KOTATORY THEORY OF STORMS. 323 



intensity, as in the midst of the Southern 

 Atlantic, storms seldom or never occur : while 

 in those where its intensity is greatest, hur- 

 ricanes and violent tempests are extremely 

 common. If importance is attached to the 

 views of the electrical origin of most meteoro- 

 logical phenomena, it may be readily conceded, 

 also, that alterations in respect of the electricity 

 of the air may have some direct or indirect 

 influence in setting in motion irregular currents 

 of air. Upon these points there exists at pre- 

 sent much ignorance ; but in consequence of 

 the greatly-increased amount of attention now 

 paid to the science of storms, it is to be hoped 

 that much of our present obscurity will in a 

 little time be dissipated. 



One of the most remarkable and beneficial 

 discoveries hitherto made by meteorological 

 science is what is called the rotatory theory of 

 storms. By this is meant the remarkable fact 

 that hurricanes, typhoons, and it is probable 

 other violent storms in all regions of the world, 

 have a revolving motion. They do not blow, 

 that is to say, in a straight line from a point 

 many hundreds of miles distant, but they are 

 vast eddies in the air which whirl round like 

 the eddies of a stream of water, or like the 

 water let out of a basin by a plug at the bottom. 

 Besides this revolving movement, these storms 



