146 ON THE STORM EXPERIENCED THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES 



riod, two distinct oscillations travelling in nearly opposite directions. One of 

 these minima occurred at Cadiz, in Spain, on the 24th ; passed Geneva on the 

 afternoon of the 25th; London on the afternoon of the 26th; Boston by the 

 morning of the 27th ; St. Petersburgh and Catherinenburgh about midnight of 

 the same day. The progress of this wave was almost due north, and at the 

 rate of about twenty statute miles per hour. This certainly was not the same 

 wave which passed over the United States, for the front of the latter was nearly 

 north and south, while the front of the European wave M^as directed to the 

 east and west, and was travelling northward. 



The other barometric minimum was first experienced at St. Petersburgh on 

 the 21st; at Catherinenburgh on the 22d; at Boston on the 23d; at Paris, Ge- 

 neva, Zurich and Milan on the 24th; although at the latter place this oscilla- 

 tion is almost merged in the one before described. At Cadiz the wave is well 

 nigh lost, but is, perhaps, barely discernible on the 27th and 28th. This wave, 

 then, travelled nearly from north to south, inclining, however, to the west, and 

 at the rate of about seventeen miles per hour. It is not, perhaps, equally clear 

 that this wave cannot be identified with that of the United States. If we draw 

 upon the globe lines representing the fronts of these waves, as I have done 

 upon the accompanying chart, we shall find that they may be joined by a line 

 of no very great curvature. Nevertheless, the fronts of both of the waves are 

 curved, particularly the European wave, and when joined they make a curve 

 with at least two points of inflection, as in the 

 annexed diagram; the black line on the left 

 hand representing the American, and the other the European wave. The ap- 

 pearances of the curves seems very clearly to indicate two distinct waves. If 

 further confirmation were needed, it may be found in the course of the winds, 

 which exhibited very different movements in Europe from what they did in 

 the United States. As, however, I have not proposed to enter into any ex- 

 tended investigation of this European storm, and have only alluded to it for 

 the sake of ascertaining whether it could be identified with that in America, 

 believing that the evidence already presented will be conclusive to most minds, 

 I think it unnecessary to adduce any further observations. I arrive, then, at 

 the conclusion, that the storm of December 20th did not extend to the other 

 side of the Atlantic. 



I have made great inquiry for the log-books of vessels at this time on the 



