366 Scientific Intelligence: 
kiln, which had been beaten down, and some of the materials of 
which had been carried to a considerable distance. A spire, 
several hamlets, and different insulated houses, were overthrown. 
Several villages' were considerably injured. The lower part of 
the waterspout is supposed to have been about 100 toises in 
diameter. — See the Moniteur of the 31st October, where the 
account is signed by M. Foucault, and the Bihl. Univers. Oct. 
1823. p. 133. 
10. Waterspout near Genoa in 1823. — In the communes of 
Quigliano and Valeggia, in the province of Savona, a heavy rain 
fell on the 16th September, at 5 o’clock in the morning. It 
increased to such a degree, that at 9 o’clock in the morning 
the country was inundated. Towards noon there issued from a 
mountain situated in the parish of Valeggia, a whirlwind of 
black smoke and fire. It first carried off the roof of a house, 
in which two children were crushed to pieces, and the parents 
wounded. The waterspout then advanced to the opposite side 
of the mountain called Magliolo ; crossed the river, the waters 
of which it heaped up in an instant, though they were much 
swelled ; —carried off the roofs of two inhabited houses, and ad- 
vanced along the same mountain in the district of Quigliano, 
where it dissipated itself near the Convent of Capuchins, situated 
in the village. It tore up many large trees of all kinds, and 
committed ravages, the extent of which is not yet known. The 
preceding account was sent by the Commandant of the Province 
of Savona to the Governor of Genoa, in a letter, part of Avhich 
is published in the Moniteur of the 1st October, and in the 
Bihl, Univers.^ Nov. 1823, p. 135. 
11. Aurora Borealis. — Dr L* Thienemann, who spent the 
winter of 1820 and 1821, in Iceland, made numerous observa- 
tions on the polar lights. He states the following as some of 
the general results of his observations : 
1. The polar lights are situated in the lightest and highest 
clouds of our atmosphere. 
2. They are not confined to the winter season, or to the 
night, but are present, in favourable circumstances, at all times, 
but are only distinctly visible during the absence of the solar 
rays. 
