Show irain AND THE affinity between gunpowder and rain water is a problem just now exciting a considerable portion of attention from the scientific men of the day lay and from the data and statistics already gleaned the result of their investigations promises to be of great importance to the world at large daning daring the wars of the last eighty years a notion has been gaining ground that cannon ading abing has had the deflect of inducing copious showers of rain in neighborhoods bo where it has taken place and remarkable instances of the kind have been noted within the last few years the present conflict between france and prussia furnishing its full quantum of data corroborative of this new theory in physical and atmospheric science it is stated that for months past I 1 germany in the neighborhood of frankfort has been visited by repeated thunder showers wb which ich ieh are unusual at this season of the year and I 1 the german press ro gard regard them as the effect of the frequent cannonading canno in alsace and lorraine A writer in Sil Bil limans american journal in 1861 says 11 in october 1825 1 I observed a very plentiful rain immediately after the can no which took place in celebrating tho the connection of lake erie with the hudson I 1 published my observations on this event in the year 1841 expressing the opinion that the firing of heavy guns produces rain in the neighborhood after the first battle in the last war between france sardinia and austria there followed such important rains that even small rivers were impassable and during the great battle of solferino there broke out such a violent storm that the fighting was interrupted the same writer also says that in july 1861 violent rains fell before the close of engagements on four separate days between the forces under mcclelland and the confederate troops A german paper published in this ing on this subject on the loth of june 1862 says the tho the cannonading canno during the war on the york river and james river as the cannonading canno of corinth and on the mississippi were followed by such fearful storms that the land was inundated p I 1 similar results followed the engagements which occurred during the bohemian campaign of 1866 these data are interesting and curious and further observation fully demonstrate the theory of the close connection between the discharges of cannon and copious rain falls a fact of great worth to mankind will have been involved from war one of the direst ills afflicting the human race every year for several years past the loss loes of crops in this country and other parts of the world has been immense through long continued drouth but this new theory suggests an easy method of preventing the recurrence of such evils in future by the plentiful discharge of gunpowder in localities where drouth exists in such a case instead of gunpowder gun dowder being regarded as the great instrument of mans destruction it may become far greater for his sustenance and preservation |