264 On Water-Spouts. 



than those which arise from vortices, and thus assisting the for- 

 mation of hail, so that Volta's supposition, that electricity co-op- 

 erates in producing hail, here finds an application ; but we should 

 not wish to see ourselves forced to assume this co-operation, in 

 case the presence of electricity should not show itself so distinctly 

 in all these formations of hail. 



In the axis of water-spouts, and near it, there must also, with- 

 out doubt, be a portion of watery vapor condensed. From this 

 source, probably, is derived the rain which falls in large drops on 

 ships that encounter water-spouts, and which has been found to 

 consist of fresh water. The water-spout mentioned above, whose 

 effects were so carefully noticed in North America, must also have 

 contained water, as all objects it met with were sprinkled with 

 mould on the west, that is the side from which it came. 



When moisture is rapidly condensed, electricity is produced, 

 and we have an opportunity of observing this sufficiently well in 

 storms. Hence water-spouts must also be accompanied by thun- 

 der and lightning. By means of the electricity developed in 

 water-spouts, we may, perhaps, explain the power by which, as 

 has been occasionally observed, water-spouts alternately repel and 

 again attract small cloudy masses. That they should be attracted 

 by a different portion from that which repelled them, agrees pre- 

 cisely with the natural laws of electricity. 



Although we are certain that the formation of water-spouts is 

 accompanied by electrical action, yet we are not therefore entitled 

 to conclude that electricity is their cause. Distinguished natu- 

 ralists have expressed this opinion, but without explaining the 

 manifold peculiarities of water-spouts. But still, even more re- 

 cently, it has been attempted to explain by this cause their rota- 

 tory movement, by assuming in them, the existence of a strong 

 electrical current, which, by means of the magnetism of the 

 earth, received its circular movement. It appears to me, how- 

 ever, that there is much to contradict this opinion. Although 

 we possess the clearest proofs of the electrical nature of water- 

 spouts, yet it seems to me not at all proved by any of the effects 

 noticed, that they contain an actual electrical current. Individuals 

 who have been in contact with water-spouts, never felt an elec- 

 trical shock, or should a shock actually have been experienced in 

 any instance without our being aware of it, yet there have been 

 many cases in which it was not the case, although the human 



