104 BULLETIN OF THE 



He referred also to an experiment made bj Prof. Henry many 

 years ago, where an air played on one piano was repeated by 

 another on the opposite side of the street, a rod of soft pine in 

 contact with the sounding-boards of each forming the connection. 



Mr. HiLGARD and Mr. Henry spoke of the value and aston- 

 ishing character of Mr. Bell's discovery and invention. 



Mr. Bell having spoken of the difficulty with such conso- 

 nants as p, t, and k, Mr. Mason suggested that such an instru- 

 ment, when perfected, might be used in analyzing . linguistic 

 sounds. 



117th Meeting. January 27, ISYt. 



The President in the Chair. 

 Fifty-three members and visitors present. 



Mr. B, Alvord made a communication on 



A TRIGONOMETRICAL FORMULA. 



Gen. T L. Clingman, of North Carolina, communicated 



FACTS relating TO THE FALLING OF WATERSPOUTS IN 

 NORTH CAROLINA ; 



speaking of the large number which had occurred in the southern 

 and western portions of that State on the elevated plateaus or 

 mountain sides, particularly in Jackson and Macon counties. 

 He had visited the localities of fifty or sixty, and described par- 

 ticularly one in Fish-hawk Mountain, where a large hollow, 75 

 feet across and in the middle 15 feet deep, had been scooped oat 

 apparently by a sudden fall of a large quantity of water. The 

 streams of the mountain were suddenly swollen to a destructive 

 extent. 



Mr. Antisell described a genuine waterspout, attributing the 

 phenomenon to warm and cold currents of air in opposite direc- 

 tions, by friction occasioning electricity ; and made further ex- 

 planations of such appearances and their mode of formation. 



