L. Page — A Century's Progress in Physics. 353 



... of the track of the storm which may chance to 

 become the point of observation, . . . the direction of 

 the wind being, in all cases, compounded of both the rota- 

 tive and progressive velocities of the storm." A few 

 years later, analyses of twelve "gales and hurricanes of 

 the "Western Atlantic" (31,115, 1837) led to the statement 

 that the phenomena involved "are to be ascribed mainly 

 to the mechanical gravitation of the atmosphere, as con- 

 nected with the rotative and orbital movements of the 

 earth's surface." In this paper is emphasized the fact 

 that the wind may blow in diametrically opposite direc- 

 tions at points near the storm center. ""While one ves- 

 sel has been lying-to in a heavy gale of wind, another, not 

 more than thirty leagues distant, has at the very same 

 time been in another gale equally heavy, and lying-to 

 with the wind in quite an opposite direction." From an 

 accompanying sketch showing wind directions, the reader 

 would infer that, at this time, Redfield believed the 

 motion of the air to be very nearly in circles about the 

 storm center. The same idea is conveyed by a later 

 paper (42, 112, 1842). Espy (39, 120, 1840) of Philadel- 

 phia, however, claimed that observation showed rather 

 that the wind blew inwards toward a central point, if the 

 storm were round in shape, or toward a central line, if 

 it were oblong. This view Redfield (42, 112, 1842) con- 

 tested, and brought forth much evidence to prove its 

 falsity. A later statement (1, 1, 1846) of his own theory 

 is as follows: "I have never been able to conceive, that 

 the wind in violent storms moves only in circles. On the 

 contrary, a vortical movement . . . appears to be an 

 essential element of their violent and long continued 

 action, of their increased energy towards the center or 

 axis, and of the accompanying rain. . . . The degree of 

 vorticular inclination in violent storms must be subject, 

 locally, to great variations; but it is not probable that, 

 on an average of the different sides, it ever comes near to 

 forty-five degrees from the tangent of a circle, — and 

 that such average inclination ever exceeds two points of 

 the compass, may well be doubted." A qualitative 

 explanation of the effect of the earth's rotation on the 

 direction of the wind near the storm center had already 

 been given by Tracy (45, 65, 1843), and this was followed 

 some years later by Ferrel's (31, 27, 1861) very thorough 

 quantitative investigation of the dynamics of the 

 atmosphere. 



Am. Jour. Sci.— Fourth Series, Vol. XLVI, No. 271.— July, 1918. 

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