May 23, 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



3ir 



"Dying these changes, a heavy rumbling noise was heard, not 

 unlike the passing of a long train of cars, which was audi- 

 ble in every part of the city. All describe it as a strange 

 cloud of terrific aspect, white, like a driving snow-storna or 

 light fog, and agitated by the most violent intestine mo- 

 tions. It came suddenly upon them with torrenis of water. 

 Trees and other objects that mark the direction of the 

 wind which prostrated them are, with a very few exceptions, 

 turned inwards on both sides towards the centre of the 

 track; while near the centre the direction of the prostrate 

 bodies is coincident with that of the storm. A barn was de- 

 molished, and a dove-cote scattered in fragments, while a 

 hen-roost which stood feebly on blocks was unharmed. In 

 a barn that was blown down, a boy that was on a load of 

 hay in the barn was transported across the street and depos- 

 ited in a neighboring field unharmed. In other cases, how- 

 ever, forces seem to have acted with great violence upon the 

 individual parts of bodies. Numerous instances occurred, 

 where hens were completely stripped of their feathers. 

 Trees and other heavy bodies, that were raised into the air 

 and transported to a distance, did not generally appear to 

 have fallen with the ordinary force of falling bodies. Forces 

 appear to have acted in contrary directions. The legs of 

 the same table were found deposited at the distance of many 

 feet from each other in different directions." 



Pine Plains, N.Y., June 19, 1835. 



The day had been very sultry. Clouds highly charged 

 with electricity darkened the horizon at 3 p.m. At 6 p.m. 

 " our attention was arrested by the peculiar manoeuvring of 

 dark and heavy clouds a little south of west. As the black 

 cloud arose (it had the appearance and commotion of dense 

 volumes of smoke bursting from a burning building), light 

 and windy clouds from all that part of the heavens veered 

 toward it with unspeakable confusion and velocity. Mr. 

 Anthony Simmons, near Best's, was on the road with his 

 team loaded with a hogshead of sugar (1,250 pounds). 

 Horses, wagon, and sugar were hurled over a stone wall into 

 a perfect wreck; himself blown in an opposite direction about 

 fifteen rods." 



Stow, O., Oct. 20, 1837. 



Professor Loomis gives a graphic account of this tornado. 

 There was a tremendous roar heard. " Several of the fowls 

 were picked almost clean of their feathers, as if it had been 

 done carefully by hand. There were two powerful currents 

 of wind blowing from opposite sides of the track, — that is, 

 within a few rods of each other, — and with such violence 

 that the stoutest oaks fell before it. What then became of 

 the air thus accumulated in the centre? That there was a 

 powerful current upward from the surface of the earth, near 

 the middle of the track, is proved by the objects which were 

 elevated. A tree which was levelled as this whirl was ap- 

 proaching it, would be turned to the right; and another, 

 which fell as the whirl was receding, would be inclined to 

 the left." 



Mayfield, O., Feb. 4, 1842. 



Professor Loomis has given us a description of this tor- 

 nado also. " The lightning was quite sharp just before the 

 blow came on, and thunder was distinctly heard above the 

 roar of the tornado. This roar was almost deafening, and 



was compared to a heavy surf upon the seashore, or to 

 the Palls of Niagara." Professor Loomis loaded a six- 

 pounder with a pound and a quarter of powder and with 

 pieces of board. These were fired into a side hill, and from 

 the penetration he decided that some of the boards in this 

 tornado were driven into the earth with a velocity of 682 

 miles per hour. The stripping of fowls attracted much at- 

 tention in this and other tornadoes. In order to determine 

 the velocity needed to strip these feathers, the above six- 

 pounder was loaded with five ounces of powder, and for a 

 ball a chicken just killed. Professor Loomis says, "The 

 gun was pointed vertically upwards and fired. The feath- 

 ers rose twenty or thirty feet, and were scattered by the 

 wind. On examination, they were found to be pulled out 

 clean, the skin seldom adhering to them. The body was 

 torn into small fragments, only a part of which could be 

 found. The velocity was 341 miles per hour. A fowl, then, 

 forced through the air with this velocity is torn entirely to 

 pieces; with a less velocity, it is probable most of the feath- 

 ers might be pulled out without mutilating the body." 



Professor Loomis gives a list of twenty-one tornadoes 

 down to March, 1842, and the following resume of all the ap- 

 pearances: "1. No season of the year is exempt, but they 

 are most numerous in May and June. 2. They occur chiefly 

 between noon and sunset. 3. The temperature at the time 

 is unusually elevated. 4. They are invariably accompanied 

 by lightning and rain, and frequently by hail. 5. Their 

 progress in this country is invariably eastwardly, the mean 

 being twelve degrees north of east. 6. Their average 

 breadth is about 120 rods; length, 15 miles; velocity of prog- 

 ress when violent, about 30 miles per hour; duration of de- 

 structive violence, 45 seconds. 7. Light objects are fre- 

 quently transported 3 to 20 miles. 8. Very few human 

 lives are lost, about one to a tornado. 9. Leeward roofs are 

 generally taken in preference to windward (Professor 

 Loomis thought the windward side of a roof would be 

 pressed down on the rafters, while the wind would cause a 

 partial vacuum on the leeward side, which would suffice to 

 throw that off). 10. Fowls are frequently picked of most of 

 their featiers. 11. In passing over ponds or rivei"s. water is 

 invariably raised in considerable quantity." 



The omissiflns in this summary of any ascending motion 

 in the centre of the tornado, any whirling from right to left 

 or left to right, and any evidence of a partial vacuum, are 

 most extraordinary and well-nigh inexplicable. Professor 

 Loomis also adds several significant facts. The Morgan 

 (Ohio) tornado of June 19, 1823, is thus described : " At 9.30 

 p.M the observer heard a roaring as of heavy thunder, which 

 called him to the door. Upon opening it, he immediately 

 discovered a bright cloud, having precisely the color of a 

 glowing oven, apparently of the size of a half-acre of 

 ground, lower than the dark canopy which remained un- 

 broken above, and moving rapidly in the direction of his 

 house. The brightness of the cloud made the face of things 

 light above the brightne s of a full moon. There was 

 neither hail nor rain during the passage of the tornado, 

 neither flashes of lightning nor distinguishable peals of 

 thunder, but an intense brightness of the cloud and a con- 

 tinual and tremendous roar." Such descriptions as these 

 might be given for hundreds of pages; but the above is a 



