46 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



tical value are fully understood we will begin to realize the revolution it has 

 wrought. 



Washington, D. C, April 2, 1884. 



A REMARKABLE HAILSTORM. 



S. A. MAXWELL. 



At 9 o'clock on April ist, a hailstorm visited this section, so remarkable in 

 some respects that I thought a short description of it would be of interest to the 

 readers of the Review. 



The preceding day had been remarkable for a rise in temperature from 38° 

 in the morning to 64° at 3 o'clock P. M. At 9 P. M. the temperature was 54°. 

 The wind on the morning of the 31st was from the east, but at 9 o'clock it 

 changed to the south, from which direction it blew quite briskly all day. 



Early on the morning of the ist there was a light shower with east wind. 

 This was followed by a fog and light sprinkles of rain until 8:50 A. M., when 

 the clouds became so dense that it was difficult to read ordinary print on account 

 of darkness. At just 9 o'clock rain began to fall and five minutes later the hail 

 was first noticed. 



The largest stones were three and a half inches in circumference, and their 

 shapes were so varied and extraordinary that the storm must certainly be called 

 the most wonderful ever occurring here. 



First, there was the ordinary spherical form, — some of these being entirely 

 transparent, and others containing masses of snow at the centre. 



Secondly, the lens-shaped stones, some nucleated and others not. 



Thirdly, what I would call the condyloid form, since it resembled a button. 

 It would have been lens-shaped but for two circular creases on the oppo- 

 site sides. Outside of the crease the stone was of unequal transparency, lines of 

 white seeming to diverge from the crease to the circumference ; but when these 

 were looked at edgewise they were seen to be circular. The following diagram 

 illustrates the form of a fourth variety. This is but a modifi- 

 cation of number two, the lens-form. Number five was the 

 most remarkable of all, and if any scientist can account for its 

 form I would be pleased to hear from him. It is a modifica- 

 tion of the so-called condyloid form, and this very accurately re- 

 presents the form of about one-tenth of the 

 large stones that fell here during the storm. 



The part marked "a" was usually one 

 inch across, one-third of an inch thick and 

 usually with a nucleus of snow, "b" is a 

 small, thin appendage, while directly opposite was a curious plate of ice ''c" one- 



