226 



might bring them under the notice of the Academy if they should 

 seem of sufficient scientific interest. They may be divided 

 into, first, those which indicate its general direction and limits ; 

 second, those which show its force and power ; and, third, 

 some singular circumstances that point out a mode of action, 

 at particular points, extremely peculiar and unusual. 



I went over the principal points visited by it the morning 

 after its occurrence, and on one or two occasions afterwards. 

 Many of the stories that had appeared in the newspapers were 

 unfounded, such as a man being taken up and carried across 

 the river by it, and other such fables. Some of its effects, 

 however, were, as I have said, very extraordinary. 



The 5th of October was an overcast and rather gusty day 

 in Limerick. The thermometer stood at 51°, 55°, and 50°, 

 at 9 a.m., 3 p.m., and 8 p.m. respectively. The barometer 

 was steady at 29*604 at 9 a.m., and the same exactly at 2 p. m., 

 but I have no observation of its condition at the moment of 

 the whirlwind, nor at a later hour, nor is there any observa- 

 tion of the magnetic state either then or previously. The 

 phenomenon took place about 5 h. 20 m. p. m., and did not 

 occupy more than from five to ten minutes in its passage across 

 the city. Taking two points on the Ordnance Map of the city 

 of Limerick, one on the middle of Welle sley-bridge, the other 

 at the Devil's Battery, near the Fever Hospital, if a straight 

 line is drawn from the Clare side through these two points, 

 such a line will cut most of the places visited by it in its great- 

 est intensity. It was so strictly limited to this line, that at a 

 distance of 150 feet on either side of it, its effects were hardly 

 perceptible. The people in the higher parts of George' s-street, 

 and even at more moderate distances, had not heard of its oc- 

 currence until next morning. In the line I have mentioned, 

 it was first felt about 100 yards or so to the west or north-west 

 of the point first named ; but I can hardly find any traces of 

 it at the other side of the city beyond the point last spoken of. 



