TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 31 



the extraordinary spectacle with which Bombay, once a year or so, presents us, — the 

 sun shining bright and tranquil over Malabar Hill and Colaba, — the S.W. sky tran- 

 quil and serene, while large piles of black clouds travel over each other from the N.E. 

 horizon up to the zenith, — violent rain pouring over the Ghauts, some of the shipsin 

 harbour almost on their beam ends ; the trees bending and stooping to the storm, 

 the air over the Esplanade darkened with dust, and large branches of trees, leaves, 

 straw and light materials of all descriptions sweeping through the air ! This squall, 

 which was one of the most violent while it lasted that we remember, went round by 

 the N.E., and was over in half an hour; a good deal of thunder followed; after 

 which light rain began to fall which continued for some time. Before 9 p.m. every- 

 thing was as quiet and peaceful as if there had never been a disturbance amongst 

 the elements at all. From Mahabuleshwur* the people saw the whole far beneath 

 them, and the eflfect was very grand. In one place a cloud seemed pouring out its 

 contents over a space of almost a square mile, while all around was bright sunshine ; 

 between the hills and the sea there was a dense cloud, emitting frequent flashes of 

 lightning, and beyond everything appeared quite clear." Dr. Buist concludes with 

 some reflections upon the storms of India, which he resolves into three classes : — 

 1st, the whirling storm or Cyclone, which has been so well illustrated by Mr. Pe- 

 dington ; 2nd, the travelling storm which glides over the country at the rate of 200 

 to 250 miles a day, pursuing generally a rectilineal path ; and 3rd, the storms of 

 simultaneous occurrence, appearing at a fixed date and manifesting themselves at 

 nearly the same point of time over a vast area of surfuce. Instances are then given : 

 he considers the first week in November, the last week of December, the middle of 

 January, the first week of February, and the first weeks of April and May, to have 

 been crisis periods for some years past. With the exception of these periods of 

 disturbances, the fair weather climate is so uniform as not to need notice ; the cold 

 seasion beginning in December and lasting until March, and the hot season com- 

 mencing in April and lasting until the rains set in. The last half of January, how- 

 ever, and the whole of February, are remarkable for a dry, thin mist during the day, 

 which obscures the horizon ; and for the brightness of the nights and heavy fall of 

 dew. In February the sea at night often assumes a magnificent luminous ap- 

 pearance, the breakers being bright as melted silver. In the day-time it is seen to 

 be of a brilliant red colour, which is occasioned by the Protococcus nivalis, or, as Dr. 

 Carter supposes, P. hcematococcus. The animalcules affect strong saline solutions, 

 and it is supposed the red rock salt owes its colour to them. Of the lightning, Dr. 

 Buist says it is often of a ruby or of an amethystine purple colour, sometimes 

 greenish, but most frequently white. Dr. Buist concludes his paper with some in- 

 teresting notices of the habits of the flying fox, Pteropus Edwardsii, and land crab, 

 Thelphnsa cunicularis-\-. , 



Hailstorms in India, from June 1850 to May 1851. By Dr. Buist. 

 Communicated by Col. Sykes. 



The year 1850 seems in India to have been singularly barren in notable atmo- 

 spheric pheenomena of all descriptions. The monsoon in Western India was remark- 

 ably scanty; and at Bombay not a drop of rain fell betwixt the 5th of November and 

 I6th of May, and there seems scarcely to have been a single hail-storm betwixt June 

 and February worthy of record. On the 7th of February hail fell in considerable 

 quantity of the size of pigeons' eggs, at Comoree near Rawah. A wild hail-storm 

 visited Meerut on the 28th of March, the haiUstones being about the size of walnuts ; 

 on the 30th hail fell about the size of beans on the Neilgheries 6000 feet above the 

 level of the sea. Heavy showers began to pour down all over Lower Bengal about 

 the 23rd, and so continued for a week, the spring sowings having gone on rapidly 

 and cheeringly. On this occasion a violent hail-storm visited Calcutta ; no great 

 damage however was occasioned by it. Hail fell at Secunderabad on the 11th of April 

 and 2nd of May, and on the 22nd of April a hail-storm of terrific violence occurred at 

 Rungpore, near Calcutta, the hail-stones being as large as ducks' eggs. Nearly all 

 the fruit in the districts, hundreds of houses, and a great number of trees were de- 



* At Mahabuleshwur on the Ghauts, is a Sanitarium 4500 feet above the sea. 

 t See the description by Col. Sykes, in the 1st volume of the Transactions of the En- 

 tomological Society, p. 181. 



