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XIV. 0)1 a remarkable Fall of Hail ; mth Observations on the 

 probable Nature of such FhcenomeJia. Bi/ P. J. Martin, 

 Esq.,F.G.S. 



To Richard Taylor, Esq. 

 Dear Sir, 

 I^OT having met with any notice of the remarkable fall of 

 ''- hail which took place during the storm of thunder and 

 lightning that passed over the counties of Sussex, Surrey, 

 and Middlesex on the evening of the 7th of last July, I beg 

 leave to offer you the following memorandum respecting it, 

 with some short observations on the probable nature of such 

 phaenomena, which, if not altogether new, may coincide with 

 and serve to strengthen the opinions of more experienced 

 meteorologists. 



Except in the fall of very large hail, the storm above-men- 

 tioned did not differ materially from the wide -spreading and 

 grander thunder storms which sometimes gather on our 

 coasts, and pass over the metropolis, from the south-west, 

 after a sultry day or two in the middle of summer, but of 

 which we have not had any very remarkable examples for 

 the last five or six years. 



One of these storms generally rises slowly over the South- 

 Downs towards evening, in the form of a flimsy cirrostratus, 

 gradually deepening as the night advances, and engendering 

 denser cumuli as it draws inland. In general it is met by an 

 under current of air from the north-east; but this is not in- 

 variably the case, for the under current often comes in at an 

 acute angle with the motion of the gathering clouds, from 

 the south or south-east; and sometimes, as in this instance, 

 there is a dead calm below, whilst the clouds are advancing 

 with considerable rapidity in the higher regions. I may ob- 

 serve, in passing, that a long-continued and steady influx of 

 a warm north-easterly current towards the points of precipi- 

 tation generally characterizes the grandest of these exhibi- 

 tions ; so that it is common to hear it said here that " a tem- 

 pest," for so the Sussex people call such a storm, " comes up 

 against the wind." 



On the evening in question, the storm gathered on the line 

 of coast between Selsea Bill and Beachy Head, was heavy 

 over Brighton, and seemed to have its nucleus or central range 

 from about Shoreham over Henfield, East Grinstead, and 

 Croydon. On its western verge it passed over Arundel, Pul- 

 borough, Horsham, and Dorking, and was noted at Chis- 

 wick to be " accompanied with unusually little rain." The 

 hail which I am about to describe was confined to this 



