Btj the Rev. A. C. Smith. 389 



P.S. — Since the above paper has been in type, our Editor, Canon 

 Jackson, has communicated to me two facts connected with my 

 subject. The one is simply a very brief notice from an old paper, of a 

 great storm in North Wilts, just 100 years since, (viz. on February 

 16 th, 1760,) which passed over Wootton Basset and Rodborne 

 Cheney; killed a child and a cow, and prostrated trees and houses. 

 The other relates to a hurricane, or rather compound of whirlwind 

 and hurricane, which took place at Grittleton, on the afternoon of 

 August 14th, 1851. The day had been fine, and very hot: about 

 five o'clock an extremely violent storm of rain fell. Just as the 

 rain ended, there was a sudden rush of wind, due West to due East : 

 and a very black cloud, with a kind of core "as big as a haycock " 

 traversed the country, right across in a perfectly straight line, but 

 all the time whirling round and round; overthrowing much tim- 

 ber, twisting off the tops of tough old oaks with the greatest ease, 

 and scattering the ground with great boughs and branches innu- 

 merable. It did not make a clear sweep of all before it, but 

 appeared to bound along, knocking down at intervals : hitting one 

 tree, but entirely missing the next, though quite close and in the 

 same straight line. The whole was the work of two or three 

 minutes: and the havoc was confined to a breadth of about a hun- 

 dred yards. It could be traced by these marks for about four 

 miles: and appeared to have then vanished altogether. Canon 

 Jackson concludes his account of it by expressing his opinion 

 (which I am glad to quote) that this rotatory motion must have 

 had a great deal to do with the prostration of the trees (in our 

 recent hurricane) against the direction of the storm. 



A. C. S. 



