Notices of Tornadoes, t5*c. 73 



Art, XII. — Notices of Tornadoes, 6fc. ; by Robert Hare, M. D., 

 Professor of Chemistry in the Univ^ersity of Pennsylvania. 



I. Account of a Tornado, which passed over Providence, and the 

 Village of Somerset, R. I., in August, 1838.* 



I PROPOSE to lay before the Society, for a place in their Trans- 

 actions, an account of a tornado which occurred in the state of 

 Rhode Island, towards the end of August last. 



This phenomenon was first observed near Providence, over the 

 south-western suburbs of which it passed in a course generally 

 from west by north, to south by east. Only a few days subse- 

 quently I visited some of the most remarkable scenes of its rava- 

 ges. 



The characteristics of this tornado, from all that I could see or 

 hear, are quite similar to those of the tornado which occurred at 

 New Brunswick, N. J. in June, 1835, and to which I referred in 

 my paper upon the causes of tornadoes and water-spouts, published 

 in the sixth volume of the Society's Transactions. 



This recent tornado was advantageously seen by J. L. Tilling- 

 hast, Esq. from a window of his mansion, which is so situated, 

 on the brow of a hill on the eastern side of the city of Providence, 

 as to afford an unobstructed view of the country opposite. Mr. 

 Tillinghast alledges that his attention was at first attracted by see- 

 ing to the westward a huge inverted cone, of extremely dark va- 

 por, which extended from the clouds to the earth. In the contor- 

 tions and spiral movements of its lower extremity, this cone was 

 conceived to resemble the proboscis of an enormous elephant, 

 moving about in search of food. Sometimes it was elongated so 

 as to reach the ground; at others it skipped over the intervening 

 space without touching it ; but at each contact with the terres- 

 trial surface or bodies resting thereon, a cloud of dust intermin- 

 gled with their fragments, was seen to rise within the vortex. To 

 those who were sufficiently near to the meteor, a fearful explana- 

 tion of these appearances was simultaneously evident. Ponds 

 were partially exhausted. Trees uprooted or deprived of their 

 leaves or branches. Houses were unroofed, or uplifted and then 

 dashed to pieces. Farms were robbed of their grain, potatoes, 



* From the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 

 Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1.— Oct.-Dec. 1839. 10 



