386 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 
the fearful loss of life and property on our great lakes, such as has recently filled 
sO many newspaper columns with their appalling details. If we could have even 
a few hours’ notice of the approach of the great storms that bring these calamities 
upon us, much of their mischief might be avoided. The endeavor to predict the 
occurrence of storms has been attempted in England, by the late Captain Fitz- 
Roy, and in France, by LeVerrier, the astronomer; with what success will 
appear from the following extracts : 
‘©On the 2d of December, 1863, during the day-time, I received two dis- 
patches, stating that a severe storm was about to traverse France,” writes the 
President of the Toulon Chamber of Commerce to M. LeVerrier; ‘‘they were 
published and posted up immediately, and the merchant vessels in the roadstead 
had time to provide, and did provide, against all risks. The maritime prefecture, 
on its behalf, directed all officers who were on shore to hasten on board their 
vessels. The storm burst forth with all its fury about half-past three o’clock in the 
afternoon. The first telegram sent on the 2d, confirming that of the day before, 
had therefore gained four hours’ time ahead of the storm, and everything was 
ready to meet the emergency. TZhanks to the precautions thus taken, there was no 
damage, no disaster to deplore.” 
The Genoese Journal, of December 3, says that ‘‘ the prediction telegraphed 
by the Paris Observatory to Turin, and immediately communicated to the ports 
on the western coasts of Italy, on the 1st instant, was fully realized. The first 
signs of the storm were felt yesterday, about 7:30 p.m. During the night it 
raged furiously; but there appears, nevertheless, to have been no disastrous 
occurrence in our neighborhood. ‘The commandant of the port had hastened to 
take all proper measures, and we may be thankful for them.” 
Prof. J. P. Espy, in his second report on meteorology, makes, among many 
others, the following ‘‘ generalizations” from the observations made and collected 
up to the year 1850, the date of that report: 
‘« Storms in the United States, travel from the west toward the east. 
“¢ They are accompanied with a depression of the barometer near the central 
line of the storm. 
‘‘'They are generally of great length from north to south, and move side 
foremost toward the east. 
‘* Their velocity is such that they travel from the Mississippi to the Connec- 
ticut River in about twenty-four hours, and from thence to St. John, Newfound- 
land, in nearly the same time, or thirty-six miles an hour; and 
‘«'The force of the wind is in proportion to the suddenness and greatness of 
the depression of the barometer.” 
Subsequent observations have fully confirmed the truthfulness of these im- 
portant deductions, which may therefore be set down as established facts or prin- 
ciples in meteorological science. The storm of March 22, 1861, is known to 
have occupied eight hours in passing from Dubuque, on the Mississippi, to 
Milwaukee, on Lake Michigan. 
