WATERSPOUTS AND WHIRLWINDS. 





rents of air which encounter each other are only perceived when tho atmo- 

 sphere is entirely calm the ocean of air, therefore, like the ocean of v. 

 encountering each other only in a dead calm."* 



The Courier of the 19th of September, 1826, published the following narra- ' 

 tiye of a meteor which ravaged the arrondissement of Carcassonne on the VJf.th 

 of August preceding : 



" The wind was from the south, and the heat of the morning was suffoca- 

 ting. About noon, the clouds accumulated in the west, and a violent wind :: 

 A thick black cloud appeared, suspended over a piece of land near thn ch 

 of La Counette. In the direction of Fombraise, the clouds were seen to en- 

 counter each other, and, after the collision, to descend very low, as if they wf-re 

 attracted by the earth. The thunder grumbled on every side with a dulfrolling 

 noise ; domestic animals fled to their sheds. Suddenly a frightful explosion 

 (craquemcnt) was heard in the west ; the air, violently agitated, was drawn with 

 extreme velocity toward the black cloud above mentioned : the moment they 

 encountered was signalized by'a loud detonation, and the appearance of aii 

 enormous column of fire, which, sweeping over the field, tore up everything in 

 its way. A young man of 17 was carried away by this whirlwind, raised in 

 the- air, and dashed against a rock, by which his ' head was split; 14 sheep 

 were carried away, and fell senseless. 



" This column of air and fire overturned walls, displaced enormous rocks, tore 

 up by the roots the largest trees, broke into the chateau by two openings, tore 

 up and overturned the stones of the porte cuchsre, broke the gate, twisted all 

 the iron work, broke through a window, entered the saloon on the first floor, 

 broke through its ceiling, entered the second floor, passed to the roof, and, in 

 fine, reduced to ruin these three stories. The ladies, who were in the saloon 

 on the first floor, saw a globe of fire enter it, and owed their safety only to an 

 enormous beam which formed an arch to support the wood-work. A vortex of 

 air, entering by the window above the kitchen, broke through a partition, raised 

 the floor, broke the furniture, overturned the beds, opened the closets without 

 disturbing their contents, penetrated a thick wall and projected its ruins to a 

 great distance, broke the timber-work of the chateau, tore up by the roots an 

 enormous oak five feet in circumference, crushed two small houses, carried 

 away wagons, which it precipitated into a ravine, uprooted several enormous 

 walnut-trees, ravaged the vines, leaving in the earth deep trenches, and im- 

 pregnating the air with a strong odor of sulphur. This meteor disappeared in 

 the direction of Forcenas, and was succeeded by very heavy rain. The heavens 

 then became serene, and a wind arose from the east." 



In 1823, this meteor made great ravages in the neighborhood of Dreux and 

 Mantes in France. 



" In the village of Marc/iefroid, fifty-three houses were destroyed in the space 

 of one minute, yet the storm was scarcely heard, and the appearance of the 

 water-spout was only preceded by a little hail. A child three years old, who 

 stood beside its mother in a court-yard, was killed upon the spot. On exam- 

 ining its body, no wounds were found upon it except a hole of a certain depth | 

 in the neck. Entire roofs were carried'away either in the direction in which 

 the meteor moved, or in the contrary direction. The four walls of a ^. H ,li n 

 were thrown down in a regular manner, all tailing on the outside of th 

 their fall was marked by great regularity. After the meteor passed away, the 

 temperature did not seem changed, and 'the sun immediately reap, 



On the 6th of July, 1822, a land-spout was formed in the plain of < ta 

 near the village of that name, in the department of the Pas do Calais. 



Tableau <lc la Nature, torn i., pp. 43 and 177. 



