extent." These showers sometimes spread over several provinces at once, and far out to sea. The Chinese call them yellow-sand. Their source is the great desert of Cobi, or Sand-Ocean, more than two thousand miles long, and from three hundred to four hundred broad, in the interior of Asia. Dr. M'Gowan states, that the fall amounted to ten grains per square foot, but without specifying whether this quantity includes the whole duration of the shower. During calms, it remains suspended. The dust thus raised from the Mongolian steppes gives the peculiar tinge to the Yellow Sea. Notwithstanding the annoyance of these dust-showers, they have a valuable compensation. The Chinese, whose closeness of observation in agricultural matters is well known, assert that they are always followed by a fruitful season-not, it is true, as cause, but as effect. The explanation is, that the soil of the provinces most subject to the visitation, being of a compact character, is loosened and lightened by the sand borne on the wind from the Tartarian plains, and at the same time, the lighter fertilizing matters carried away by the great rivers are replaced; and thus, that which at first sight appears an unmitigated evil, becomes the cause of good harvests, for they invariably follow a fall of sand. CONTROL OF TEMPER. READER, are you happy? If so, you are a promoter of happiness. The source of wretchedness to others is always himself a wretch! In domestic matters, Temper is everything." Have you been taught to control your temper? If not, you have a great work before you. 66 Who is he that says he cannot help being angry, or sullen, or peevish? I tell him he deceives himself. We constantly avoid being so, when our interest or decorum requires it, and we feel near those who we know are not bound to bear our whims, or who will resent them to our injury; but what strangers will not endure we cast upon friends. That temper can be corrected, the world proves by thousands of instances. There have been those who set out in life with being violent, peevish, discontented, irritable, and capricious, whom thought, reflection, effort-not to speak of piety-have rendered, as they became mature, meek, peaceful, loving, generous, forbearing, tranquil, and consistent. It is a glorious achievement, and blessed is he who attains it. But taking the argument on lower ground, which I do unwillingly, you continually see men controlling their emotions when their interest demands it. Observe the man who wants assistance, who looks for patronage, how well, as he perceives coldness or hesitation, does he crush the vexation that rises in his throat, and stifles the indignation that burns for expression! How well the most proud and lofty descend from their high position, and lay aside their ordinary bearing, to earn a suffrage from the meanest kind! And surely those who hang around us in this life, those who lean on us, or on whom we lean through our pilgrimage, to whom our accents and our deeds are words, to whom a word may shoot a pang worse than the stroke of death-surely, I say, if we can do so much for interest, we can do something for goodness and gratitude. And in all civilized intercourse, how perfectly do we see it ourselves to be the recognized laws of decorum; and if we have not universally good feelings, we have, generally, at least good manners. This may be hypocrisy, but it ought to be sincerity, and we trust it is. If, then, we can make our faces to shine on strangers, why darken them on those who should be dear to us? Is it that we so squandered our smiles abroad, that we have only frowns to carry home? Is it that while out in the world we have been so prodigal of good temper, that we have but our illhumors with which to cloud our families? Is it that it requires often but a mere passing guest to enter, while we are speaking daggers to beings who are nearest to us in life, to change our tone, to give us perfect self-command, that we cannot do for love what we do for appearances? ΜΟΝΟΝ MONOMANIACS. ONOMANIA is a curious form of mental disease. It is a species of derangement, in which one idea is always uppermost in the mind; and to that all must give way. A familiar and simple form of the delusion is ordinarily known as hypochondria, in which, through some kind of nervous derangement, a person imagines himself to be afflicted with an infirmity for which there is no substantial ground. He thinks he has a heart-disease, and will be cut off suddenly one of these days; or he knows he has consumption, and cannot last long; or he is alarmed at very little pain, and is sure it means something very bad. But these are simple manifestations. The genuine hypochondriac, who has nursed his delusion till it becomes a settled monomania, believes the drollest things of himself. He thinks he is no longer a human being, and has become a teapot; or he is a hen, and wishes to sit on eggs to hatch chickens. In short, there is no end to such delusions. once knew a man, sound in other respects, who believed that his legs were made of glass, and would break with the least touch. But this is nothing to what is related of a monomaniac by Pinel, a celebrated French physician; and an account of which appeared in the Analyst, a quarterly journal of science and literature, some years ago. We "This monomaniac was a Parisian watchmaker, who lived at the period of the revolution of 1789. He was infatuated with the chimera of the Perpetual Motion; and to effect the discovery of this, he set to work with indefatigable ardor. From unremitting attention to the object of his enthusiasm, coinciding with the influence of revolutionary disturbances, his imagin ation was greatly heated, his sleep was interrupted, and at length a complete derangement took place. His case was marked by a most whimsical illusion of the imagination: he fancied that he had lost his head upon the scaffold; that it had been thrown promiscuously among the heads of many other victims; that the judges, having repented of their cruel sentence, had ordered these heads to be restored to their respective owners, and placed upon their respective shoulders: but that, in consequence of an unhappy mistake, the gentleman who had the management of that business had placed upon his shoulders the head of one of his unhappy companions. The idea of this whimsical change of his head occupied his thoughts night and day, which determined his friends to send him to the asylum. Nothing could exceed the extravagant flowings of his heated brain; he sang, he cried, or danced incessantly; and as there appeared no propensity to commit acts of violence or disturbance, he was allowed to go about the hospital without control, in order to expend, by evaporation, the effervescence of his spirits. Look at these teeth!' he cried: 'mine were exceedingly handsome, these are rotten and decayed. My mouth was sound and healthy, this is foul and diseased. What difference between this hair and that of my own head!' "The idea of perpetual motion frequently recurred to him in the midst of his wanderings, and he chalked on all the doors or windows as he passed the various designs by which his wondrous piece of mechanism was to be constructed. The method best calculated to cure so whimsical an illusion appeared to be that of encouraging his prosecution of it to satiety. His friends were accordingly requested to send him his tools, with material to work upon, and other requisites-such as plates of copper, steel, and watch-wheels. His zeal was now redoubled, his whole attention was riveted upon his favorite pursuit ; he forgot his meals, and after about a month's labor, which he sustained with a constancy that deserved a better success, our artist began to think that he had followed a false route. He broke into a thousand fragments the piece of machinery which he had fabricated with so much toil, and thought, and labor; entered upon the construction of another upon a new plan; |