|leant 011 i\t C0Mrs0 of Storms. 
By G. F. BURDER, M.D., F.M.S. 
E very one is familiar with the phenomena of a storm, as 
they appear to an isolated observer at any one spot, where 
he and the storm may happen to be. A fall of the barometer, 
a gale of wind, and generally a downpour of rain — these are the 
chief incidents observed. But the meteorologist, who would 
contribute anything to the advance of the science, or who would 
even keep abreast of the advance already made, must look at a 
storm from quite another point of view. He must take his 
stand-point (so to speak) outside the storm. He must collect 
and collate observations of the same storm taken at many 
different places, with a view to discover the mode in which it 
originates, to trace its path over the earth’s surface, and, by a 
comparison of the direction of the wind at the same instant in 
different parts of the area covered by it, to determine the laws 
which govern the movements of the air within it. 
This has been the great work of modern meteorology. It is 
not yet nearly completed, but it is making very satisfactory 
progress. 
It is not without interest to look back upon the history of 
this department of meteorology. It has a history of about fifty 
years. 
In the year 1831, Mr. Redfield, of New York, published the 
results of his investigations regarding the phenomena of West 
Indian hurricanes. These destructive visitations (to which we 
