1874.) The Iowa and Illinots Tornado. 369 
belief that the funnel whirled with the sun. I thought it 
possible that the tornado, before lifting from off the ground, 
might have changed its direction of rotation. But the evi- 
dence to the contrary was so striking that Mr. Davidson at 
once, upon my pointing it out to him, admitted that he must 
have been mistaken. He had not paid particular attention 
to the matter, and it was very dark when his observations 
were being made. The fence in question ran north and 
south. It was only thrown down for a space of 60 yards, 
and the boards were not carried away except in the middle. 
The posts remained in the ground, those on the north of the 
centre leaning west and those on the south leaning east. 
The posts in the centre were leaning some one way, some 
another. The funnel disappeared upon a knoll in the midst 
of a hollow about 4 a mile in diameter. There was no 
débris deposited at this-point, nor were there any signs of a 
cataract of water having poured down. ‘The wheat, how- 
ever, was mown as low as possible, and the ground looked 
as if it had been baked, according to Mr. Davidson’s state- 
ment. The funnel had narrowed to a point before it 
disappeared. 
After leaving Mr. Davidson’s the tornado cloud travelled 
to the south-east. Its progress was now difficult to trace, 
because of the little attention usually paid to a dark cloud, 
a high wind, and a rain storm. Considerable time had also 
now elapsed since the meteor passed. 
The storm passed out of Washington County into Louisa 
County, travelling south-east. 
Joshua Luckey, Louisa County, Union Township, Sec- 
ion 17, witness:—The path of fences blown down on my 
farm was about 600 yards wide. The fences on the west of 
the centre were thrown north; those on the east were thrown 
south. Some hail fell, and a smart shower of rain. Heard 
no roaring after it passed. 
Charles Crim, Union Township, Section 20, witness :— 
Fences, 200 yards wide, thrown down to the south-east. 
The roaring was very loud for an hour previous to its arrival. 
Did not hear it after it passed. Saw no lightning. Saw a 
tongue of cloud shaped like a funnel hanging from the 
clouds; it did not reach the earth; at first it was hanging 
perpendicular, then it commenced whirling like the tail of a 
suspended snake. 
At this point I lost track of the tornado, and could not 
recover it, although I spared neither time nor pains. The 
inhabitants of this county appear in general to be not nearly 
so intelligent as those of Washington County. Only now 
