The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1876-05-12
A Scientific Explanation OF thu Ken
lucky Neat shower.


II appears 10 bee law Of nature that
weeds should grow with flowers, tares
with corn, and that superstition should
almost touch truth.
Showers of frogs, Of fishes, Of bloody
rain and snow have frequently occurred.
The last sensation. however, "the fall
Of flesh in Kentucky offers some new
features If special interest.
In 1897, while Paracelsus was en-
gagged in the production Of his .. elixir
OF life" he came across very strange
looking vegetable mass, 10 which he
gave the name Of " Nostoc.M
The want of rapid transportation.
combined with the perishable nature Of
the substances fallen, have hitherto pre-
vented a complete and exhaustive ex-
animation. The specimens the "ken-
lucky shower" however, reached this
city well preserved in glycerine, and it
has been comparatively easy 70 identity
the substance and TO fix its status. The
Kentucky wonder y is nothing more
or less than the "Nostocr OF the old al
chemist. The "Nostocm belongs 10 the
conferve; il consists Of translucent,
gelatinous bodies Joined together by
thread-like tubes or seedbearers. There
are about fifty species Of this singular
plant classified; two or three kinds have
even been found in fossil state Like
other conferv;e, the Nostoc propagates
by self-division as well as by seeds or
spores. When these spores work their
way out of the gelatinOus envelope
they may be waited by the winds here
and there, and they may be carried
great distances.
Wherever they may fall and find con-
genial soil, viz, dampness or recent
rain, they will thrive aud spread very
rapidly, and many cases are recorded
where they have covered miles of ground
in very few hours with long strings of
Nostoc.n
On account Of this rapidity Of growth,
people almost every where faithfully be-
lieye the Nostoc IL fail from the clouds,
and ascribe to it many mysterious vir-
tues. The plant Is not confined TO any
special locality or 10 any climate sown
by the whirlwind, carried 10y current
Of air, in need of moisture only for ex-
istence and support. it thrives every
where. Icebergs afioat in mid-Occan
have been found covered with il. In
New Zealand it is found in large mass
es Of quaking Jelly, several feet in cir
conference. and covering miles of damp
soil; and in our own country il may
be found in damp woods, on meadows,
and on marshy or even gravelly bottom.
All the NostOcs are composed Of a
semi-hquid cellulose and vegetable pro-
teine. The edible NosiOc is highly
valued in China, where it forms an es-
sential ingredient Of the edible bird-nest
soup. The flesh that was supposed to
have fallen from the clouds in Kentucky
is the flesh-colored Nostoc On. carneum
Of the botanisD; the flavor of il APP
proaches frog or spring chicken legs.
and is greedily devoured by almost all
domestic animals.
Such supposed "showersn are not
rare, and are entirely in harmony with
natural laws. In the East Indies the
same Nostoc is used a. an application
in ulcers and scrofulous disease, while
every nation in the East considers il
nourishing and palatable. and uses il
even for food when dried by sun heat
Leopold BraHdics, ia the Sannarian.