Abstract
ON the morning of Saturday, June 24, the ground here was found to be covered with small masses of jelly about as large as a pea. There had been heavy rain on Friday night, and it was raining at 7 a.m., when, so far as I can ascertain, the phenomenon was first seen. On being examined microscopically the lumps of jelly turned out to contain numerous ova of some insect, with an advanced embryo in each. The egg itself is very minute—;an elongated oval 0.04 mm. in length. Yesterday and the day before many larve emerged, and were obviously those of some species of Chironomus, though colourless, having no hmoglobin, as is the case with the larv of C. plumosus. Not being an entomologist, I am at a loss to understand how these egg-masses could have appeared where they did unless they were conveyed by the rain, as it does not seem likely that the midges would have laid their eggs on pavements, gravel paths, tombstones, &c., even had they been wet; nor has any large number of adult insects been seen in the locality. It would be interesting to hear whether the same thing was observed elsewhere, and whether the phenomenon often occurs. Showers of alg, small snails, and even frogs have been recorded from time to time, but I cannot recall a like instance to the above.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
HILL, M. Jelly Rain. Nature 87, 10 (1911). https://doi.org/10.1038/087010d0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/087010d0
This article is cited by
-
Die Tauchmethode, ihre Aufgaben und Leistungen bei der Erforschung des Litorals; eine kritische Untersuchung
Helgoländer Wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen (1967)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.