Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1915-01-15
BATTLES and RAIN.
Absolutely No Physical Relation
Exists Between Them.
AN ANCIENT MYTH RIDDLED.
No Amount Of Gun or Cannon Fire
Would Have Any AppreciabIe Effect
Upon Either tho Humidity or tho
Temperature Of the Atmosphere.

1T is one of the extraordinary things
ct Warfare." says 4 recent writer in
i'carsou Weekly tLonduA,.. that a
big battle invariably produces rain"
Once In the early stone age some
body remarked to somebody else that
rain frequently occurred after battles.
The author Of this casual statement
was probably not psychologist, else
his conscience would have smitten him
for having set atioat in the world the
germ Of u particularly fatuous fallacy.
The evolution of the idea was probably
complete long before the age of bronze.
Big battles are often followed by rain.
Big battles often produce rain. Big
battles invariably produce rain. Even
the modern penny-a-liner cannot i'm
prove on the statement. The myth is
liked rystallized-and probably i'm
perishable.
Had we enjoyed the privilege Of per-
sonal acquaintance with the Neander-
thai gentleman just mentioned we
should have courteousiy entreated him
to start another ball rolling down the
ages. to wit, "A big sneeze is often
followed by rain" The infinitesimal
increase in the humidity of the air
occasiOned by sneeze is simple and
obvious fact. whereas the infinitesimal
amount OF water vap0r produced by
the explosion of few tons of am
munition can be hunted down only by
an excursion into the fields Of chem.
istry.
Since. however, we must put up with
the myth in its present form, let us
see how it happens that rain has so
often followed battles as to suggest to
uncritical people that there was Il phys
icai relation between the one and the
other.
First of all, no such relation exists.
Rain is the result of the active con-
densation in the atmosphere. and this
is purely u question of humidity and
temperature. If the humidity be suf6-
GENTLY Increased. or the temperature
sufficiently lowered, condensation is in
evitable-provided certain nuclei Of
condensation tdust particles or mole
cules of hygroscopfc gases) be present,
and outside of the laboratory they al
ways are present.
Now, it is conceivable that warning
army might produce local rainstorn
by setting fire to great city. II the
air be rather moist, large conf1agra-
ton invariably builds up great cumulus
clouds above It. The heated air rises
and cools by expansion. just as its does
from the sun heated earth on sum-
mer day, and condensation results. On
der favorable conditions a very big
fire might cause smart shower, or
even a thunderstorm, though usually
the process goes no further than to
form clouds.
A battle. however, cannot be sup
posed to have any appreciable effect
upon either the temperature or the
humidity Of the air. Two explanations
of the alleged production of rain by
battles have been offered, one non.
sensical, and the other pseudo-scien.
tific. The nonsensical explanation Il
| the popular One-vfZ, that the con.
densation Of moisture is promoted BY
the concussion due to cannonading, OF
! that the drops already condensed ani
constituting the clouds are jostled to-
gether by the same process. with the
result that they coalesce and fall al
cain. AS was once pointed out BY
Professor Newcomb, the effect of :
violent explosion upon body of mois
air quarter Of mile away is exact,
the same as that Of the clapping O
ones hands upon the moist air of til,
room in which the experiment is per
formed-i. e., absolutely nil. %. again
II we stand in the steam escaping
from a kettle and clap our Aauds ",
shall not produce a shower. though W,
jostle the water drops just rs the ex
ploston does at distance OF 4 Quarte
Of mile.
The pseudo scientific explanation /
that the gases aud smoke Iroduced b.
explosions increase, condensation by In
creasing the numt>er OF ''nnclei'' in til,
atmosphere. The 0ocleatiea Of the at
nospi,ere, as affected by ordinary dust
mess. by hygrosc0ptc gases, by radio
active discharges. by ultra violet ligb
aud what not, is still an obscure sub
ject. An outstanding result of recen,
investigations, however. appears to be
this: The lower atmosphere normally
contains more than the minimum mum.
her Of nuclei necessary for the process
Of condensation. and this process can
not he made more active by mere in
crease in the number. Thus various
and abundant nuclei. In the form Of
| gases and smoke. are given of to the
atmosphere by great manufacturing
centers. yet these places do not have a
heavier rainfall than the surrounding
open country. Pittsburgh. for exam
pie, is one Of the driest places In Penn
sylvania. The suggestion that explo-
sions mag produce rain by furnishing
nuclei to the atmosphere is. in fact, u
mere speculation. aud probably could
be easily refuted by laboratory expert
aaents.-Scientific American.