60 PHILOSOPHY OF STORMS. 



to an opposite direction" Now I find that, of fifteen points 

 on the south east side of the storm, at which the wind set 

 in south of east, only two Bridgeport, Connecticut, and 

 one at sea, forty miles north of Cape Henry are given, as 

 having the wind to change round, even as far as the west. 

 These two I suspected as being contrary to my theory ; and, 

 upon examination of the newspapers of the day, I find that 

 they report the wind at both these places to have changed 

 round only to the south west, just as far as it should change 

 to satisfy my theory. 



All these facts lead to the conclusion that in this storm, at 

 least the wind in the neighborhood of the storm, blew di- 

 rectly towards its centre, and if so, it follows, beyond all 

 doubt, that there was an upward motion in the middle of the 

 storm. Now, as it is impossible to conceive of an upward 

 vortex being formed in the region of the storm, if there is a 

 condensation of air there, so it can only continue on the 

 supposition that the air, as fast as it arrives in the vortex 

 from all sides, becomes rarefied, whatever may be the cause 

 of that rarefaction. 



86. As it has been said that a condensation in the region 

 of the storm would cause an afflux of air there, let us for a 

 moment examine the assertion. Suppose that no latent ca- 

 loric is given out in the condensation of vapor, and that in a 

 circular space of one hundred miles in diameter, five inches 

 of rain have fallen, the whole condensation which would 

 take place by the change of vapor to water, would be less 

 than a fiftieth of the whole atmosphere, and the air on all 

 sides of the storm, would not have to move one mile 

 towards the centre, before the equilibrium would be re- 

 stored. Besides, it is manifest that this motion could not 

 take place at the surface of the earth, but rather in the 

 region of the cloud and above it. And even if the velocity 

 at the surface of the earth is supposed to be as great as in 

 the region of the cloud, it could not be a mile an hour, for 



