M. De la Rive on the Formation of Hail. 285 



hailstones was nearly always the same. The centre was formed 

 of small grains of white hoar-frost, and was opaque and fi- 

 brous ; this was surrounded by many layers*of transparent ice, 

 which were sometimes so distinct that they could be counted ; 

 they increased in thickness as they approached the circumference, 

 and they appeared harder toward the exterior than in the inte- 

 rior. 



Their weight was not great, for the heaviest we weighed was 

 only four ounces. However it is probable that the heaviest did 

 not fall within our observation, for other individuals found some 

 of them as heavy as five ounces and a half; and I have been 

 assured that some weighed as much as eight ounces, and even as 

 several pounds. Laying aside all exaggeration, I am inclined 

 to believe that some amounted to eight ounces, though I much 

 doubt if any were heavier. 



Painfully distressed with the disastrous consequences of the 

 storm, the opportunity escaped me of collecting the hailstones 

 and afterwards analyzing the water, which I subsequently much 

 regretted, and the more so, as persons worthy of credit have as- 

 sured me, that many of them deposited a blackish residuum, 

 which had a disagreeable smell, and that the water which was 

 obtained on their melting had a very decided odour. 



Having learned that the storm had raged in the Department 

 de la Creuse, I suspected it might have prevailed to a still 

 greater extent, and therefore requested M. Dejean, the Prefect 

 of the Puy-du-Dome, to solicit information from the Prefects of 

 the neighbouring departments, which he did with the greatest 

 kindness. 



I thus learned that the storm began at ten o clock in the 

 morning over the sea ; the hail commenced by desolating a 

 part of the Ile-d'*01eron, particularly the communes of St 

 Pierre and St George's. The cloud then crossed from the west 

 to the east over the department of La Charente Inferieure, in 

 which the district of Marennes particularly suffered. The com- 

 munes of St Aynant, St Jean-d'Angle, St Symphorien, St Sor- 

 nin, St Just, Arvers, &c., were also visited by the storm, the 

 hailstones varying from the size of a hazel-nut to that of a 

 walnut. 



VOL. XXI. NO. XLir.— OCTOBER 1836. V 



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