THE object of this volume is to point out the

probable laws which The course which Colonel REID has pursued in his endeavour

the violent storms of the Tropics obey; not only for the impor- to establish the probability of the principle, is to examine succes- tent purpose of eliciting abstract truth, and the remoter conse- sively the great storms of which any regular account has been quences which always 11 ov from it, but with the practical view of preserved, and to accumulate all the facts respecting them. The laying down rules by which vessels, overtaken by those terrific labour and industry he has displayed in this task, can only be hurricanes, may escape from the limits of their violence. conceived by examining the volume. He quotes the observations has so ably and carefully investigated, by being employed as an to any peculiar pliceaomena, or merely note the direction, charac- officer of Engineers to restore the Government buildings at Bar- ter, and duration of the storm. With a wonderful patience, he badoes, blown down during the hurricane of 1831; " when, from the has examined numerous log-books of ships, as well in the King's violence of the wind, 1477 persons lost their lives in seven hours." navy as in the commercial marine; and, noting the position of Having engaged to tell what he had learned about burn- different vessels during the storm, with the winds they respectively canes, in the " Professional Papers," * he began to study the experienced, he has constructed a number of charts, which show subject; and found the germ of the theory he has adopted, or the different direction in which the storm was blowing at the same more properly of the principle he has endeavoured to develop, in period, in order to illustrate the correctness of his views.

a work on Winds and Monsoons, published by Colonel CAPPER in Before leaving the exp ,sitional part of our notice, we may re-

this theory, the congruous incongruities of tornadoes. In the vessels, or extracted from logs, are striking from begin from the east, revolving westwards with a northern inclina-

(but we have not seen the volumes) to resemble the Transactions of learned societies.

found that there were v words to express the same thing, and that the

and Italian or Spanish,s whirlwind on its western side, it would first have the wind from blow from the south. ( Vide diagram, page 7.) Objects at the at the bottom, or south of the circle, nearly west ; blowing in both

nately opposite the winds would blow. Any thing beyond the that course, would travel along with the storm, bearing it from

Fisher. Sea, and Co. beginning to end; those which could manage to hold a course of Though their bark coubi not be lost ; " Orr and Co. but, if there is truth in the theory, the scientific mariner would stand for the nearest edge of the tempests orbit, and defy the The frequent shifts of the wind during the furious storms of hot nel Retn, that sufficient data have not yet been collected to es- climates, and the curious apparent exceptions from their fury, which tablish it ; for it is clear that it would require correct observations occur in spots in their immediate vicinity, or even in their centre, to be made along the whole course of a storm ; and even then we are familiar to all persons whe have given even a common atten- should have an idea of the influence of many counteracting causes, tion to the subject. According to the opinion followed by Colonel which must easily affect so delicate a body as air. To decide what Hein, (for he eschews all pretensions to the formation of any degree of probability is attached to the theory up oi the data already theory, or to dogmatize upon the truth of the laws which he con- collected, would require a much longer and closer attention to the skiers have been discovered, or to do any thieg more than direct numberless miuute facts brought together by Colonel REID, than attention to facts,) these seeming irregularities are readily ex- we have been able to bestow. Our opinion—or more truly, per- plainable. He holds that these tornadoes, or hurricanes,t are haps, our notion—drawn from an inspection of the charts, whirlwinds rem/ving on their own axes,but having a progressive is, that whilst the actual direction and variation of the winds motion—similar, in fact, to that of a planet turning upon its own now and then approach closely to what would be the course of centre, and moving through its orbit at the same time. To make the rotatory system, yet that the theory at present is rather this perfectly intelligible to those who need it, is not very easy, an ingenious hypothesis than a principle. The strongest argn- even with the aid of diagratns, because progressive as well as ment in its favour is analogy. The system of nature is circular. rotatory motion is involved; but an experiment in the power of any The sun and planets revolve upon their axes, and advance by the one will make it sufficiently clear. Let the student take, or let him rotatory motion along their orbitary courses. The nebulous mat- fancy, the wheel of a carriage with one of its spokes painted red, ter, which Hisoscoet conceived to be a collection of solar systems and representing the wind. If this spoke were at the right-hand in the act of formation, is supposed to have a rotatory motion ; side, when the wheel began to revolve from right to left, with the and LAPLACR conjectured that suns and worlds have their origin left extremity opposite to any particular object, (say a post,) the red in a like cause. Resemblances, however, are delusive argu- spoke would pass in a downward direction, as it were, upon this oh- ments ; for fancied analogies have been adduced in favour of the ject; and would continue doing so ad infinitum t if the wheel were Ptolemaic and many other exploded theories. stationary ; but having a progressive motion, (as in a coach, for The clearness with which Colonel Rut o has treated this abstruse instance,) the red spoke, on the second revolution of the wheel, subject, is very remarkable; and, like his diagrams and charts, would take an upward direction towards the post, moving exactly shows the disciplined mind of a well-trained engineer. Much of opposite to what it (lid at first. Now fancy a succession of his matter, of course, consists of facts or observations, which, wheels and a succession of posts; and it will be clear that the however important to the philosopher, or to the seaman and tropi- red spoke will pass each alternately downwards and upwards; but cal resident, who have a practical interest in tornadoes, possess any object at the top or bottom of the line of the wheels, will only slender attraction for general readers. Some of the incidental

West Indies, these hurricanes have been observed generally to dangers they relate, or their awful picture of storms. Here is an account of a fearful scene; but the main interest to Colonel

tion : so that if an island were placed towards the outer part of the REID was the variety of winds by which the unfortunate Calypso • A work published by the Corps of Royal Engineers ; and which appears the narrative of

was beset.

MR. WILKINSON'S NA ,IcRATIve.

" On the 15th August, at noon, the Calypso was, by observation, be latitude t Colonel CAPPER says, in the preface to his work of 1801, "That when 26 degrees 47 minutes north, and longitude 73 degrees 5 minutes west ; the wind be first attempted an investigation into the winds of India, he had great doubts was from the eastward, about east-north-east; she had royals and foretop-mast- of success, from the number and variety of then; but as he proceeded, he studding-sail set ; shortly after, we got a heavy swell from the north.eastward, names, for a whirlwind." and the wind freshened gradually till nine o'clock, when only the double.reefed hurricane, the typhon aod the tornado, were hut English, Greek, or Persian,

top.sails, reefed turmoil, and mizen, could be carried. During the night the

wind increased, and daylight (the moon about full) found the vessel under a close-reefed maintop-sail, with royal and top-gallant yards on deck, and prepared distance ; the wind representing numberless voices, elevated to the shrillest for a gale of wiud. At 10 A.M. the wind about nm.th-east, the lee-rail under tone of cteaming; but few flashes of lightning, and those in the south-west." water, and the tnasts bending like canes ; got a tarpaulin no the main-rigging, We will close with a scene that might suffice to account for and took the maintop-sail in ; the ship labouring much, obliged main and bilge- the violent convulsions of an earlier world. It is from a letter of pumps to be kept constantly going. At 6 tam. the wind north-west, I should think the latitude would be about 27 degrees, and longitude 77 degrees. At the late Sir GILBERT BLANE, describing the celebrated tornado of midnight the wind was west, when a sea took the quarter-boat away. At day 1780. dawn, or rather I should have said, the time when the day %you'd have dawned, " It began to blow at Barbadoes on the 9th of October, but it was not appree the wind wee south-weet, and a sea stove the fore-scuttle; all attempts to stop hended until next day that there would be any thing more than such a gale of this leak were useless, for when the ship pitched the scuttle was considerably wind as they experience from time to time in this Wand at that season. Oa under water. I then bad the gaskets and lines cut from the reefed fore-sail, the evening of the 10th, the wind rose to such a degree of violence as clearly to whiell blew away ; a new foretop-mast-studding-stail was got up aud down the amount to what is called a hurricane. At eight 1..31., it began to make int. foreetiggirg, but in a few seconds the bolt-rope only remained ; the masts hall pression on all the houses, by tearing off the roots and overthrowing some of the then to he cut away. My chief mate had a small axe in his berth, which he walls. As the inhabitants had never been accustomed to such a convulsion of had made very sharp a few days previous; that was immediately procured ; and nature, they remained for borne time in security, but they now began to be in

west, and then died away gradually. On Sunday, while beating off Rum Key.

the wind was variable aud squally. On alontlay. ia latitude 24 degrees 40

minutes, longitude 74 degrees 45 minutes, bad flue steady winds from the east- MURPHY'S ESSAY TOWARDS A SCIENCE OF ward. Tuesday I have desclibed. I had no barometer ; but from the CONSCIOUSNESS. appearance of the weather on Monday and Tuesday morning, I did nut apple-

Lend we should have had bad weather. ,,THE evil state of our present society," says Mr. MURPHY, " We shall now return from noticing the winds rand weather to see the Sista in the opposition of interests- airaight, by putting candles and winding new canvas round, they were set to organization, to be correct, nmst induce a union of interests : each individual's work, nom ithstanding the seas breaking constantly over. The wieck of the interest must be made consistent with the interests of all, and those of all with masts was cleared, about sixty puncheons of runt stove, and the men remained those of each. The only way of securing a union of interests, is by the .aboli. night and day at the pumps, ttli Monday the 21st, when the water in the hold tion of individual property, putting a stop to the teaching of sectarian dogmas

having decreased to nine feet, a pare spar was lashed to the paulamate for a and mysteries, and the teaching and acting on the principles of responsibility,

jury-fore-mast, and a topsail set on it, the wind being then southerly. On together with the annihilation of all other circumstances that are calculated to Tuesday, the spritsail-yard was turned into a jury-tiiizeti-ntast, awl an tad fore. produce strife and evil, and the replacement of these with the establishment of sail set on it, that being the only sail, except the jib of the sparesail, that was common property, the teaching of demonstrable truth or science, action on the not entirely destroyed. On Wednesday, got the pumps to suck, and set the knowledge of the causation of character, and the institution of all other cir- jib forward ; there being only two-thirds of a puncheon of water, two bags of eutustances which can operate in the production of good feeling, of a universal damaged bread, awl a bar rd l of pork, but no cooking apparatus ou bo ird, were kindness and affection. This latter syetein is dictated by reasons resulting from obliged tu go on an allowance of one pint of water each per day. The condi- experience, and hence is called the ' Rational System.' tion the own now were in was udeed very bad ; they were worn down with The " Rational System " is, of course, Mr. OWEN'S system of fatigue, had lost all their clothes and bethliug, and were covered with boils. On Friday, shortened the allowance of water to half a pint each per day, and re- equality of conditions and community of goods. To establish mained in that condition till the 30th, during the dabs under a scorching bun, his object, the author takes a rapid view of animal and vegetable and at night laying on (leek. On the 30th, in latitude 32 degrees :25 minutes, life ; dwelling at length upon the manner in which the mind is and longitude about 7ei degrees 'W., we fell in with the American brig Rupert, influenced through the senses, and by internal or mental feelings, from 'laminar to New York : the generous captain immediately rent a

puncheon of water, some fruit, and many little luxuries, for which I shall ever

tel grateful. This was the third veesel we haul spoken since the hurricane, but make him, and ought not to be " responsible " for his acts. To the only one that assisted us. The first bad had his deck swept, and could cure this evil—to bring men to such a pass, that in freeing them spare nothing ; the second WA. an American brig that we fell in with at night, from responsibility those around them may be freed from appre- and bailed, telling him our distress: he asked if we could remain on board till hension and safe from attack—Mr. MURPHY would change so- daylight ; and when told that I only wanted provision and water, he ciety, and begin the whole system of life anew; substituting for surlily asked, What ship is that? where are you from? where are you

houses were unroofed, and trees blown down."

19th; the sea tremendous, and rising in every direction ; from the force of