190 Meteorological Retrospect 



of Villeneuve (Lot and Garonne) was laid entirely waste ; not a 

 stalk of corn was to be seen standing, nor a leaf remaining on 

 a vine in those places which the hail attacked : a heavy rain 

 which fell on the night of that day did still more harm, the quan- 

 tity of earth which it unsettled being so great as to cover all the 

 meadows with sand. The same day a violent storm assailed the 

 canton of Zurich in Switzerland, the city of Pau (Lower Pyrenees), 

 and some surrounding communes. Some hail fell of such a size 

 that roofs were broken and animals killed. On the 8th, four- 

 teen communes situated in the valley of the Loire, and on the 

 9th, twenty-seven in the arrondissement of Ambert, were nearly 

 inundated by the quantity of rain which fell, accompanied with 

 large hail. On the 10th, a storm of such severity swept over 

 the canton of Saint Gall, in SwitzerLmd, that a great number 

 of houses were thrown down at Wittenbach, Berg, Horn, and 

 Ober-Steinbach. On the r2th, the environs of Casan (Russia) 

 were devastated ; the ravages of the storm fell particularly upon 

 the village of Oura, inhabited by Tartars living in a state of 

 ease, and famous for their fabrics of red-coloured cotton ; the 

 rivulet which traverses this village formed all of a sudden an im- 

 mense torrent, carrying along with it men, trees and habitationSj^ 

 to the distance of twenty versts. On the 14th, another storm 

 >till more horrible desolated Belgium : the thunder raged for 

 three-quarters of an hour without intermission ; the storm driven 

 l')y a south-east wind was so violent, that it tore up a number 

 of large trees, overturned many granaries and some houses, and 

 shook ail the houses for the space of a league. On the 15th, a 

 shower of hailstones fell upon the town of Lierre in the Low 

 Countries, most of which were of the bulk of a pigeon's egg. The 

 22d, the 26th, the 27th, and 2Sth were also distinguished by 

 violent storms which conimitted great havock. 



In the same month the heat was more excessive in England 

 than it had i)een for several years, and brought on storms which 

 did every where a great deal of damage. At Tewkesbury they 

 were accompanied with large hail ; at Salisbury there was one 

 attended with an extraordinary obscurity, and followed by tor- 

 rents of rain and large pieces of ice, the ravages of which were 

 frightful — trees shattered — men and beasts wounded — houses 

 overturned, &c. 



On the i3 d of July a storm of the greatest violence, mixed with 

 large hail, burst in the night-time upon the town of Agen and 

 many communes of the department of Tarn. It continued till 

 ten o'clock the next day, which was also distinguished by another 

 temjit^t, wiHcli cirieu ruin and devastation into the valley be- 

 tween tlie two mountains of Lure and of Leberon (the mouths of 

 the Rhone) over a space of more than fifteen leagues. On the 



4th, 



