^leleorolog'ical Retrospect of the last Half of the YearlSlJ . 1S9 



P.S. — Would It not be desirable to publish separately an an- 

 nual Jlppendix to the Nautical Almanac, consisting ol' scientific 

 information and observations relative to astronomy ; similar to 

 the plan adopted in the Connaissance des Terns and by M. Bode, 

 in his Ephemeris? And might not such apian be adopted imme- 

 diately, so as to correct and improve the existing almanacs of 

 1818, 1819, and 1820? 



XXXII. Meteorological Retrospect for the last Half of the Yttar 



1817*. 



Storms and Hurricanes. 



X* EW years have been more distinguished for an extraordinary 

 frequency of violent storms than the last. In the year 824, when, 

 if we may believe the annals of that period, a hailstone sixteen 

 feet in length fell upon the city of Autun ; — in those of 1680, 

 1720, 1739, and -1740, when there were storms of hail of one 

 foot in thickness; in 1767, when Potsdam v.as devastated by 

 hailstones of the size of an ordinary gourd; in 1771} when the 

 environs of Namur were ravaged i)y others of nearly eight pounds 

 weight; in 1788 and 1812, which were also remarkable for their 

 storms, and the congelations which accompanied them ; — there 

 was still nothing in point of extent of suffering to compare with 

 1817. 



The city of Kheims will long remember the 19th of Mav. 

 After having experienced on the day preceding an extraordinary 

 and stifling heat, about half past one in the morning there ap- 

 peared in the heavens an igneous meteor, the red light of which, 

 reflected from all the houses, gave to this ancient Gallic city the 

 semblance of a town involved in one vast conflagration ; some 

 strokes of-thunder were followed with rain, which fell in extra- 

 ordinary abundance for two hours ; soon after, a large black 

 cloud gathered over the city and burst upon it with a horrible 

 crash. For five minutes the hail fell in torrents; whole roofs were 

 broken ; the trees of the gardens hashed, and some animals killed. 

 The neighbouring country however did not suffer any thing. 

 The same day the hail ravaged with equal severity many com- 

 munes of the department of the Upper Garonne; and on tlie 

 following day Semur {Cule-d'Or) and the rich vineyards in its 

 environs were visited i)v another frightful storui, in which the 

 rain and hail fell for a whole hour in one continued flood. 



The month of June was especially remarkable for the number 

 and severity of its storms. On the 7th, a part of the commujies 

 of Courcon, Beangas, Moulinet, and Bondi, in the arrondissement 

 • From liiOliothajUij rhyako-Ecunotni<iuc. 



of 



