226 
might bring them under the notice of the Academy ifthey should 
seem of sufficient scientific interest. They may be divided 
into, first, those which indicate its general direction and limits ; 
second, those which show its force and power; and, third, 
some singular circumstances that point out a mode of action, 
at particular points, extremely peculiar and unusual. 
I went over the principal points visited by it the morning 
after its occurrence, and on one or two occasions afterwards. 
Many of the stories that had appeared in the newspapers were 
unfounded, such as a man being taken up and carried across 
the river by it, and other such fables. Some of its effects, 
however, were, as I have said, very extraordinary. 
The 5th of October was an overcast and rather gusty day 
in Limerick. The thermometer stood at 51°, 55°, and 50°, 
at 9 a.M., 3 P.M., and 8 P.M. respectively. The barometer 
was steady at 29-604 at 9 a.m., and the same exactly at 2P.M., 
but I have no observation of its condition at the moment of 
the whirlwind, nor at a later hour, nor is there any observa- 
tion of the magnetic state either then or previously. ‘The 
phenomenon took place about 5h. 20m. p.m., and did not 
occupy more than from five to ten minutes in its passage across 
the city. Taking two points on the Ordnance Map of the city 
of Limerick, one on the middle of Wellesley-bridge, the other 
at the Devil’s Battery, near the Fever Hospital, ifa straight 
line is drawn from the Clare side through these two poimts, 
such a line will cut most of the places visited by it in its great- 
est intensity. It was so strictly limited to this line, that at a 
distance of 150 feet on either side of it, its effects were hardly 
perceptible. The people in the higher parts of George’s-street, 
and even at more moderate distances, had not heard of its oc- 
currence until next morning. In the line I have mentioned, 
it was first felt about 100 yards or so to the west or north-west 
of the point first named; but I can hardly find any traces of 
it at the other side of the city beyond the point last spoken of. 
