HURRICANES IN THE BAY OF NORTH AMERICA. 183 
interior above is of course clear air. The effect under such 
conditions is a thinning of the cloud and a scantiness of con¬ 
densation and rainfall in the center, a ring of denser and 
deeper cloud at some distance from the center, which grad¬ 
ually shades off to the outer limit. Where, however, the 
conditions give rise to a vertical or cyclonic circulation up to 
very high altitudes, this phenomenon is perhaps never ob¬ 
served.” If the supporters of Faye’s theory will only admit 
that their “ descending eddy ” must cause and be accompa¬ 
nied by spirally ascending whirls in the lower strata, then, 
perhaps, the “ aspirations ” will admit, on their side, that this 
theory, as well as their own, is competent to explain the 
facts. It would then remain to decide as to which of the 
two principles is the more general in its operation, and to 
discriminate, perhaps, between two classes of storms. There 
might, for instance, be reasons for believing that great hur¬ 
ricanes, traversing their majestic orbits for thousands 
of miles with such marked symmetry, individuality, and 
energy, may have a higher origin than the countless little 
storms whose more or less erratic tracks on our charts obscure 
their more regular and systematic paths. 
It seems to me that there is one factor that has not received 
sufficient, if any, attention, namely, the focusing of the sun’s 
rays at the center of a hurricane by reflection from surround¬ 
ing cloud-masses and by refraction through strata of varying 
density about the “ eye of the storm.” Under certain condi¬ 
tions similar action may, perhaps, determine the origin of a 
hurricane, and certainly in the case of a fully developed 
hurricane, with a clear space at the center surrounded by a 
ring of piled-up masses of clouds, the reflected and refracted 
rays of an almost vertical sun must have a very great 
effect in determining the intensity, and variations in the 
intensity, of the storm. 
What part electricity plays in maintaining the terrific 
energy of a hurricane is unknown. It is, perhaps, dimly 
suspected, for the problems of atmospheric electricity are en¬ 
gaging the attention of many of the ablest physicists of the 
