316 ON THE STORM OF THE 18TH OF APRIL, 1850. 



vations above given, at 1 P. M. and 4 P. M., it will be seen that the 

 barometric equilibrium, if so disturbed, was soon restored. 



I have collected, from the newspapers and other sources, sucli 

 information as I could obtain respecting the area of the city visited 

 by the gale, but it is as yet incomplete. It appears, however, that 

 the diameter of the vortex was not very different from the length 

 of the city from north to south ; the gale having been limited by 

 the Circular-road in these two directions. Hail fell, however, 

 abundantly beyond the limits of the gale. Thus, at the gardens 

 of the Eoyal Dublin Society, at Grlasnevin, the damage done by the 

 hail was very great ; but it was limited to the roofs of the houses, 

 the hail having fallen perpendicularly. The amount of the rain 

 and melted hail registered there was 1'7 inches in 35 minutes. 



Further information is wanting to enable us to determine 

 exactly the progressive movement of the centre of the vortex. We 

 are informed by the newspapers that a storm similar to that which 

 visited Dublin, although not so severe, took place at Mullingar, 

 about an hour and a half previously. If this be the same storm, 

 the direction of the progressive movement must have been nearly 

 from west to east, and its velocity about thirty miles an hour. 

 This direction accords with that given by the observed limits of 

 the storm on the northern and southern sides of the city; but it 

 seems to have been modified, at the surface of the earth, by the 

 lower current. The velocity of the rotatory movement was, of 

 course, vastly greater than that of the progressive ; but we have no 

 direct measure of its amount. 



The damage done in Dublin has been principally in the destruc- 

 tion of glass caused by the hail; but many chimneys have been 

 thrown down, and many roofs dismantled, by the gale. The 

 estimated amount of the loss sustained, as ascertained by the 

 Metropolitan Police, is 27,800. Many houses were struck by 

 the lightning; but, happily, there was no loss of life from that 

 cause. 



There seemed to have been a disturbance of electrical equi- 

 librium, accompanied by rain, in many remote parts of Ireland on 



