120 HURRICANES. SECT. XV. 



and the Carolinas. In the southern hemisphere the 

 body of the storms moves in exactly the opposite direc- 

 tion. The hurricanes which originate south of the 

 equator, and whose initial path is from N. E. to S. W., 

 bend round at the tropic of Capricorn, and then bend 

 from N. W. to S. E. 



The extent and velocity of these storms are great ; 

 for instance, the hurricane that took place on the 12th 

 of August, 1830, was traced from the eastward of the 

 Caribbee Islands to the bank of Newfoundland, a distance 

 of more than 3000 miles, which it passed over in six 

 days. Although the hurricane of the 1st of September, 

 1821, was not so extensive, its velocity was greater, as 

 it moved at the rate of 30 miles an hour : small storms 

 are generally more rapid than those of greater dimen- 

 sions. 



The action of these storms seems to be at first con- 

 fined to the stratum of air nearest the earth, and then 

 they seldom appear to be more than a mile high, 

 though sometimes they are raised higher ; or even 

 divided by a mountain into two separate storms, each of 

 which continues its new path and gyrations with in- 

 creased violence. This occurred in the gale of the 25th 

 of December, 1821, in the Mediterranean, when the 

 Spanish mountains and the Maritime Alps became new 

 centers of motion. 



By the friction of the earth the axis of the storm 

 bends a little forward, so that the whirling motion begins 

 in the higher regions of the atmosphere before it is felt 

 on the earth. This causes a continual intermixture ot 

 the lower and warmer strata of air with those that are 

 higher and colder, producing torrents of rain and violent 

 electric explosions. 



The rotation is different in direction in different hemi- 

 spheres, though always alike in the same. In the 

 northern hemisphere the gyration is contrary to the 

 movement of the hands of a watch, that is to say, the 

 wind revolves from east round through the north to the 

 west, south and east again ; while in the southern hemi- 

 sphere, the rotation about the axis of the storm is in the 

 contrary direction. 



The breadth of the whirlwind is greatly augmented 



