The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-07-21
DO FRoGs RAIN poWNg
If Not, Mr.. Marley Would Like to
Know Where His Came From

Baltimore SUM-
The statement Of W. George Marley,
a member Of the Towson bar, that he
had a large bull frog which dropped
from the clouds during a recent hedVy
rainstoTm which passed over that
Mace. has reOpened the much-mOoted
question of the probability OF sucn q
phenomenon. A reporter OF the sun
interviewed several natuTalists yester-
day and could not find one VINO was
willing to believe in such a thing DE-
Philip R Uhler, president or the mary
land Academy Of Science, says that II
is a common thing 10 see paragraph
in a. newspaper, telling of shower OF
frogs. but that he has never believed
any of these reports. such talk, ne
said, rs nonsense, pure and simple
DR.. UIhler advised the reporter to look
into HarnWfcke'S Science Gossip, as ne
said something authoritative could
likely be found there in one OF tne
volumes of this work for 1917 the foI-
lowing was found:
NJ. A. NJ. will be extremely OOllSSu
to any one who will freely and fully
explain how showers Of frogs ana lsn
are produced. if they are not ABSORBED
or drawn up into the clouds Dy the
intense heat Of the suns rays DeIOre
descending to the earth IN showers
An answer in the next number of Sci
ence Gossip will be eagerly looked for
In aofher number of the same pub
LEGATION for 1872 the following article by
H. E. Watney was found.
Il really thought until / read M a:
BIS inquiry in the January part OF
Science Gossip that showers of frogs,
ike showers of gold, were exploded
myths. Doubtless the latter fable mad
its moral, and we occasionally see an
elderly Zeus of modern times win d
fair young Danae, but ] do not DeleVe
the former either serves to point
moral or adorn a tale, unless 1t De
fairy one.
Il will. however, briefly relate to N.
r. what a very good naturalist
friend of mine said to me in eXplana-
ton of this very subject, apropos OF
newspaper account of a shower OF
frogs Every female frog IS capaDle OF
producing 1 900 young ones; these little
frOggies hide in CreVices and uhueT
stones. waiting TO come forth Directly
the first showers pour down Ihey aP
pear in multtudes Immediately genlal
rain falls. and some good folks ever
since the days of Aristotle have Deen
found to imagine that they drop from
the clouds or that they nave Deen
taken I'D from a marsh by whirlwind
and let fall.
Put Mr.. Watney's view was not
shared by Thomas Cooper, the author
of "PurgatoTy of Suicides, VINO Wrote
of this subject as follows;
THE author recalls another natural
nhenomenon I witnessed when boy L
saw a shower of live frogs. 1 record
this because I have read, not only IN
The beautiful old book of Rays The
Wisdom of God in Creation. but in
later books affecting great fidelity to
facts in science. that such a slgnl j
irnDossihle I am as sure Of what
relate as I am of my own existence.
The minute frogs, jumping alive. fell
on the pavement at our feet and came
tunbIing down the spouts from the
tiles of the house into water tubs.
The question, therefore seems 70 re
roIx-a itself into one where doctors dis
agree and where people may have their
own opinion, although the sun would
not advise any one to bet that there
/ have been such things as showers OF
! frogs.