SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 
329 
METEOROLOGY. 
The Hurricane at Tortola . — In reference to an article on this subject by 
Professor Ansted, in a recent number of tliis Review, Commander Dix, of 
the R.M.S. Co?nva^, writes to us to correct wbat be says are two erroneous 
assertions in the Professor’s paper. The two assertions he objects to are : — 
(1) That in the Virgin Islands, on the 29th of October last, at nine o’clock 
in the forenoon, the weather was tine, and the sky clear as usual, and the 
barometer stood at 30 inches and (2) The direction of the wind, when 
the storm arrives, depends on the part of the storm that first reaches the 
place, but it shifts rapidly, and soon veers, in all cases backing round 
from E. by N. to W.” Captain Dix states that the wind does not in all 
cases back round from East by North to West, but that the direction in 
•which it veers depends entirely upon which side of the central track the 
observer happens to be. He has sent us a diagram, and a number of ex- 
planatory remarks, which appear to bear out his views. He then goes on 
to say : — As regards the statement that the weather was fine as usual on 
the morning of October 29, I enclose extracts from the logs of some ships 
which were in the hurricane at or near PeterTsland. — R.M.S. Coiiivay's log, 
October 29, 1867 : (‘ 2 a.m.. Squally, with rain, wind northerly. Bar. 29° 90'; 
8 A.M., Same weather; 9 a.m., Increasing northerly winds, with constant 
rain', 10.30 a.m., Weather threatening, Bar. 29° 87' ; 11.30 a.m.. Blowing 
very hard, with furious gusts, wind N. by W., Bar. 29° 30', falling rapidly.’) 
Hurricane had now commenced on board R.M.S. Conway . — R.M.S. Solent's 
log, October 29, 1867: (/4 a.m.. Wind variable from northward, light 
breeze, with heavy rain. Bar. 29° 87' ; 9 a.m., Weather getting thick, with 
light rain. Bar. 29° 85', wind N.N.W.’) At 9 a.m. the Solent was going 
alongside the Rhone, to transfer cargo, passengers, &c. ; but the log says, ‘ As 
the weather looked so bad, steamed out and anchored off Peter Island.’ 
Prom these extracts, it appears that it was a very dirty morning, i.e. squally, 
with rain, &c,, and the weather at 9 a.m. was not ^ fine, and the sky clear as 
usual.’ I have been induced to send you these remarks, because the state- 
ment that ^ in all cases ’ the wind in a hurricane backs from right to 
left, i.e. from E. by N. to W., is liable to lead to mischief, as the safety 
of many lives and much valuable property often depends upon the readiness 
with which the captain of a ship can determine his position with regard 
to the path of the storm ; and in the present day, with the knowledge we 
possess of the Law of Storms, no ship with plenty of sea-room and a good 
barometer ought to be caught in a hurricane. In the late hurricane, the 
R.M.S. Solent and Coniuay were at position G (between Tortola and Peter 
Island), and the calm centre passed over them, lasting about twenty-five 
minutes. The R.M.S. Tyne, which was at anchor off Flanagan Island, 
hardly three miles south of position G, had no calm, the wind commencing 
about N.N.W., and backing round through W. to S. and S.E., the Tyne 
being just to the southward of Central Track.” 
