172 Miscellanies. 
No. 30. Observation of A. Holcomb, at his Observatory, South- 
wick, Mass., with a seven feet Herschelian of his own construction, 
power 225, with red screen glass. Southwick is in latitude 42° 0 
41” north; longitude 4h. 51m. 12s., by Mr. Holcomb’s triangulation 
with Springfield Court House, one of the points determined by Mr. 
Paine. Mr. S.C. Walker finds, from Mr. Holcomb’s observation of 
the solar eclipse of 1836, for this longitude 4h. 51m. 13.2s. Mean 
value 4h. 51m. 12.6s. W. 
50 27 do. Doubtful one second. Sun’s limb 
Duration, 230 8 tremulous, and near horizon. 
No. 31. Observation of Prof. Albert Hopkins, at the Observatory 
of Williamstown College, Mass. Latitude, 42° 42’ 44” N., longitude 
4h. 52m. 52s. W. Astronomical clock regulated by a four feet transit 
instrument. 
Fins. 8s 
Beginning, 3 20 19 Meantime. Observation satisfactory. 
End, 5 
- ™. s. 
Beginning, 3 17 19.9 Meantime. Good observation. 
End, (not observed) Sun too near the horizon. 
The Committee on Dr. Hare’s paper on the Tornado which passed 
over a suburb of Providence, R.1., in August last, reported in favor 
of publication, and the report was adopted. 
The phenomena and facts, stated in this paper, are quite consistent 
with those mentioned upon the authority of Prof. Bache, Mr. Espy, 
and other observers, relative to the tornado which took place in New 
Jersey, at or near New Brunswick, in June, 1835, and of which an 
account will be found in the last volume of the Transactions of the 
Society. This paper embraced a letter from Zachariah Allen, Esq. 
a highly respectable gentleman of Providence, who was an eye-wit- 
ness of the tornado, having been quite as near to it as was consistent 
with safety. One of the facts noticed by Mr. Allen, Dr. Hare con- | 
siders as tending to justify his opinion, that the exciting cause of these 
meteors is electrical attraction. Mr. Allen alledged that, as soon 8 
the tornado came into contact with the surface of the river, the 
water rose in a foam; that, under these circumstances, two flashes © 
of lightning passed between the water and the overhanging clouds; © 
and that, after each flash, there was a perceptible subsidence of the 
foam. This result is precisely what Dr. Hare conceives would en-— 
sue, if the foam arose from an attraction between the water and the — 
stratum of air above, caused by opposite states of electrical excite 
ment. In such case, the passage of sparks always necessarily tends 
to restore the equilibrium between the electrified masses, and conse 
quently to lessen their reciprocal attraction. 
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