On the Gales and Hurricanes of the Western Atlantic. 117 



latitudes of the Atlantic, encounter a gale which shall blow violent- 

 ly fronai the west, and then shift suddenly to the east. This cannot 

 happen until storms in this region shall be found pursuing a retro- 

 grade course, or else spinning from left to right, instead of from right 

 to left as they have heretofore done ; or, in other words, till a new 

 system of terrestrial physics shall have been established by the Great 

 Author of nature. 



The interest of this subject to navigators, and the neglect into 

 which this branch of philosophic inquiry has been suffered to fall, 

 will be a sufficient apology for some additional remarks on these 

 storms. 



Those who adopt the views which I have maintained on this sub- 

 ject, will doubtless be able to explain, in a satisfactory manner, the 

 facts which are contained in the following statement, found in the 

 paragraph next preceding that which we have quoted from the Me- 

 moir ; namely, "That while one vessel has been lying-to in a heavy 

 gale of wind, another, not more than thirty leagues distant, has at 

 the very same time been in another gale equally heavy, and lying-to 

 with the wind in quite an opposite direction." 



This statement is obviously to be understood as applicable to two 

 vessels falling under the two opposite sides or portions of the same 

 storm, W'here the wind in its regular circuit of rotation, must, of 

 course, blow from the opposite q-uarters of the horizon. We will 

 suppose one of the vessels to be at A and the other at B, in the 

 annexed figure. 





N 



W 



The storm in pursuing its course from W towards N, will strike 

 the first mentioned vessel in the direction which is shown by the 



