That, upon the 14th of February, 1870, there fell, at Genoa, Italy, according to Director Boccardo, of the Technical Institute of Genoa, and Prof. Castellani, a yellow substance. But the microscope revealed numerous globules of cobalt blue, also corpuscles of a pearly color that resembled starch. See _Nature_, 2-166. _Comptes Rendus_, 56-972: M. Bouis says of a substance, reddish varying to yellowish, that fell enormously and successively, or upon April 30, May 1 and May 2, in France and Spain, that it carbonized and spread the odor of charred animal matter--that it was not pollen--that in alcohol it left a residue of resinous matter. Hundreds of thousands of tons of this matter must have fallen. "Odor of charred animal matter." Or an aerial battle that occurred in inter-planetary space several hundred years ago--effect of time in making diverse remains uniform in appearance-- It's all very absurd because, even though we are told of a prodigious quantity of animal matter that fell from the sky--three days--France and Spain--we're not ready yet: that's all. M. Bouis says that this substance was not pollen; the vastness of the fall makes acceptable that it was not pollen; still, the resinous residue does suggest pollen of pine trees. We shall hear a great deal of a substance with a resinous residue that has fallen from the sky: finally we shall divorce it from all suggestion of pollen. _Blackwood's Magazine_, 3-338: A yellow powder that fell at Gerace, Calabria, March 14, 1813. Some of this substance was collected by Sig. Simenini, Professor of Chemistry, at Naples. It had an earthy, insipid taste, and is described as "unctuous." When heated, this matter turned brown, then black, then red. According to the _Annals of Philosophy_, 11-466, one of the components was a greenish-yellow substance, which, when dried, was found to be resinous. But concomitants of this fall: Loud noises were heard in the sky. Stones fell from the sky. According to Chladni, these concomitants occurred, and to me they seem--rather brutal?--or not associable with something so soft and gentle as a fall of pollen? * * * * * Black rains and black snows--rains as black as a deluge of ink--jet-black snowflakes. Such a rain as that which fell in Ireland, May 14, 1849, described in the _Annals of Scientific Discovery_, 1850, and the _Annual Register_, 1849. It fell upon a district of 400 square miles, and was the color of ink, and of a fetid odor and very disagreeable taste. The rain at Castlecommon, Ireland, April 30, 1887--"thick, black rain." (_Amer. Met. Jour._, 4-193.) A black rain fell in Ireland, Oct. 8 and 9, 1907. (_Symons' Met. Mag._ 43-2.) "It left a most peculiar and disagreeable smell in the air." The orthodox explanation of this rain occurs in _Nature_, March 2, 1908--cloud of soot that had come from South Wales, crossing the Irish Channel and all of Ireland.