Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1871-08-05

IN (which article you pub
lisll Ihe CLARION OF the 29tb
ult! Your observations ante-date
his % three years, the one may aid
in the clearing-up of the other. But
then we shall demand a narrative in
consonance with the principles Of life
if the reason, and not our faith only,
(that gift from above by which we ap.
prehend the super-naturaD, is to be
called into exercise for be it under
stood we are examining question
which pertains simply to the order Of
natural laws.
Your North american writer lays
down his hypothesis for the explana.
tion of the phenomenon. as he calls
it, to the effect that "the eggs from
which these reptiles sprung had un-
doubtedly been drawn up into the at
mosphere by the action of water
spout, and held in suspension with
aqueous particles long enough to hatch
them out and give them perfect form, y
etc. | have shown that it requires q
month or longer, according to the tenn
pcrature Of the water, for the spawn
Of these animals to be developed into
the embryonic form. Now among the
conditions Of all embryonic develop
ment there is nccessa: lily included due
provision for the sustenancc Of the life
Of the embryo, through the various
unfolding stages. We are taught that
this is found in the case before US in
the gluten surrounding the young an
imal, and in this gluten the tadpoles
are developed, and may be seen NOV
ing about in it; after this they live
on the leaves Of small watfr-plants.
In hv" or six weeks they get their
hind legs, and in about two weeks
after the fore on"s Whoa the gllls
and the tails are gone, We have the
frog or the toad, as the case may be-
Here then we have space of say
nine weeks, from the time of the de
post of the spawn into the water until
the perfect form is reached. Now !
an unable to believe that the waite,
spout took up the mass of gclatlnous,
Transparent, egg" of which the spawn
consists, water plants and all, and held
them there suspended IN nub'bus for
that length Of time, as must have been
the case, for he says-'nor had they
any such caudal appendages as are
generally attached to juvenile rama. y
Thus then | take leave Of the theory
of your Arizohian "eye-witncss."
This story comes from the land
which our new Poet joaquin Miller is
mmortalizing; a land of strange
outlandish and romantic experiences
Of mighty rivers, gigantic noun
tains and wonderful canohs over which
"a raging storm" may come ION the
instant
"Wild Western Stories" arc familiar
to most persons, but no one doubts the
truthful foundation for the accounts
We have so often read Of the wild tor
nadoes, the terrible whirl-winds with
the awful desolations left in their
course. Not very long ago there was
published an account, from what used
to be known MS our Western country,
of a whole house having been lifted
up, family, furniture. (ncluding the
stove in full blast), and all conveyed
q distance from its original location,
Of which fact the inmates, being &C
customed to raging winds, were un-
aware, until they wanted water and
could not find the we'll. This in the
greentree much more then rs we
reach Mexico and California are the
Titanis sNQphicts in nature to be e1-
pected roads and frogs surely could
be blown along by winds sufficiently
strong elevate them, just as l have
seen Is fall from chimney tops,
and I'M TOO in dangerous proximity
to the hats Of passers-by, and with or
without shower of rain, by the force
Of gravitation, they must come to the
earth again. But this merely is not
what we understand by the term,
trained down, any more than in the
case Of that descent of bricks.
The phenomena of nature are sim
pie and regular in their actions, they
do not transcend the laws which gov
ern them.
A love of the marvellous on the one
hand, unfolds marvellous things, and
on the other "the neglect Of minute
inspection, us the moment Of the parts,
surrounding" the place Of an apparent
irregular action, will almost invaria-
bly, give the impression Of seeming
contradiction.
This point could be illustrated in
definitely, let the reader recall his
own observations
As your experience, Mr.. Editor, in
the subject matter before us, was in a
parallel case, it is remarkable that the
latitude was also parallel for l per-
ceive that Arizona and New Mexico
stand side by side, with the sierras
mixed among them if therefore you