926 Transactions of tee American Institute. 



the slightest breeze, seem to have lost their gravity and to rise high 

 lip -svithout any apparent cause adequate to the production of any 

 such effect. 



The disastrous and terrific work of tornadoes, cyclones and water 

 spouts, is now accounted for in which a slight gyratory behavior of 

 conflicting winds is augmented into a force to tear up trees and carry 

 them to great height ; lay waste buildings and unmast ships ; to 

 carry up vast columns of vesicular vapor, and sometimes even whole 

 water ; emptying ponds of their contents, giving rise to those show- 

 •ers of solid substances, sometimes even living ones, such as frogs and 

 fishes, which are noticed from time to time. 



The great snake story of Illinois, said to be the greatest on record, 

 reported in the Illinois State Eegister of June 1st, 1869, and copied 

 in the New York Sun of the 6th, is remarkable. "We are told that 

 after a fearful tornado which occurred on Friday night. May 28th, 

 every ditch, brook and pool on the prairie, north of Taylorville, was 

 literally alive with nondescript reptiles, some of which were from 

 one and a half to two feet long. Whether this be fact or fiction, it 

 is, to say the least, plausible. 



And now while writing, the Louisville Commercial of January 19, 

 1870, brings the account of a terrible tornado which occurred on the 

 morning of tlie 17th, before the break of day, at Cave City Ky., a 

 town of 400 inhabitants, in which nearly the whole was laid in 

 ruins ; fifteen persons killed and twenty -five seriously injured. In 

 this, trees, ten to twenty inches in diameter were wrenched up by 

 the roots, some were twisted into fantastic shapes, splintered and 

 strown about, others were carried bodily hundreds of feet, buildings 

 were torn to pieces and scattered like chaft', leaving not a vestage to 

 mark the place of once peaceful and happy homes. A house was 

 struck ; violently turned around ; struck again, and almost instantly 

 leveled to the gro-und. The furniture disappeared entirely, was 

 smashed to pieces, borne on the wild winds beyond the limits of the 

 town. The bursting and detonations of ball lightning were of remark- 

 able frequency during the passage of this cyclone, which extended 

 some ten or twelve miles. 



In the formation of two or more distinct strata of clouds, as 

 described above, is to be found the condition which, according to 

 most philosophers, is indispensable to the formation of hail. It is 

 known that water, under some conditions, may remain in a liquid 

 state at a temperature many degrees below the freezing point, and 



