Whirlwinds excited by Fires. 376 



ing and detonation of loud and incessant thunder, while at the 

 same instant the atmosphere became thickly darkened with 

 smoke. They had scarcely time to ascertain the cause of this 

 awful phenomenon, before all the surrounding woods appeared 

 in one vast blaze, the flames ascending from one to two hundred 

 ^eet above the top of the loftiest trees ; and the fire, rolling 

 forward with inconceivable celerity, presented the terribly 

 sublime appearance of an impetuous flaming ocean. Two 

 towns, those of Douglass and New Castle, were in a blaze within 

 the hour ; and many of the inhabitants were unable to escape. 



Multitudes of men on lumbering parties perished in the 

 forest ; cattle were destroyed by wholesale ; even birds, unless 

 those of very sti'ong wing, seldom escaped, so rapid was the 

 progress of the flames. Nay, the very rivers were so much 

 aff"ected by the burning masses projected into their waters, 

 that in many cases large quantities of salmon and other fish 

 were scattered upon their shores. Perhaps the plague of fire 

 has never been exhibited, or will be, till the final destruction 

 of this planet, on so magnificent a scale." 



I am unable to give the authorship of this paragraph, which 

 came to my hand through the columns of a newspaper ; but 

 it appears to have formed part of a more extended notice of 

 that region of country ; and the occurrence of this calamitous 

 fire, is a fact well remembered. 



Remarks on the foregoing Cases. 



Among the many considerations suggested by these interest- 

 ing phenomena, I shall notice in a cm-sory manner, the fol- 

 lowing : 



1. The rarefaction which is ordinarily produced by fires., even 

 if they are of an extensive and violent character, is not attended 

 with these effects. Common observation and experience are 

 sufticient to determine this point, and to shew that rarefaction 

 alone, is entirely inadequate to the production of such results. 

 The strongest degree of heat which has ever been created in 

 the atmosphere by fires, has never produced an ascending cur- 

 rent of sufticient power to prostrate or carry forward any con- 

 tiguous body possessed of tolerable stability or weight, much 

 less to carry any such body into the air. 



