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34 Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 
Judge Hopkinson deposited with the Society, the Log Book of the first 
voyage in a steam vessel across the Atlantic, by Captain Rogers, in the 
year 1819; an account of which was given in the Proceedings of the 
Society, No. 2, p. 14. 
In a written comm ication, Judge Hopkinson stated, amongst other 
matters in reference to Captain Rogers’s priority, that he was on board 
the steam-ship lying at the city of Washington, after her return from the 
voyage. She was built and rigged like one of the Liverpool packets, and 
her wheels were made to fold up at her sides when the wind permitted 
her sails to be used. 
The Log Book states, among the occurrences usually noted, the days 
when the steam was used. s 
April 17.—The committee, consisting of Prof. Bache, Dr. Patterson 
and Mr. Walker, to whom was referred a paper entitled “On the Storm 
which was experienced throughout the United States about the 20th of 
December, 1836, by Elias Loomis, Professor of Mathematics and Natu- 
ral Philosophy in Western Reserve College,” reported in favor of publi- 
cation in the Society’s Transactions, which was ordered accordingly.* 
The memoir of Prof. Loomis first describes the sources of information 
to which he has had access, consisting of various published or private 
meteorological journals. The principal phenomena occurred in the east- 
ern states, within the period recommended by Sir John Herschel for 
hourly meteorological observations; and were, of course, accurately no- 
ted at the stations where these observations were made. From various 
sources, Prof. Loomis has obtained observations of the barometer at 
twenty seven different stations in the United States and the neighboring 
British possessions, and records of the thermometer and weather from 
twenty eight military stations of the United States, from forty two acade- 
mies of the State of New York, and from five other stations within the 
probable limits of the storm, besides others beyond it. In some cases, 
two sets of observations were made at the same station. 
_ The phenomena are discussed by the author under the following heads. 
1. A remarkable oscillation of the barometer. 2. A sudden depression 
of the thermometer. 3. The amount, and the time of beginning and 
ending of the rain. 4. The direction and velocity of the wind. 
1. The observations of the barometer show that during the storm there 
was a sudden depression of the barometer immediately succeeded by @ 
sudden rise; that the minimum of pressure occurred first in the western 
states, and passed in a wave over the United States, moving eastwardly. 
The curves drawn to represent the heights of the barometer illustrate this 
fact in a very striking manner. Prof. Loomis has attempted to determine, 
from the observations, the amount of depression of the barometer, the 
* We are indebted to Prof. Loomis for a copy of his elaborate paper.—Eps. 
