Prof. Loomis on Hail Storms. 51 
the latter town, in a basin between the mountains near the source 
of a stream called Baker’s river. I stood at the railroad depot 
in Wentworth, at the time of this shower, distant in an air line 
six or seven miles. It was the most remarkable appearing cloud 
I think I ever saw—so black and dense, encircling and covering 
the mountain, and shutting down to the earth. 
“'The hail was of prodigious size and in great quantities. The 
largest of the stones was of an irregular shape, rough and angu- 
lar, suggesting the idea to some that they were made up of a 
number adhering together. They were however very solid and 
not easily broken. 
‘One was weighed upon the spot at the time of the shower, and 
weighed 20 ounces; and the person who informed me of this was 
of the opinion that he saw one fall and break in pieces which 
was still larger. They looked, he said, like vast pieces of ice 
that had been broken above, and were falling to the earth. 
quantity was gathered in a basket and brought to Warren village, a 
distance of three or four miles, and there exhibited at least an hour 
after the shower, and in a hot and sultry afternoon. One of them 
there weighed 14 ounces, and measured 10 inches in circumfer- 
ence. ‘T'welve of the largest taken out of the basket weighed 
on the counter scales in the store, seven pounds. 
“About 4 o’clock, p. m., three hours after their fall, a box of 
them was brought to Wentworth village, where I reside, a dis- 
tance of about eight miles. One of them was shown to me. Its 
diameter according to my best judgment was from 2 to 24 inches. 
It had the appearance of being originally somewhat angular, with 
the angles melted off. It was perfectly-solid and clear. 
“So large was the quantity of hail in many places in War- 
ren, that a cart load might have been gathered without moving 
from the place. Luckily the track of the storm was not through 
the most cultivated part of the towns, but along the borders and 
skirts of the forests, where the population was scattering. Crops 
of hay and grain were ground to the earth, poultry were killed— 
cattle’s backs were bruised—and the roofs of many buildings 
were badly broken. But little glass was broken from the fac 
ae direction of the hail was nearly perpendicular to the 
earth,’ 
Immediately upon receiving this letter, I wrote to Dr. Hoyt, 
Stating that the facts which he had communicated respecting the 
size of the hail were so remarkable, that they ought to be sub- 
Stantiated by such evidence as would be deemed conclusive in a 
court of justice ; that it was therefore important that he should 
obtain written statements from the identical persons who weigh- 
ed the stones ; and that it would not be derogatory to the dignity 
of science for these persons to make affidavit to the truth of their 
Statements before a Justice of the Peace. I also suggested several. 
