Scientific Intelligence. Meteorology. 391 



siderablc quantity of these hailstones, they were washed first in 

 pure spring water, to remove the soil with which they were 

 covered, and then successively, at two different times, in distilled 

 water. By this process, they were reduced to the size of a hazel- 

 nut. It was in the interior of one of those thus treated, that I 

 observed the powdery matter above alluded to. After their li- 

 quefaction, the water which remained was not perfectly limpid ; 

 and next day there was found a very light greyish deposit at 

 the bottom of the vessel in which it was contained. This water 

 exhibited, with the numerous reagents with which I tried it, all 

 the characters of pure water. The sub-acetate of lead alone 

 threw down a white precipitate, which a slight excess of acid 

 made to disappear. This precipitate did not appear to be owing 

 to carbonic acid gas, which would have affected any water with 

 lime or barytes in it. I attributed it rather to some organized 

 matter. The second hail-storm, of which the author speaks, oc- 

 curred on the 15th of September of the same year (1834), in 

 the district of Jonzac (Charante Inferieure). The hailstones, 

 of an elongated form, were in general of the size of a large nut, 

 and otherwise entirely resembled those examined at Toulouse. 

 But in connection with this storm, the author dwells upon an 

 attendant and peculiar noise, which was not that of thunder, 

 and which was very distinctly heard both before and during the 

 descent of the hail. But we shall allow him to speak for him- 

 self: " At six in the evening, a cloud which at first was incon- 

 siderable, and which insensibly melted away in the skies, made 

 its appearance in the south ; its colour was not deep ; it rose 

 very slowly towards the zenith, and appeared at the same time 

 to enlarge in all dimensions. It then became very dark. At 

 about a quarter after six o^clock, a noise which was the precur- 

 sor of the hail began to be very distinctly heard ; but it ap- 

 peared to me as if the noise proceeded from the surface 

 of the earth, and not from the cloud which was now near the 

 zenith. For a time I even thought it might be proceed ing from 

 a water-spout, so unconnected did it appear with the cloud it- 

 self. The noise increased and somewhat changed its character 

 as it approached. There was not the slightest breath of wind 

 to be felt at the surface of the earth, and the slow progress of 

 the cloud likewise proves that it was equally calm in the upper 



