400 
at which time a violent N. E. storm was felt over the greater part of the 
United States. In Europe a second maximum occurred on the 13th, 
and its advent was marked by a N. E. storm and sudden fall of tempe- 
rature on the lower Danube. After this violent 8. W. gales set in on 
the south coast of France and Spain, and the fall of the barometer was 
the precursor of along spell of warm weather. 
“Tn the case of the present winter we have had here in Ireland a 
low barometer and very mild weather, while in England the frost conti- 
nued with undiminished intensity. We were, therefore, as I think, in 
the position described by Professor Dove, p. 289 :— 
‘¢¢ Should the barometer oscillate, and yet the air remain at rest, 
the cause of the disturbance is at some distance. At times, in winter, 
the southerly current maintains its ground over a large area to such an 
extent that the air is delightfully mild, the barometer being low mean- 
while. In this case there is somewhere in the neighbourhood a district 
where the barometer is high, and the weather very cold.’ This cold ar 
may then suddenly force its way into the rarefied air in its neighbourhood, 
as a storm, causing the barometer to rise rapidly.’ 
“T need not say that these views are an attempt to represent the 
published opinions of Professor Dove, under whom I have studied ; and I 
cannot better conclude this letter than by giving you a confirmation of this 
theory which I have lately met with; it is from a paper by M. Spassky, 
entitled, ‘Note sur la tempéte d’hiver, &c., &c., entre le 9-11 Dec., 
1850.’ In explanation, I may say that there was on the 23rd of that 
month a barometric maximum in Europe, and a simultaneous minimum 
in America, followed by a violent snow-storm. This had been preceded 
by a minimum in Russia on the 6th, and a storm on the 9th. The nar- 
rative proceeds—‘ This storm lasted from thirty to forty-eight hours, be- 
tween the 9th and 11th, without intermission. Before the gale it had 
been thawing; but the first gust caused the thermometer to fall 15° or 
20° R. below Zero, so that persons who were out of doors fell dead, 
being lost in the driven snow, some close to their own doors. After the 
storm, 311 persons were found frozen to death in the Government of Ka- 
longa, 140 in that of Tula, and 39 in the district of Kursk. It is pro- 
bable that many more are as yet undiscovered, owing to the depth of 
snow. Houses were blown down, and even horses yoked to the sleighs 
were frozen to death. This atmospheric revolution was the result of 
the struggle between the two currents of air, by means of which Profes- 
sor Dove's theory enables us to explain most atmospheric phenomena : 
and yet many physicists continue to dispute its truth, in the face of 
plain proofs like the above, which cannot be explained on any other hy- 
pothesis. In order to convince us that all the characteristic phenomena 
of the atmosphere were in exact accordance with Professor Dove’s 
theory during this storm, we need only refer to the observations at Mos- 
cow. Before the 6th the Polar current prevailed there, N. wind, barometer 
336°27 lines, and thermometer 14°5 R. On the 6th the equatorial cur- 
rent appeared, barometer fell 15-53 lines before the 9th; the thermome- 
ter rose 12°9, and the wind veered through 8. to 8. W. The polar cur- 
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