Rotary Action of the Providence Tornado. 217 



In most of the foregoing remarks it has been my design to view 

 the tornado as it moves onward, in full action. Of the origin or 

 incipient causes of the whirl, it is not necessary here to inquire : 

 although some clue to these is perhaps afforded us in the consid- 

 erations above noticed. 



Recurring once more to the track of the Providence tornado, 

 I have to state that eastward of Tift's house the course of the 

 track soon became S. 65° E. magnetic, for more than two miles. 

 It then took the course of S. 75° E., and further onward the tor- 

 nado passed directly over the house of Solomon Peck, about four 

 miles from Providence. This house was partly unroofed ; chim- 

 ney thrown down ; windows broken inward^ as in many other 

 cases ; and much other damage was also done to Mr. Peck's 

 property. In passing onward towards Taunton river the tornado 

 appears to have preserved an inclination to the south of east : 

 the track, though slightly sinuous, appearing, like that of the 

 New Brunswick tornado, to form part of a great curve, with its 

 convex side to the northward. 



On the track from the Lyon farm to Peck's house there were 

 many interesting memorials which might confirm the deductions 

 already made. On some portions of the track, also, the tornado 

 appeared to have risen almost entirely from the surface, its re- 

 versed apex leaving but a narrow trace, and on some fields, even 

 no trace at all. But in these cases, as on the tracks of other tor- 

 nadoes, the compass bearing did not fail to lead the explorer to 

 new ravages, where, at times, the energy of the tornado appeared 

 to be greater than before.* 



Before we take leave of the traces of this tornado I would ad- 

 duce another of my prepared sketches, which shows the rotative 

 effects in a manner which I think should satisfy the most stren- 

 uous opposer of whirlwind action. In this sketch, Fig. VI, we 

 have represented a portion of the track which crossed at right 

 angles a line of weak post-and-rail fence, a, a. On the right of 

 the axis, this fence was prostrated eastwardly or in the direction 

 of the course of the tornado, as shown by the short arrows which 

 may represent the posts of the fence ; the rails also having been 

 scattered onward and inward, towards c, in the general manner rep- 



* This is not uncommon in tornadoes, and is especially noticed in the account 

 of two " Trombes" which are given in Pouillet, Elemens de Physique et de Mete- 

 orologie, § 655. 



