On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 27 
islands ;—that this progress, though slower in the lower latitudes, 
was, after reaching the American coast, at a rate not greatly differing 
from thirty geographical or nautical miles per hour, which is pre- 
sumed to have been nearly the velocity of the direct southerly cur- 
rent prevailing in the atmosphere at that time, at a medium height 
from the surface ; and this rate of progression appears to have gov- 
erned the duration and termination of the storm at each place over 
which it passed ;—that on the western margin, or verge of the storm, 
or at those places most distant from the sea, the wind was north- 
easterly or northerly, while on the opposite verge, at sea, the wind 
was southerly and westerly ;—that along the central portion of the 
track, the storm was violent from the south-eastern quarter, changing 
suddenly to an opposite direction;—and that there was previously 
and subsequently, no prevalence of an easterly wind, nor was there 
any other apparent cause for a direct movement of the atmosphere 
from that quarter ; all the existing tendencies being in another direc- 
tion. The center of the storm or hurricane, appears to have been 
generally outside the coast, till, reaching Long Island, it crossed the 
same, and entered upon the State of Connecticut. It seems also to 
have passed westward of New Haven, and to have entered the val- 
ley of the Connecticut river near Middletown, and after partially fol- 
lowing that valley for some distance, and crossing the State of Mas- 
sachusetts, the storm must have disappeared towards the eastern 
coast, and its further progress does not appear to have been reported. 
The general analogy or correspondence of the foregoing facts to 
the known phenomena of whirlwinds and tornadoes, will, it is be- 
lieved, be sufficiently evident, at least so far as the difference in the 
magnitude and other circumstances of these rotative masses, will per- 
mit of the resemblance. As it will be assumed, in the progress of 
our remarks, that this peculiarity of motion is a general attribute of 
storms, it may therefore be proper to sum up these points of resem- 
blance in a more concise manner. 
1. The regular progress of both the storm and the whirlwind from 
the point where they first become appreciable in their effects, till 
their ultimate extinction, uninfluenced by any particular direction of 
wind which they may exhibit, deserves especial notice. 
2. The limited diameter of the known smalier, and the supposed 
larger whirlwind, or storm, as compared with the extent over which 
they sweep in pursuing their several tracks, is an important resem- ° 
blance, and is evidence of a similarity in the mode of operation. 
