262 



SIR HENRY DE LA BECHE AND MR. GREENOUGH. 



[1855. 



INSTRUMENTAL OBSERVATIONS. 





Hour. 



Barom. 



Thermometer. 



Ilygrometric. 



Wiud. 



Day. 



Dry. 



Wet. 



Blast. 



Hum. 



Direc. 



Force. 



17tU 



10 p. m. 



29-625 



o 



47-0 







46-0 



-287 



89 



Calm 



Calm 



" 



Midnight 



29-611 



47-4 



46-0 



-290 



90 



Calm 



Calm 



18tli 



6 a. m. 



29-552 



51-3 



50-4 



-3.50 



94 



EbN 



11-2 





8 a. m. 



29-540 



54-0 



52-7 



-375 



91 



East 



8-3 





2 p. m. 



29-441 



62-9 



57-4 



-400 



71 



Calm 



Calm 





4 p. m. 



29-437 



55-1 



52-1 



-349 



81 



Calm 



Calm 





10 p. m. 



29-457 



47-0 



45-1 



-273 



86 



ESE 



1-6 





Midnight 



29-414 



51-3 



50-4 



-350 



94 



N 



1-0 



EE MARKS. 



17th, 10 p. m. — Partially overcast. Sheet lightning round horizon. 



Midnight. — Clouded, sheet lightning, and frogs croaking loudly. 

 Distant thunder. 



18th, 6 a. m. — See previous remarks. 



8 a. m. — Mostly clear. Detached clouds passing in almost opposite 

 directions. Mild morning. 



2 p. m. — Detached clouds passing in Z., and hazy i-ouud horizon. 

 Sultry close day. 



4 p. m. — Light clouds and haze dispersed. Sultry and close. 



10 p. m. — Overcast and haze. Some open spaces to N. W. Dark 

 and close at night. 



Midnight. — Densely overcast. Some heavy drops of rain at 10-45 

 p. m. Almost incessant forked lightning and distant thunder, from 

 10-80 p. m. in S. b. E and S. W. Commenced to rain again at 12-05 

 (only a few drops). — Extract from Met. Reg. Fro. Ob. 



The waters in the Lake rose rapidly in the form of a huge advancing 

 ■wave, and swept over the sand bar separating Ashbridge's Bay from 

 Lake Ontario. 



Fluctuations continued throughout the day, and were noticed in the 

 Humber Bay. 



Picton, 25th. — In Picton Harbour the water fell nearly three feet, 

 and has not yet recovered its usual level. At Wellington, it fell be- 

 tween four and five feet, and although it returned after a few minutes 

 it is not yet withm two feet of its former tevel. At South Bay, it re- 

 ceded forty-nine paces from the shore, and is still low. — Picton Gazette. 



PutneyviUe (State of New York), 18th. — This morning, the Lake 

 presented a different appearance from anything within the recollection 

 of the oldest inhabitant. Soon after sun rise, the sky was overcast 

 with dense clouds, and thunder was heard in the distance. For a short 

 time the wind blew furiously, and the rain poured down in a copious 

 shower. This was between 7 and 8 o'clock. The clouds thickened, 

 and the darkness became almost appalling ; one could not see to read 

 or write without a candle. 



The Lake rose and fell every eight or ten minutes, generally about 

 two feet ; but several times the difference between the highest and 

 the lowest mark, was at least five feet. The water would rush up on 

 the shore beyond its usual limits, and then recede after a few minutes 

 several rods from the shore, leaving the stones and sand bare. Thus 

 it would remain for, say, ten minutes, when it would roll gently back 

 again to its former height. After 9 o'clock this agitation gradually 

 subsided, and in the course of the day the Lake resumed its natural 

 level. _ D. C. HiGGiNS. 



The American gives an account of a similar ebbing and flowin"- at 

 the mouth of the Genesee River. A captain who proposed to let his 

 craft lie outside the piers till a favourable wind should spring up, 

 states that suddenly a heavy tidal wave set out from shore, and left his 

 vessel in water so shallow, as to cause it to careen quite on to the side. 

 Soon after a return swell lifted her up again, and enabled him to make 

 the harbor. It is evident from the description of these phenomena, 

 noticed at points so many miles apart, that they proceeded from the 

 same general cause, and were indeed parts of one and the same great 

 tidal phenomenon. — Rochester Daily Union. 



Seneca Lake. — During the whole of Wednesday and yesterday, the 

 waters of Seneca Lake would rise and fall, in spaces of time varyino- 

 from ten minutes to half an hour, continuously through those dayst 

 from five inches to two feet in height. Just after sundown on Wednes- 



day evening, a friend of ours made an exact measurement of the fall 

 and time. In fifteen minutes the water fell 16J inches, when it com- 

 menced rising again. — Seneca Lake. 



Niagara. — A little before seven, a. m., the sky assumed a green 

 color, succeeded in a few minutes by a clear white, which indicated the 

 presence of the hurricane. The storm came from the North, or 

 N.N.E., apparently leaping in its course, and striking the ground at 

 intervals with redoubled force. The rush of wind lasted about five 

 minutes, and was at its height not more than one minute. But the 

 damage it did was tremendous. 



It struck the Niagara Car works, and in an instant levelled two 

 large finishing shops, each 175 feet by 50, and two stories high, con- 

 taining a number of new Cars, and took the roofs partly off' some of 

 the other buildings. A large new frame, 200 by 70, intended for a 

 Foundry, and ready to be enclosed, was piled in a mass. The carpen- 

 ter and blacksmith shops in the shipyard were blown down. The 

 Engine House of the Erie and Ontario Railway was also very much 

 twisted, and the large Woodshed nearly destroyed. A passenger Car 

 was lifted bodily off' the track near the station-house and thrown over 

 to some distance from where it stood. 



Throughout the Town the damage was very great — roofs, fences and 

 chimnies blown down in all directions. The St. Andrew's Church re- 

 ceived great injury — a third of the roof and gallery inside was swept 

 away. 



During the hurricane the water suddenly rose from five to eight feet 

 along the Lake shore and in the river. — Mail. 



Port Dalhousie. — For two or three hours after sunrise the heat was 

 very oppressive. Off to the north, over the Lake, the clouds presented 

 an unusually wild, lowering, I may say dreadful, appearance. Banks 

 of fog would rise suddenly in the direction of Toronto, whirling about 

 wildly, and then form into horizontal streaks of a dark leaden hue. 

 About 6 o'clock, a. m., a black cloud came drifting along towards the 

 shore with great velocity. It appeared to pass too high to do much 

 damage in the port, but about half a mile inland it descended to the 

 level of the earth with full force, and scattered fences as if they had 

 been chaff. Fortunately the squall here was only a few yards wide, 

 and it appeared to have risen again, after passing about a quarter of 

 a mile across the country, as I have heard of no damage being done 

 save in the one spot. The air continued perfectly tranquil a few yards 

 from where the squall was passing. Shortly after this cloud had 

 passed, a dark hue appeared to move along the surface of the lake 

 towards the shore, which, as it drew nearer, was discovered to be a 

 huge wave. It came rolling forward, apparently about or 7 feet high 

 at its crest, and dashed against the piers and swept far up on the 

 shore. One large three masted vessel was torn from her moorings and 

 dashed against the pier, but without beingseriously damaged. The huge 

 wave, however, retreated as rapidly as it advanced, and carried with it 

 the water to a depth of four or five feet, leaving only a narrow stream 

 where there is usually a sheet of water about a quarter of a mile wide. 

 Each time the wave receded a number of fine fish were left floundering 

 in the mud and shallow pools. The water continued receding and ad- 

 vancing in this manner the whole day, but it gradually diminished in 

 force and volume towards the evening. It flowed in, on each occa- 

 sion, for about half an hour, and receded for the same length of time. 

 It was noticed that when it turned shorewards, there was a chill puff 

 of wind from the north. 



At Wellington, the water at the Lake shore acted precisely as de- 

 scribed above. The water receded from Mr. McFaul's wharf so that 

 parties could walk round it ; then again the water came back and 

 overflowed, rising from four to eight feet over its ustial level. For a 

 day or two the Lake appeared more or less unsettled. 



Sir Hcury de la Beclic and BIr. Grecuough* 



The loss in one week of two eminent geologists is a severe blow to 

 science. The name of Sir Henry de la Beche will be more familiar to 

 our readers than that of Mr. Greenough. The director of the geologi- 

 cal survey has been prominently before the public for many years. 

 The father of the Geological Society was a worker rather than a writer; 

 though seventy-seven years of age when he died, yet the greater por- 

 tion of his life was spent in the pursuit and accumulation of facts. 

 Sir Henry de la Beche was born in London in 1796, and was therefore 

 only 59 years old at his death. 



In 1810, Mr. De la Beche entered the Royal Military College ; on 



