324 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. X. No. 256 



north-west, while, as in the south quadrants and in the rectangular 

 space, those from west were on top of all. The central line, west 

 to east, through the circular area, corresponded very closely with the 

 prolongation of a line running through the north border of the 

 rectangular area. In the south-west quadrant a slim pine seventy 

 to seventy-five feet high was left standing, surrounded by seven 

 stumps or shafts varying in height from ten or fifteen to forty or more 

 feet, and in distance from the standing tree, from five to twenty- 

 five feet. Near the centre of the circular area two trees stood side 

 ty side, east and west of each other, and so near that their trunks 

 at the bases could not have been more than a few inches apart, if 

 they did not actually touch. The tree on the east side was thrown 

 from west to east, and the other in the opposite direction, from east 

 to west. • Two pines fifty to sixty feet high and thirty to forty feet 

 .apart, one in the south-east, the other in the north-east quadrant, 

 and about equidistant from the east and west central line dividing 

 these quadrants, were thrown towards the central line, the one from 

 north to south, theother from south to north (tornado of Dec. 22, 

 1884). They apparently fell simultaneously, and met in the fall; 

 for their broken trunks and branches were mingled together in a 

 ■confused heap, the branches of one tree undistinguishable from 

 those of the other. The cabin of Isaac Johnson, a negro laborer, 

 ■situated in the track, near the western end of the rectangular area, 

 was partially unroofed and otherwise damaged. He stated that 

 his table-ware — plates, spoons, knives and forks — went flying out 

 •of the door like so many birds ; and after the storm he found his 

 fanner securely poised on a stump, bottom upwards, about seventy 

 yards from his cabin ; and on the fanner lay his nutmeg-grater, as 

 though placed there by hand (the fanner is a shallow, tray-like vessel 

 made of straw). The trunks of some trees, pine and hickory, 

 seemed to have been rent asunder, as by a splitting force acting 

 within the trunks, and in these cases the upper segment was scarce- 

 ly ever entirely separated from the stump ; and from both stump 

 and upper fragment, long, thin, lath-like splinters projected, some 

 of them eight to ten feet in length, an inch or two in width, and a 

 half to three-quarters of an inch in thickness. About half a mile to 

 the east of the eastern terminus of this tornadic area, the second 

 area of destruction began, and presented a rectangular area Hke 

 the first, several hundred yards in length ; but here the conformity 

 with the first ended, the forces appearing to have become scattered. 

 The circular area was undeveloped, the north-east and south-east 

 ■quadrants being entirely wanting, and the north-west quadrant de- 

 fective, in so far as the forces acting from north and north-west 

 were concerned. The south-west quadrant presented patches of 

 destruction here and there, with features similar to those of the like 

 ■quadrant of the first area ; and here, too, was a single exception to 

 the order in which the forces everywhere else acted, namely, a tree 

 thrown from south overlying one from south-west. The trees pros- 

 trated in the north-west quadrant were thrown from the same 

 directions as those in the south-west, as though the forces acting 

 in this section had burst through the barriers of the central line, or, 

 finding them defective, had swept on through the north-west 

 •quadrant, thus giving a zigzag shape to this area. 



Appearances seem to indicate that the work of destruction began 

 and progressed throughout all parts of each area almost if not quite 

 simultaneously. 



During the tornado of Dec. 22, 1884, in Clarendon County, alady, 

 perceiving the approach of the storm, was in the act of closing a 

 :glazed door, which extended down to the floor and opened on a 

 piazza ; but before she could fasten it, the house was enveloped by 

 the tempest, the door flew open, and she was drawn out and dashed 

 violently against the balustrade running around the piazza, and re- 

 ■ceived injuries and bruises which confined her to bed for several 

 weeks. In the same room there was a heavy pine press, the door 

 of which was locked. This door was burst open, torn from its 

 hinges, and, in the language of the narrator, " shivered into kin- 

 dling splinters." There was no other damage done to the house, 

 at least none mentioned. I have examined the tracks of three tor- 

 nadoes, — April 23, 1883 ; Feb. 19, 1884; and Dec. 22, 1884, — and 

 they corresponded so exactly in their various parts, that the convic- 

 tion is irresistible that the features described, especially those indi- 

 cating the directions and order in which the forces acted, will be 

 invariably found in the track of every tornado, ^ 



Notwithstanding the intense atmospheric disturbance, which, 

 judging from ordinary thunder-storms, is of just such a character 

 as to produce vast supplies of electricity, the usual electrical mani- 

 festations, lightning and thunder, are tame, and out of all propor- 

 tion to the intensity of the atmospheric disturbance in the tornado 

 as compared with an ordinary thunder-storm. In the tornado 

 there are never, I think, any discharges from the clouds to the 

 earth ; objects are never struck by lightning ; the thunder, when 

 it occurs, is always high up among the clouds, and rolls away across 

 the sky in long reverberating peals ; showing that the static elec- 

 tricity is confined to the upper clouds, and the supply by no means 

 superabundant. What, then, becomes of the electricity of the lower 

 clouds ? Does it remain dormant, or does it in someway aid in the 

 destruction } W. W. Anderson, M.D. 



Stateburg, S.C. 



The Study of Languages. 



In the number of Science issued July 8 of this year, p. 19, is the 

 following passage : "The advantages of the ability to read an ordi- 

 nary classical author without the aid of a dictionary are so obvious 

 as to need no comment." 



I was called from home immediately after reading the above, 

 hence my delay in seeking from the writer an extended explanation 

 of the means by which the student can read an ordinary Latin 

 author without a dictionary. 



Is there really any practical method by which he can accomplish 

 this, except by employing his dictionary so faithfully that he has no 

 further use for it } 



I do not believe an accurate knowledge of a language can be ac- 

 quired by reading at sight one page or any number of pages, unless 

 the student comprehends the exact signification of each word as he 

 passes it. It is true, such an exercise increases his facility in under ■ 

 standing the words and sentences he has already studied. 



Reading aloud over and over again what one has already read, 

 together with committing to memory poems and passages from 

 prose authors, is, I believe, the best if not the only practical method 

 of acquiring an ability of reading Latin or any language at sight. 



H. L. E.- 



Chicago, Dec. zo. 



Queries. 



20. Star of Bethlehem. — I see paragraphs going the rounds 

 of the papers about the ' Star of Bethlehem,' that is claimed to be a 

 binary system, and to give its maximum light once in three hun-,' 

 dred years. Some claim it was the star in the east, seen by the 

 wise men. Please tell us in Science if there is any thing in these 

 rumors, and, if so, where in the heavens the star can be seen. 



John D. Parker. 



Fort Riley, Kan., Dec. 24. 



21. Globular Lightning. — The following report from the 

 Hydrographic Office relates to one of the rarest and most inexplica- 

 ble forms of lightning. Can any of the readers of Science giv^ 

 any information on the subject ? A globe of fire floats leisure _ 

 along in the air in an erratic sort of a course, sometimes exploding 

 with great force, at other times disappearing without exploding. 

 On land it has been observed to go into the ground and then re- 

 appear at a short distance, and where it entered the soil it left a 

 rugged hole some twenty feet in diameter. Although there is no 

 doubt as to the facts regarding the phenomenon, no satisfactory 

 explanation of the cause has ever been given. It is, of course, en- 

 tirely different in character from St. Elmo's fires, so often seen on 

 board vessels during thunder-storms : these remain stationary at the 

 yard-arms and mast-heads, and are analogous to the ' brush dis- 

 charge ' of an electric machme. Captain Moore, British steamship 



' Siberian,' reports, " Nov. 12, midnight, Cape Race bearing west by 

 north, distant ten miles, wind strong south by east, a large ball of 

 fire appeared to rise out of the sea to a height of about fifty feet, . 

 and come right against the wind close up to the ship. It then 

 altered its course, and ran along with the ship to a distance of about ' 

 one and one-half miles. In about two minutes it again altered its! 

 course, and went away to the south-east against the wind. It lasted, 

 in all, not over five minutes. Have noticed the same phenomenon 

 before off Cape Race, and it seemed to indicate that an easterly or 

 south-easterly gale was coming on." 



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