44 REPORT—1850. 
half inches in thickness ; the hailstones were angular and oval, and some measured 
three inches in diameter *.” 
At Kamptee, on the 3rd of June 1823, an officer writes, ‘‘ the hailstones without 
exaggeration were as large as pullets’ eggs.” 
At Bopalpoor, on the 9th of February 1825, an officer writes, ‘the hailstones 
were the largest and most extraordinary ever seen, some of them being as large 
and as heavy as goose-eggs, which they resembled.” 
At Serampoor in Bengal, on the 30th of March 1827, the European writer says, 
“each of the hailstones was equal to the size of a goose’s egg.” 
At Kotah, on the 5th of March 1827, the hailstones were as large as a man’s fist, 
and the next day remained unmelted of the size of pigeons’ eggs. Men, animals and 
birds were killed; in the village of Nauda alone six persons were killed and seven 
others dangerously bruised. 
At Calcutta, on the 20th of April 1829, the editor of the Bengal Chronicle says, 
“one of the hailstones brought to us was larger than a ducks’ egg :᾿ many of them 
were angular fragments of ice, and several natives were killed. 
At Serampore the hailstones were as large as hens’ eggs, and consisted of coats like 
an onion; the nucleus was whiter than the exterior. 
At Sylhet, on the 19th of February 1830, the hailstones were the size of the 
largest potatoest. Sheep and goats were killed. At Jubbalpoor, on the 9th of April 
1831, the hailstones were the size of guinea fowls’ eggs. On the 10th of April 1831, 
at Kamptee, some of the hailstones measured from ten to twelve inches in circum- 
ference; few or none were smaller than a hen’s egg; five persons were killed in the 
neighbourhood. At Alhahabad, on the 5th of May 1833, a hailstone weighed 63 
ounces troy, and measured ten inches in circumference. At Chunar, on the same day, 
the gentleman writes, “‘ blocks of ice fell; I am really speaking within bounds when 
I say a goose’s egg was a trifle compared to some of the stones that fell; one mea- 
sured ]}1 inches in circumference.” ‘I am informed,” he adds, “ one hailstone in 
the bazaar weighed two pounds.” On the 16th of March 1834, at Raneegunge, 
a gentleman travelling in a palkee writes, ‘my palkee top yesterday was broke through 
in three places by hailstones and one of my bearers knocked down by them.” At 
Pubna, on the 12th of April 1834, one of the hailstones measured a foot in cireum- 
ference, and another weighed eleven ounces. At Benares, in February 1836, some 
of the masses of ice weighed two pounds. At Secunderabad, on the 30th of March 
1837, some of the hailstones were two inches in diameter. At Dum Dum, the ar- 
tillery cantonment in Bengal, on the 8th cf April 1838, two hailstones were picked 
up which measured sixteen inches in circumference and better than five inches in dia- 
meter. At Jaulna,on the 14th of January 1849, the hailstones were as large as 
billiard-balls. On the 5th of February 1850, at Gwalior, pieces of ice fell nearly two 
pounds weight, and animals and some men were killed. At Condwiel, near Sattarah, 
on the 7th of April 1850, some hailstones were as large as cocoa-nuts; the writer 
says, “I am within the mark when I say they were as large as cocoa-nuts.” 
To the above, Dr. Buist adds Dr. Spilsburg’s personal notes of hail-storms consisting 
of thirty instances. He speaks of goats and sheep being killed, and on one occasion 
of hailstones being as large as hens’ eggs, and he mentions the unexampled fact of a 
hail-storm in July in the midst of the monsoon. The above notices afford ample and 
unimpeachable testimony to the extraordinary magnitude of the masses of ice that fall 
in India in hail-storms. Colonel Sykes adds, that in a paper in the Philosophical 
Transactions for 1835, he had spoken of the fall of masses of clear ice exceeding an 
inch in diameter in hail-storms ; and on one occasion globular masses of clear ice fell 
inclosing a central star of many points of diaphanous ice like ground glass, of which 
he made drawings. Colonel Sykes suggested that the operations of nature producing 
such instantaneous and intense cold in the atmosphere, whether by electrical or other 
causes, and the singular aggregation of the drops of rain or particles of water to con- 
stitute masses of ice in the air, had not received that attention from physicists which 
the remarkable character of the phenomena seemed to demand. 
* This was on the third day after the fall in the scorching month of April. 
+ Potatoes in general are not much larger than hens’ eggs in India. 
