SOMETHING ABOUT TORNADOES. 101 



of July 2 1 St; a tornado occurred in eastern New York, 200 miles nearly due 

 south, at the same hour. 



A tornado did considerable damage in Washington county, New York, on 

 the 26th of the same month. It belonged to a storm-area, whose center passed 

 near Rochester at the hour the tornado occurred, viz. : 5:30 p. m. In this case 

 the locaHty of the tornado was somewhat farther north than the storm-center, 

 but yet on that side of its path toward the equator. 



The destructive tornado occurring at Wallingford, Connecticut, August 9th, 

 belonged to a storm-area, whose center never entered the United States, being 

 first reported from near Vancouver's Island, whence it moved almost due east, 

 leaving the continent at the Gulf of St. Lawrence. At 6:00 p. m. of the 9th, 

 it had reached a point about fifty miles north of Quebec. At this hour the 

 WaUingford cyclone occurred. In this instance the tornado happened about 400 

 miles south of the line of " low," and somewhat in the rear of the storm-ceiiter. 



The last tornado, recorded for 1878, destroyed Sherman City, Isabella coun- 

 ty, Michigan, on the 20th of September. The track of minimum pressure was 

 traced from Dakota, eastward over the northern part of Lake Huron, thence 

 through northern Canada, in a line nearly parallel with the river St. Lawrence. 

 It will be noticed that the tornado occurred to the south of this track, but at no 

 great distance from it. As in the case of the Wallingford storm, the center of 

 the low pressure had passed the meridian of the locality where the tornado was 

 developed. 



In this list of storms, I have not included one that did not bear the distinct 

 features of a tornado. In newspaper phraseology the term tornado is applied 

 indiscriminately to severe storms of wind, accompanied by rain ; but, strictly 

 speaking, it applies only to such as are distinguished by a rotary motion, precisely 

 like that of an ordinary whirlwind. In my researches on this subject, I have 

 found that a large majority of the destructive storms of 1878, occurred in the 

 south half of the storm-area ; and I think that further investigation will prove 

 that nearly one-half of all the destructive storms are developed in that quarter of 

 the storm-area which is in the anterior half, and at the right of the path of 

 minimum pressure. 



Let us recapitulate. Of the ten genuine tornadoes of 1878, just one-half 

 happened in May and June ; all but one or two, in the afternoon ; seven were in 

 advance and three in the rear of the storm-center, at distances varying from 20 

 to 600 miles from it ; and all were on the equatorial side of the path of minimum 

 pressure. 



In this article I have made a brief statement of a few facts, inaccessible, 

 perhaps, to a majority of the readers of the Review, from which material all 

 who desire may rear the fabric of their individual conclusions. Only from an 

 accurate statement of facts can we build tenable theories or deduce the laws of 

 science. 



Morrison, 111., April 30. 



