430 Dr. Hare on the Theory of Storms, 



the magnificent apparatus of nature by means of which this 

 awful phenomenon is displayed, may be supposed competent 

 to produce convective discharge upon a scale of proportion- 

 able magnitude, as exhibited in tornadoes and hurricanes. 



38. As bodies oppositely electrified attract each other, & for- 

 tiori, attraction must always exist between any bodies suffi- 

 ciently electrified for an electric discharge to take place be- 

 tween them. This law may be illustrated by means of an 

 instrument called Cuthbertson's electrometer. Hence the 

 rising of water within the track of a tornado, and its subsi- 

 dence on the passage of lightning, as observed by Mr. Allen 

 near the city of Providence, Rhode Island, may be considered 

 as resulting from the alteration of convective with disruptive 

 discharge*. 



39. By this observation of Mr. Allen, attraction is shown to 

 have existed between an electrified stratum of air coated by 

 clouds, and the oppositely electrified water of a subjacent river. 

 It is reasonable to infer, that attraction, originating in the same 

 way, operating upon the denser stratum of the atmosphere 

 in the vicinity of the earth by counteracting gravitation, may 

 cause that rarefaction by which houses are burst or unroofed, 



* * The most interesting appearance was exhibited when the tornado 

 left the shore, and struck the surface of the adjacent river. Being within 

 a few yards of this spot, I iiad an opportunity of accurately noting the 

 effects produced on the surface of the water. 



" The circle formed by the tornado on the foaming water was about 

 three hundred feet in diameter. Within this circle the water appeared to 

 be in commotion, like that in a huge boiling caldron; and misty vapours, 

 resembling steam, rapidly arose from the surface, and entering the whirling 

 vortex, at times veiled from sight the centre of the circle, and the lower 

 extremity of the overhanging cone of dark vapour. Amid all the agitation 

 of the water and the air about it, this cone continued unbroken, although 

 it swerved and swung around, with a movement resembling that of the 

 trunk of an elephant whilst that animal is in the act of depressing it to the 

 ground to pick up some minute object. In truth, the tapering form, as 

 well as the vibrating movements of the extremity of this cone of vapour, 

 bore a striking resemblance to those of the trunk of that great animal. 



" Whilst passing off over the water, a distant view of the cloud might 

 have induced the spectator to compare its form to that of a huge umbrella 

 suspended in the heavens, with the column of vapour representing the 

 handle, descending and dipping into the foam of the billows. The waves 

 heaved and swelled whenever the point of this cone passed over them, 

 apparently as if some magical spell were acting upon them by the effect 

 of enchantment. Twice J noticed a gleam of lightning, or of electric 

 fluid, to dart through the column of vapour, which served as a conductor 

 for it to ascend from the water to the cloud. After the flash the foam of 

 the water seemed immediately to diminish for a moment, as if the dis- 

 charge of the electric fluid had served to calm the excitement on its agi- 

 tated surface." — See Transactions of the American Philosophical So- 

 ciety, vol. vi. 



