EXPLOSIONS IN COAL-MINES AND REVOLVING STORMS. 13 



being £1,000,000. At Matanzas, in Cuba, the barometer, which usually 

 stands at 30 inches, fell to 28 inches on the 5th, and rose to 29-8 by 9 a.m. 

 of the 6th. Many vessels were destroyed at Jamaica, &c. The barometric 

 curve at Highfield House, Nottingham', shows that this great cyclone caused 

 a succession of depressions between the 2nd and 24th in Britain. The central 

 area passed on the 14th, 15th and 16th. The barometer is 28-56 on the 

 15th. The wind is S.W. until the 13th; then W. till the 16th, and after- 

 wards N.W. till the 19th. The arrival of the cyclone on the continent is 

 accompanied by a destructive waterspout at Cette on the 22nd, which de- 

 stroyed thirty persons and many buildings ; and by a great storm at Toulouse 

 on the 24th, followed by inundations at Marseilles, Avignon, &c. 



Two explosions occur in the very midst of this storm, viz. on Oct. 15, at 

 Coxlodge Colliery, North of England (one killed) ; Oct, 19, Ilowley Regis, 

 Staffordshire (eleven killed). 



1845, August. — In Plate V.I have given the barometric curves for August at 

 Greenwich and Rouen, which shows that the atmospheric disturbance passed 

 from England to France. The remarks at Greenwich are — Aug. 2, thunder- 

 storm, rain, lightning; gusty. Aug. 9, wind and rain; gusty. Aug. 19, 

 rain and wind. The atmospherical disturbance on the 19th was very general. 

 In Holland, on the 19th, at Zevenberghem,a hurricane destroyed eleven build- 

 ings, killed three persons, and injured several others. The same tempest 

 caused great damage in North Brabant, &c. ' At Rouen, on the 19th, a 

 whirlwind destroyed the three principal factories, killing seventy-five persons 

 and wounding 150 others ; the wind was violent from the S.W. On the 20th 

 of August there were snow-storms in England and Scotland, in which several 

 boats with their crews perished. The explosions in coal-mines during this 

 month were, — on Aug. 2, at Aberdare (twenty-nine killed) ; Aug. 9, Ashby-de- 

 la-Zouch, Leicester (three killed and fifteen burnt) ; Aug. 18th, Dudley, Staf- 

 fordshire (four killed and sixteen burnt) ; Aug. 21, Jarrow, Durham (thirty- 

 nine killed). 



At Newcastle-upon-Tyne the wind was N.W. on the 21st, and the daily 

 barometrical readings are 29'47, 29"81, 30-05 ; which agree with the Green- 

 wich and Rouen curves, and indicate the passage of the rear of the cyclone. 



1846, September and October (Plate V.). — From the 4th to the 9th of Sep- 

 tember, a storm passed over Britain. On the 7th a woman was killed by 

 lightning during the storm at Leeds. On the 9th, a violent storm at Bour- 

 deaux marks the rear of the cyclone. On the 6th, an explosion in a coal-mine 

 at Charleroi, in Belgium, destroyed eight persons. The director had just 

 inspected the mine, and was unable to account for the accident. 



Colonel Reid has given the daily track of a West Indian hurricane, which 

 was at Trinidad on the 11th of September, and reached Newfoundland on the 

 20th. By the 21st its centre had traversed one-fourth of the distance towards 

 Britain ; where its arrival is indicated by the unusual barometric depressions 

 at the end of September and in the beginning of October. In Sicily, by the 

 storm on Sept. 30, seven villages near Messina were inundated and destroyed. 

 Fifteen persons were killed at Portici. The village of St. Firmin, near Briare, 

 was engulphed, and 600 perished. At Melazzo and Marsala 100 persons 

 perished by the tempest and consequent floods. Trees, houses, &c. were 

 carried away. On the 4th of October, a gale, the worst since 1824, caused 

 damage at Weymouth to the extent of £1000. 



No explosions in coal-mines are recorded for four months before the arrival 

 at Britain of this great cyclone. During its transit^tje fatal explosions occur 

 within eleven days. These are, — on September 26, at West Bromwich (ten 

 killed); Sept. 28, Bogle Hole Colliery, Clyde Iron Works, Glasgow (six killed); 



