210 Some Account of the Storm of January in Bedfordshire. 



third to the sixth successively increasing ii;i breadth and decreasing 

 in length ; club long- elliptical, broader than the sixth joint and more 

 than twice its length : chest short-elliptical, convex, brassy, rather 

 broad : fore-chest very short ; its length not more than one-tenth 

 of its breadth : shield of the mid-chest large ; sutures of the parap- 

 sides very distinct and strongly marked ; axillae parted by one-third 

 of the breadth of the chest ; scutcheon short, obconical, with two 

 parallel sutures along its back : hind-chest short, broad, obconical, 

 declining : petiole extremely short : abdomen long-elliptical, flat, 

 bronze-black, slightly concave above, slightly keeled beneath, shorter 

 and much narrower than the chest ; metapodeon and three following 

 segments of moderate length ; the rest very short : legs pale tawny ; 

 tips of feet brown ; thighs mostly piceous : wings broad, colourless, 

 pubescent, ciliated ; veins pale tawny ; ulna much longer than the 

 humerus ; radius shorter than the ulna ; cubitus not one-third of the 

 length of the radius; brand extremely small. Length of the body 

 ■y line ; of the wings 1^ line. 

 Var. (3. Body black. 



XXII. — Some Account of the storm of January in Bedfordshire. 

 By John Martin, Esq. 



To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 



Gentlemen, Froxfield, Feb. 14th, 1849. 



A REMARKABLE storiii took placc on Sunday the 14th of Janu- 

 ary ] 849. A few particulars relating to it may be found inter- 

 esting to those who attend to meteorological pursuits. 



The information with respect to it, in this communication, is 

 chiefly confined to what occurred in the park of the Duke of Bed- 

 ford, and is obtained from His Grace^s land steward, Thomas 

 Bennett, Esq. 



The hurricane, attended by a heavy fall of rain, passed over 

 Woburn Park about half-past two o'clock p.m. The direction 

 it took was from the north-west to south-east ; its range did not 

 appear to extend more than a quarter of a mile. The writer of 

 this, who resides at the edge of the park, scarcely half a mile from 

 the principal scene of destruction, was not aware of what was 

 going on so close to him. The sun was shining a few minutes 

 previously, and although the wind blew rather strongly, yet not 

 perceptibly stronger than it had been blowing for some days. 



Its greatest violence did not continue more than a quarter 

 of an hour. As far as information has been obtained as to its 

 appearance in this vicinity, it was first observed at Fenny Strat- 

 ford and Bow Brickhill on the borders of Bedfordshire. At these 

 places several trees were thrown down as well as many old 

 buildings. On Bow Brickhill Heath, where there is a large fir 



