152 THE DISPERSAL OF SHELLS. 



surrounding the gardens was torn up, and an iron bar, 

 one inch thick, belonging to the gate, was bent to an 

 angle of sixty degrees. A small shed at the rear of the 

 station was unroofed, rafters and slates being hurled to 

 the ground. What will give some idea of the excessive 

 pressure of the wind, is the fact that three boards of the 

 flooring of the waiting-room were forced up, owing to 

 the wind finding an entrance to a cellar underneath, 

 though the only aperture was a round hole about one 

 foot in diameter. All this was the work of a few 

 moments. The storm then passed away, leaving com- 

 parative calm behind. It next crossed an adjacent bog, 

 scattering the turf in all directions. The last place Mr. 

 Webb heard of its having visited was a farm house 

 about three miles from Randalstown, between Antrim 

 and Ballymena." ^ 



As remarked by Sir C. Lyell, whirlwinds occur " at 

 different intervals of time throughout a great portion 

 of the earth's surface," and it seems reasonable to sup- 

 pose that many organisms may have been widely dis- 

 persed by them, as well as by the larger circular storms 

 which occur in certain parts of the world ; from time to 

 time these causes may carry plants, insects, and, as 

 Lyell says, " land testacea and their eggs, with many 

 other species of animals, to points which they could 

 never otherwise have reached, and from which they 

 may then begin to propagate themselves again as from 

 a new centre." ^ Leaves and other vegetable debris, 



^ " Nature," vi. (1872), i ; and see Belt's "Nicaragua,'' ed. 



2. (188S), p. 303. - " Principles,'' ii. p 392. 



