On the Causes of the Tornado, or Water Spout. 159 
tence of an hiatus. Ina house which was exposed to the vertical 
influence of the tornado, a sheet was lified from a bed, and carried 
into a fissure made in the southern wall, which subsequently closed 
and retained it. The same result was observed in the case of a 
handkerchief, similarly fastened into a fissure in the northern wall. 
In some instances, frame buildings were lifted entire from their foun- 
dations. Joists and rafters were torn from a house and thrown down 
at the distance from it of about four hundred yards, and in a direc- 
tion opposite to that in which the trees not lifted from the earth’s 
surface were prostrated. Of course lighter bodies, such as shingles, 
hats, books and papers, and branches and leaves of trees, were car- 
ried to much greater distances. ‘There was no general rain, but hail 
and rain accompanied the fall of the other bodies. The tornado 
lasted, in any one place, for but a few seconds: the whole of the 
damage done ata farm having been accomplished, as the farmer 
stated, while he was passing from the front to the rear of his man- 
sion, so that, by the time that he reached the back door, there was a 
perfect calm. Meanwhile, his house and barn were unroofed, and 
all the neighboring trees thrown down. ‘The noise which accompa- 
nied the phenomenon was by every witness described as terrific, 
being best exemplified by the rumbling of an immense number of 
heavy carriages. Every object in its path was bespattered with mud 
on the side towards that from which it advanced. Houses looked 
as if roughcast, and individuals were so covered with dirt as to be 
disguised. 
Some thunder and lightning attended the tornado. Some trees, 
which resisted the onset, yielded subsequently ; and hence were piled 
upon those which had fallen earlier. ‘The weaker trees were under- 
most, and pointed in the direction in which the tornado approached ; 
while the stronger were on the top, pointing in the direction in which 
it moved away. 
Four different places were noticed, where all the treesday, with 
their summits directed to a common center. In the middle of one 
of these localities, the house was unroofed, and the handkerchief 
and sheet were lodged within the fissures in the walls, as already 
stated. The windows in the same house were all broken, and much 
of the glass thrown outside. From the evidence, Mr. Espy infers 
that the apparent height of the tornado was about amile. He states 
that there were, on the same day, two other tornadoes, about seven- 
teen miles apart ; and of which the nearest was about the same dis- 
