366 Mr. Redfield's Reply to Dr. Hare, 



which may result from a flash of lightning, or the immediate 

 conversion of clouded vapour into rain, which oftentimes sud- 

 denly follows, I will only state, that another competent ob- 

 server, who was very near this whirlwind when it left the 

 western shore, and who watched its progress across the river, 

 has described to me the appearance of the cloudy sprays or 

 mists blown from the surface of the water, and which filled 

 the lower extremity of the tornado, but he has mentioned no 

 sudden disappearances of the same. He did, however, ob- 

 serve the ii-hirUug action of the tornado with great distinct- 

 ness, both when it first entered upon the river, and in its ef- 

 fects upon the sails and position of a schooner with which it 

 came in contact ; and likewise, as exhibited by the circling or 

 whirling directions of the various objects carried into the air, 

 as it came off the high grounds on its approach to the river. 

 The highly intelligent e^'e-witness of my opponent also de- 

 scribes " the misty vapours" as '■'■ entering the whirling vor- 

 tex;" thus showing, from his own observation, a fact which 

 fully supports my views, and is fatal to the objections and hy- 

 pothesis of motion set forth by Dr. Hare. Moreover, there 

 were decisive memorials of a general whirlinii action found 

 along the path of this tornado. 



Dr. Hare chooses also to say, " I have already, I trust, 

 sufficiently shown that the abortive explanation which Mr. 

 Redfield dignifies with the title of his 'theory of rotary 

 storms,' amounts to no more than this ; that certain imaginary, 

 nondescript, unequal and opposing forces produce atmospheric 

 gyration; that these gyrations, by their consequent centrifugal 

 force, create about the axis of motion a deficit of pressure ; 

 and hence the upward force displayed by tornadoes and hur- 

 ricanes. I cannot give to this alleged theory the smallest im- 

 portance, while the unequal and opposing forces upon which 

 it is built ' remain in perfect obscurity,' or, according to his 

 American version, ' exist only in the imagination of an au- 

 thor who disclaims the agency either of heat or electricity.' " 

 — (28, Amer. Journ. of Science, vol. xlii. p. 145.) 



This recital appears necessary, on account of the error 

 into which Dr. Hare has here fallen. I have never at- 

 tempted to dignify any "explanation," induction, sketch, or 

 essay, "with the title" of my "theory of rotary storms." It 

 must, at least, have been a mistake of person. I have little 

 fondness for theory-making ; and as little respect for hypo- 

 theses of winds or storms, other than those which result di- 

 rectly from sufficient and reliable observations. Neither have 

 I disclaimed " the agency of heat," as already stated ; but it 

 raay have been my offence to have disclaimed " electricity " 



