168 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY V ISITOR. 



survived to tell tlieir story. In addition to these 

 peculiar opportunities for ascertaining tlic facts re- 

 specting tlie stovni, I have had tlie still greater ad- 

 vantage of comparing my own observations with 

 those of my friends, rrofessor Stanley, Mr. A. B. 

 Halie, and Mr. E. C. Herriek, all of whojn have 

 taken the gre.itcst pains to investigate the phenom- 

 ena and laws of the tornado. Hence the facts 

 which I have to state, are, 1 think, the result of bet- 

 ter ojjportunities for observation, and of a more e- 

 laborate and careful examination, than has been 

 usual in storms ot' this class. 



In order to make our descriptions intelligible to 

 strangers, it may be proper to premise that the city 

 of New Haven is situated at the head of a bay, that 

 sets up five miles from the north side of Long Isl- 

 and Sound. It is built on a plain which is bound- 

 ed on the west by a low range of hills, called the 

 Woodbridge hills. At the northwestern and nortli- 

 eastcrn angles of the town are the two celebrated 

 bluffs, called West and East Rock, respectively, 

 well known as the southern terminations of the 

 chains of trap mountains, that e.\tend northward 

 through Connecticut and Massachusetts. The 

 storm commenced in the low ground at the eastern 

 base of the Woodbridge hills. Its course was N. 

 E. by E. across a level region occupied by farm- 

 houses, cornfields, and gardens for a mile and a 

 half. It then ascended an inclined plane to a higher 

 level, and passed through a wood towards East 

 Rock. Bounding over the emmence, it descended 

 its eastern declivity, and lost itself in an extensive 

 salt meadow that lies eastward of the mountain. 



Tliroughout this region its progress was indicat- 

 ed by marks of the greatest violence. Nearly cv 

 ery tree that came in its way through the open 

 country, was prostrated or broken off; six houses, 

 and a number of barns, were completely demolish- 

 ed ; several other houses and barns were unroofed ; 

 fields of corn, then just earing, were laid close to 

 the ground ; and indeed the whole space over 

 which the tornado had passed, presented one uni- 

 form scene of ruin and desolation. 



In extent, this tornado appears to have been very 

 limited. Its length did not exceed four miles, and 

 its average breadth was only sixty rods, varying, 

 however, a little at different places. Its duration 

 at one place did not exceed half a minute, and its 

 progressive motion may be estimated at 40 miles 

 per hour. These estimates are made by comparing 

 the impressions and statements of various individ- 

 uiils who were within the limits of this storm. 



The appearance of the storm as it approached, 

 was deliberately contemplated by numerous ob- 

 servers who saw it coming over the plain. All de- 

 scribe it as a strange cloud of terrific aspect, white 

 like a driving snow storm, or light fog, and agitat- 

 ed by the most violent intestine motions. It came 

 suddenly upon them with torrents of water— "there 

 was a rush — a crash — and it was gone." When 

 first seen coming over East R-ock, it seemed lifted 

 above the ridge of the mountain, but fell nearer to 

 the earth as it descended the eastern <\^clivity, and 

 renewed its work of destruction when it reached 

 the plain. 



Let us now trace more particularly those facts 

 which liave a bearing upon the laws which govern 

 this storm. 



1. The first great fact that strikes us, is, that all 

 the trees and other ol)jects that mark the direction 

 of the wind whicli prostrated them, are with very 

 few exceptions, turned inwards on both sides tov.-- 

 ards the centre of the track ; while near the cen- 

 tre, the direction of the prostrate bodies is coin- 

 cident with that of the storm. 



2. On more minute inspection, we find prevail- 

 ino- a remarkable law of eurrature. This is most 

 favorably seen in corn fields, as tlie prostrate corn 

 indicates the course of the wind at each spot, with 

 great precision. The law is this. Commencing on 

 tlie northern margin of the track, the stalks of 

 corn are turned backward, that is, toward the S. 



E. • proceeding towards the centre of the track, 



their inclinations to the south become constantly 

 less and less, turning gradually towards tiie course 

 of the storm, until when we reach the centre, they 

 lie to the N. E., exactly in the line ol the storm. 

 This curvature is in all cases more observable on 

 the northern, than on the southern side of the track. 

 In the latter case, the stalks of corn lie more near- 

 ly at right angles to the course of the storm, (but 

 inclining forward ;) still, on reaching the centre, 

 tliey turn to the northeast, and become coincident 

 with that course. 



3. Numerous examples are seen where the bod- 

 ies as they fell towards the centr',- of the track, or 

 after they had iallen, were turned farther round 

 towards the direction in which the tornado was 

 moving, that is, towards the northeast. 



4. The ruins of buildings that were demolished, 

 are scattered ia nearly a right line towards the cen- 



tre of the track; but they frequently are strewed I 

 quite across the central parts, reaching in some in- 

 stances almost to the opposite margin, in this 

 case, they are often found covered with trees, and 

 other bodies lying in precisely the opposite direc- 

 tion. 



.^). In a fev,' instances very limited spots are found 

 whore the prostrate bodies, as hills of corn, lie in 

 all directions. Examples occur where, one portion 

 of the same hill of corn is turned westward and an- 

 other portion eastward. , 



In a garden near H.^ are a few rows of pole beans 

 apparently untouched by the storm, while within a 

 few feet on either hand, tlie most violent effects are 

 e.vhibited. Near L., a barn was demolished, and a 

 dove-cote scattered iu fragments, while a hen-roost 

 which stood feeblv on blocks, was unharmed. — 

 Large trees in the immediate vicinity were torn up 

 by the roots. A house that stood ijetween I. and 

 and L. was completely torn in pieces, leaving noth- 

 ing but the southern half of the ground floor. In 

 the room of this floor, a woman was washing, and 

 another was at work in abasement room immediate- 

 ly below, while her child was asleep in a cradle in 

 a room above, at the northeastern angle of the 

 house. They saw the tornado approaching ; the 

 woman in the basement ran up and caugiit her 

 child in her arms, and immediately afterwards found 

 herself and child in an open field a few paces north 

 of the house, the child having been carried only a 

 few feet from the spot where they wore, while the 

 mother was carried eighteen or twenty feet farther 

 to the westward. The other woman meanwhile 

 was swept from the floor where she was standing 

 and carried northward and deposited in the cellar, 

 the floor of the northern half of the house having 

 been borne away along with other parts of the 

 building. None of the partv were seriously injur- 

 ed. A bureau that was in the room where the wo- 

 man was washing, was carried half a mile to the 

 eastward, and portions of it were found sticking in 

 the sides of a barn, having penetrated the thick 

 wall of plank. A silk cape was also taken from 

 this house, and carried over East Rock to the dis- 

 tance of three miles. In a barn that w*as blown 

 down on the east side of East Rock, a boy that was 

 on a load of hay in the barn was transported across 

 the street and deposited in a neighboring field un- 

 harmed. 



In other cases, however, forces seem to have act- 

 ed with great violence upon the individual parts of 

 bodies. Numerous instances occurred where hens 

 were completely stripped of their feathers. A wag- 

 on was taken up along with the shed in which it 

 was standing. The shed was scattered in frag- 

 ments, and the wagon was carried northward a 

 hundred feet or more and dashed sideways against 

 a barn, leaving a full impression of one of the 

 wheels on the walls of the barn. Having here 

 nearly rcachctl tlie centre of the tr.ick, it took a 

 turn to the northeast and was deposited at the dis- 

 tance of several rods in an exceedingly mutilated 

 state, the top having been carried olf and not yet 

 found, and the strong iron springs broken and bent 

 in a manner that denoted an exceedingly violent 

 action. No part of this violence is to be ascribed 

 to the force with which it fell to the ground ; for it 

 must have fallen very gently, since the ground was 

 scarcely broken at all. The same fact was observ- 

 ed in the case of trees and other hea\y bodies that 

 were raised to the atmosphere and transported to a 

 distance. They did not generally appear to have 

 fallen with the ordinary force of falling bodies. 



These torces which acted upon tiie individual 

 parts of a body olten appear to have acted in con- 

 trary directions. The legs to the same table were 

 found deposited at the distance of many feet from 

 each other in diflerent directions ; and this was true 

 also of the hinges of the same door. 



We examined diligently for evidence of an ex- 

 plosive force acting on buildings from within, in 

 consequence of a sudden rarefaction of the air on 

 the outside of the building, agreeably to what is re- 

 ported of the New Brunswick tornado, and of oth- 

 er similar storms. We found but one case that fa- 

 vored such a supposition. This was the case of a 

 barn where tiie walls were thrown oui on every 

 side, and without much apparent violence. 



*Tlie referf nces in tliis parasrapli are to a diasrain in Silli- 

 man's Jiiiinial, wlilctl we liave not the nieaiiB ot copying.— 

 Edi. J. C. 



tiow-a-days hardly know, at least they would pre- 

 tend that it would be immodest and not at all lady- 

 like to be presumed to know, whether the milk 

 comes from the udder or the horns. "The rosy 

 milk-maid," the title of a song which we remem- 

 ber to have often heard when a boy, is an animal 

 not known in modern natural liistory ; and as to a 

 young lady with thick shoes, a checquered apron, 

 her sleeves turned up, and a handkerchief tied over 

 her head, though the apron should be clean and the 

 handkerchief as white as snow, and ever so pretty 

 a pair of black eyes and ruddy cheeks peeping out 

 from under it, it would be an idea too shocking for 

 one of your modern exquisites even to dream of; 

 and if presented to her abruptly, while looking in 

 the glass at her inotislhi de lahifs^^ with her satin 

 shoes, her gilt hair comb, her paste ear rings and 

 her insect waist, as crooked as the limb of a scrub- 

 oak, she would not probably recover from the fright 

 for a week. 



We say we have no hope of recovering the good 

 old habits of former days. Revolutions never go 

 back. Yet in this respect we have lost a great deal. 

 Men are seldom neat enough in their habits to be 

 trusted with milking. They have not the patience 

 to wash their hands or to wash tlie udder before milk 

 ing. They are not gentle, and often abuse the an- 

 imal by their kicks aisd thumps. They are in a 

 hurry in the morning to get through a business 

 which they dislike ; and they come home tired at 

 night; the cows are necessarily milked at an un- 

 seasonable hour ; and the business is very often 

 verj' badly performed. Women, on the other hand, 

 are more patient, more gentle, more faithful, more 

 neat ; and we were about to say — they ought to 

 do the milking. The morning air would be bracing 

 to their muscles, (if the modern girls have any mus- 

 cles, for there begins to be a reasonable doubt in 

 this matter ;) and the odor of the cow has been long 

 known to be, and is often recommended by physi- 

 cians as medical. But we will not say what we 

 were disposed to say, because it would be useless. 

 It is utterly vain to attempt a contest with fashion; 

 for according to Franklin's proverb, "he that spits 

 against the wind spits in his own face." We must 

 however, be just : and in riding tiirough Dedham 

 last week at the close of the day, it was quite re- 

 freshing to see in at least four cow yards woman in 

 her appropriate sphere ; and by her pleasant looks 

 and her gentle conduct as she sat at the side of the 

 bountiful cow, evincing her gratitude to Providence 

 for his richest of all the benefactors which Heaven 

 has given to man in the form of a quadruped. 



H. C. 

 j\*cic Eyt^land Farmer. 



Women JVlilkiug. 



Thirty years ago it would have Ix'en almost as 

 diflicult to find a man milking as to find a woman 

 mowing, except in cases of very large dairies. In 

 this respect matfers are greatly changed : and any 

 hope, for augfit we see, of getting back to the old 

 practice, would be vain. Half of the young girls 



Disease of Hobses, &c. — I see a great many 

 cures for disorders in cattle and horses, in your 

 Genesee Farmer. The Ringhojte is a great plagae 

 to horses, which is easilv cured. Take one oz. of 

 camphor, one oz. of oil of spiivC, one cz. of harts- 

 horn, and* one oz. of spirits of turpentine- — put these 

 in a phial and shake it well ; — when it is fit for use 

 put it on the foot above the ring, and rub it with the 

 finger till it comes to the skin. It will take a week 

 to use it on one foot, which it will cure, be he ever 

 so lame or long standing, but the ring will remain. 



To care Sroiirs in cattle or horses : take the seed 

 of the narrow leaf dock — (it is a yellow root) — and 

 give them a handful of the seed in their feed. It 

 will stop it immediately, be it ever so severe. Or 

 take a tea-spoonful of pulverized red chalk, and 

 give it to a beast, and it will cure. 



I had a spring colt sick with the scours, and I 

 made inquiries of several old people about it; they 

 knew nothing for it ; 1 took, my own remedy. I 

 took a handful of the dock seed and steeped it in 

 the mother's milk, and poured about a gill down 

 the throat, and it cured it at once. 



,i cure for the Blind Staggers in a Horse. — When- 

 ever you perceive it, bleed them well in the spur 

 veins, and physic them well with tamarack, which 

 will soon cure him. I am yours, 



AlEXA.nDER M'DoiBALL 



Wampsville, August 2G, 1831). 



When a horse is sick in winter, he must be cov- 

 ered. 



Every humane and reflecting person mustrejoice 

 at the leaving off the fashion of cutting oft'the horse's 

 tail. It is clear that nature produces nothing in 

 vain. The tail may be trimmed ; but never forget 

 tliat a horse, harrassed by flies, has no otlier means 

 than his tail, to brush them off and that it ma)' pre- 

 vent accidents, in keeping him to stand quiet. 



Vclocitij of Lightning. — It has lately been ascer- 

 tained by a series of ingenious experiments, that 

 the velocity at which lightning, or the electric flu- 

 id moves, is not less than 2UU,000 miles in a siugle 

 second of time .'^ 



