Hail in the South of France, ,^, ,, 551 



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 Art. XVI. Hail in the South of France, and Insurance against 

 Loss by it. By James Mitchell, Esq. LL.D. 



The calamity of hail, which is but little formidable in our 

 climate, is justly a subject of terror in many districts of 

 France, not only for the injuries done to the corn, but for 

 the destruction of vines and olive trees, which many years 

 may not repair. As illustrative of this phenomenon, it will 

 not be foreign from the objects of this Magazine to give an 

 account of a society at Toulouse, formed for insuring against 

 loss by it. 



In the years 1799, 1800, and 1801, the storms of hail had 

 been more than usually prevalent, and many families had 

 been reduced to ruin. Appeals to the benevolence of the 

 public were numerous, and consequently were but little pro- 

 ductive in any one case. Many proprietors were driven to 

 the necessity of disposing of their whole lands, and were 

 thus reduced to an inferior rank in society, and in many 

 cases to irremediable poverty. Considerable uneasiness was 

 excited in the minds of those whose fields had fortunately 

 escaped the calamity, lest, in the next or some future season, 

 they should be visited by similar destruction. 



This state of things suggested to M, Barrau, of Toulouse, 

 the establishment of a mutual indemnity insurance company 

 against hail. 



To his benevolent mind it occurred, that if the whole 

 extent of the calamities of those years had been equally di- 

 vided amongst the whole inhabitants, although still severe, 

 it would have been endurable ; and the more space the evil 

 was made to spread over, the less was the intensity in any 

 one place : but, if the whole inhabitants could not be induced 

 to unite together, and divide the evil amongst them, the 

 calamity might still be mitigated, if a sufficient number 

 united to effect such a security that a portion of the property 

 of those that escaped would be sufficient to save from ruin 

 the members of the society on whom the visitation had 

 fallen. 



This scheme had this circumstance in its favour, that it 

 was less liable to fraud than insurance against fire; for 

 although a man may burn down his own house, he cannot 

 produce a storm of hail. 



Insurance even against fire was at that time but little under- 

 stood in France, and hence there were many defects in the 

 plan. The premium of three per cent was charged for in- 

 surance on fields in all situations, without distinction ; whereas 

 it was found from experience that along the banks of rivers, 



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