TORNADOES, 209 
the earth and its commotions of whirlwind and storm, and quietly survey the scene 
and note its peculiarities with the combined indifference and intense interest of a 
commanding general surveying a battle or a surgeon performing some difficult 
operation. Let the elements be ever so quiet or rave so terribly, the weather 
map lifts us above them and we quietly note the effect and trace up the cause. 
And the cause of the terrible commotions that so frequently visit us are as readi- 
ly traced and explained as the most balmy days of ‘‘ Indian Summer.” 
One cause produces all the effects and all the effects proceed from one and 
the same cause, notwithstanding their variety, and whether wet or dry, and the 
various names given to them. In the past, prior to 1870, it isnot surprising that 
from. the minor and disconnected details we should have had queer notions 
of the weather, and that such names as typhoon, tornado, cyclone, hurricane 
and simoon should have been coined to represent the wind commotions of the 
elements in different parts of the earth, and that people should think that there 
must be as much difference in the things known by these various names as in the 
spelling and sound of the names themselves. 
According to Webster, and others will not essentially differ from this au- 
thority, a 
TYPHOON is ‘‘a violent whirlwind that rushes upward from the earth, whirling 
clouds of dust; probably so called because it was held to be the work of Typhon 
or Typhos, a giant struck with lightning by Jupiter and buried under Mt. Attna.” 
1. A violent tornado or hurricane occurring in the Chinese seas. 
2. Sometimes the simoon. 
Tornapo—‘‘A violent gust of wind, or a tempest distinguished by a whirling, 
progressive motion, usually accompanied with thunder, lightning and torrents of 
rain, and commonly of short duration and small breadth; a hurricane.” 
CycLonE—‘‘ A rotatory storm or whirlwind of extended circuit.” 
HurRIcANE—‘‘A violent storm characterized by the extreme fury of the wind 
and its sudden changes; in the East and West Indies often accompanied by thun- 
der and lightning.” 
Simoon—‘‘ A hot, dry wind, that blows occasionally in Arabia, Syria, and 
the neighboring countries, generated by the extreme heat of the parched deserts 
or sandy plains. Its approach is indicated by a redness in the air.” 
Here we have the five principal varieties of storms. At the first glance at 
the definitions, together with the past ideas in regard to them, it may seem ab- 
surd to some to say that they are all one and the same thing, yet nevertheless on 
general principles one and the same thing they are—effects from one cause and 
only varying in minor details as affected by localsurroundings. All are caused by 
_the rush of air toward the center of low barometer, or by the ever contending 
forces, heat and cold. The sun shining on some certain spot and at that point 
creating an intense heat, and this spot or area of heat from the motion of the 
earth on its axis ever moving toward the east. The intense heat following the 
_law of physics causes the heated and rarified air to ascend and the cooler air from 
