ARTICLE VIII. 



Account of a Tornado, which, towards the end of August 1838, passed 

 over the suburbs of the city of Providence, in the state of Rhode 

 Istand, and afterwards over a part of the Village of Somerset. Also 

 an Extract of a Letter on the same subject from Zachariah Allen, 

 Esq., of the city of Providence. 



Communicated by Bobert Hare, M.D., Professor of Chemistry in the 

 University of Pennsylvania. Read October 26, 1838. 



I PROPOSE to lay before the Society, for a place in their Transactions, 

 an account of a tornado which occurred in the state of Rhode Island, 

 towards the end of August last. 



This phenomenon was first observed near Providence, over the south 

 western suburbs of which it passed in a course generally from west by 

 north, to south by east. Only a few days subsequently I visited some 

 of the most remarkable scenes of its ravages. 



The characteristics of this tornado, from all that I could see or hear, 

 are quite similar to those of the tornado which occurred at New Bruns- 

 wick, New Jersey, in June 1835, and to which I referred in my paper 

 upon the causes of tornadoes and water-spouts, published in the sixth 

 volume of the Society's Transactions. 



This recent tornado was advantageously seen by J. L. Tillinghast, 

 Esq. from a window of his mansion, which is so situated, on the brow 

 of a hill on the eastern side of the city of Providence, as to afford an 



