THE NATCHEZ TORNADO. 345 



rent upward is of necessity a consequence of concentric 

 motion. 



" The exact converse of this statement is necessary on the 

 hypothesis of gyration. The nearer the circumference, the 

 nearer parallel with the axis of motion, and the nearer the 

 axis, the nearer perpendicular to the same. This is untrue 

 of all I have yet seen of this tornado, and I have seen little 

 else since its occurrence." 



Professor Forshay, in a letter to a friend, also says : 

 " The narrow limits of a letter, leave me room but for a 

 few words, in regard to the special features of the tornado. 

 It is enough to say, that had the heavens obeyed Mr. Es- 

 py's summons, and every wind rushed to the point he as- 

 signed it, and had the Omnipotent clothed him for the mo- 

 ment with his own dread powers, the demonstrations of his 

 'Philosophy of Storms' could not have been snblimer or 

 more triumphant. I have done nothing but examine its 

 track, and collect information since ; and while I have seen 

 thousands of corroborations of his theory, I have sought in 

 vain for things it could not account for. The whole city 

 of Natchez is blown towards the track I have specified ; 

 while the bearings of trees and houses falling more west- 

 wardly, are invariably superimposed by those that fell more 

 eastwardly. 



" I find, by investigating somewhat, that strange coinci- 

 dences have been happening here in regard to hurricanes, 

 and that we live in a region very much exposed to them. 

 In May, 1823-4, two tornadoes travelled the same track 

 precisely, with an interval of exactly a year. In 1832, on 

 the 7th of May, the Kingston tornado fifteen miles from 

 Natchez. It is confidently asserted, that those of 1823-4. 

 occurred on the 7th of May. If so, the concurrence of four 

 storms is very curious." 



* 44 



