1874.] The Lowa and Illinois Tornado. 250 
within the reach of the storm were dashed to pieces, and 
the tyres twisted into all sorts of shapes. An oak tree, 
3 inches in diameter, and which stood exactly in the storm- 
centre, was split by a fragment of a board 1 inch thick. 
The board was originally probably 6 inches broad and 
8 feet long. Of the two small fragments remaining in the 
tree, the longer was only 17 inches in length. The board 
was driven into the tree from the south-west. The path of 
extreme violence, about fifty yards wide, was strongly marked 
in the grove of young oaks. ‘They looked as if they had first 
been lashed against a pile of stones and then trailed in the 
mud. Portions of bark were struck off and the smaller 
branches shattered and peeled. ‘This grove stands upon the 
edge of a steep declivity about 100 feet in height, at the 
bottom of which flows Clear Creek. Here is a circular 
hollow nearly enclosed by high bluffs, and within it the 
storm raged with demoniac fury, smashing trees of 4 feet 
in diameter to pieces. 
The following instance was found on the opposite declivity, 
up which the storm raged with undiminished power :— 
Fic. 18. 
The tree stood at N originally. Its root was partly de- 
cayed, and it must have fallen with the first strong gust. 
The path which it travelled was cut out in the grass by 
its root. This path was 47 yards in length, and was 
nearly circular. It first moved to the north-west and then 
round in a curve, until it lay pointing to the north-east, 
with its top almost touching the spot where its root had 
formerly been. The tree stood to the north-west of the 
storm-centre, and was 2 feet in diameter. 
Crossing the summit of the rising ground, which was 
thoroughly ploughed up, the storm traversed a wooded ravine, 
