348 Red field and Reid on Storms, 



out the value of inducing the several maritime nations to esta- 

 blish registers at their light-houses, and mutually to communi- 

 cate their observations, from which would result a fund of most 

 valuable information, which would doubtless throw light on this, 

 and on other collateral subjects. He pointed out the coin- 

 cidences which existed between the revolving motions of storms 

 in the two hemispheres, and those which galvanism caused 

 around the poles of magnets ; thus he saw the magnet, when 

 in conjunction with the voltaic battery, making contrary revo- 

 lutions around the two poles. He also stated, that where Major 

 Sabine had found the rxiagnetic intensity least, viz., at St Helena, 

 there were no violent storms, his line of least intensity ap- 

 pearing to be the true Pacific Ocean of the world. The lines 

 of greatest magnetic intensity, on the contrary, seemed to cor- 

 respond with the localities of hurricanes and typhoons ; for we 

 find the meridian of the American magnetic pole passing not 

 far from the Caribbean sea, and that of the Siberian pole through 

 the China sea. He shewed that the phenomena of water-spouts 

 were exactly the reverse of those of hurricanes, and alluded to 

 their electrical states. He mentioned two instances of water- 

 spouts, one in the northern the other in the southern hemi- 

 sphere, in which the revolutions were in opposite directions, 

 but both in the contrary direction to great storms. He ex- 

 plained the variable high winds of our latitudes, by the storms 

 expanding in size and diminishing in force as they approach 

 the poles, and the meridians at the same time nearing each 

 other, occasioning a huddling together of the gales. He fur- 

 ther remarked, because the diameters of these circles, over which 

 the whirl of the storm was spread, often extended from 1000 

 to 1800 miles, observations made in the meteorological sta- 

 tions in the British isles, however valuable for other purposes, 

 would not, by themselves, suffice for throwing light on this 

 question. 



The celebrated American philosopher. Professor Bache of 

 Philadelphia, brought forward a rival, but unsatisfactory theory 

 of storms — ^that proposed by the ingenious Mr Espy of Phila- 

 delphia. Sir John Herschel said he had received from Mr 

 Redfield his papers on this subject, and embraced this oppor- 

 tunity of publicly expressing his thanks, and of stating the great 



