334 PHILOSOPHY OF STORMS. 



In other cases, however, forces seem to have acted with 

 great violence upon the individual parts of bodies. Nume- 

 rous instances occurred where hens were completely strip- 

 ped of their feathers. A wagon was taken up along with 

 the shed in which it was standing. The shed was scattered 

 in fragments, and the wagon was carried northward a hun- 

 dred 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 reached the centre of the 

 track, it took a turn to the north east and was deposited at 

 the distance of several rods in an exceedingly mutilated 

 state, the top having been carried off 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 vio- 

 lence 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 observed in 

 the cases of trees and other heavy bodies that were raised 

 into the atmosphere and transported to a distance. They 

 did not generally appear to have fallen with the ordinary 

 force of falling bodies. 



Those forces which acted upon the individual parts of a 

 body often appear to have acted in contrary directions. 

 The legs of the same table were found deposited at the dis- 

 tance of many feet from each other in different directions; 

 and this was true also of the hinges of the same door. 



We examined diligently for evidence of an explosive force 

 acting on buildings from within, in consequence of a sudden 

 rarefaction of the air on the outside of the building agreea- 

 bly to what is reported of the New Brunswick tornado and of 

 storms. We found but one case that favored such a suppo- 

 sition. This was the case of a barn where the walls were 

 thrown out on every side, and without much apparent vio- 

 lence. 



