what I have stated, is not the case. I first tried it by pouring a solution of arseniate of potash into one of nitrate of barytes; no precipitation occurred, but, upon standing some days, very delicate feathery crystals of arseniate of barytes were formed, which exhibited the prismatic colours with a splendour equal to that of the noble opal. I have since attempted, but without success, to reproduce the salt having this appearance. Although the compounds of sulphur with copper and iron are well known, so much obscurity prevails as to the composition of the sulphurets of arsenic, that I shall not venture to offer any observations as to the mode in which these substances are combined; but it will, I think, be evident, when the analysis, crystalline form, and other properties of this compound, are considered and compared with previously described copper ores, that it is essentially different from all of them. To mark this difference, as well as to offer a tribute of respect to departed merit and genius, my brother and myself propose to distinguish it by the appellation of TEN NANTITE. ART. XIII. An Account of the violent and destructive Storm of the 23d of September, 1815. By John Farrar, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the University at Cambridge. From the American Philosophical Transactions. THIS storm was very severely felt throughout a greater part of New England. It was most violent on and near the coast, but does not appear to have extended far out at sea, It was preceded by rain, which continued to fall for about twenty-four hours, with a moderate wind from the N. E. Early in the morning of the 23d the wind shifted to the east, and began to blow in gusts accompanied with showers. It continued to change toward the south and to increase in violence while the rain abated, Between nine and ten o'clock A. M. it began to excite alarm. Chimneys and trees were blown over both to the west and north, but shingles and slates, that were torn from the roofs of buildings,. were carried to the greatest distance, in the direction of about three points west of north. The greatest destruction took place between half past 10 and half past 11. The rain ceased about the time the wind shifted from southeast to south; a clear sky was visible in many places during the utmost violence of the tempest, and clouds were seen flying with great rapidity in the direction of the wind. The air had an unusual appearance. It was considerably darkened by the excessive agitation, and filled with the leaves of trees and other light substances, which were raised to a great height and whirled about in eddies, instead of being driven directly forward as in a common storm. Charles river raged and foamed like the sea in a storm, and the spray was raised to the height of sixty or one hundred feet in the form of thin white clouds, which were drifted along in a kind of waves like snow in a violent snow storm. I attempted with several others to reach the river, but we were frequently driven back by the force of the wind, and were obliged to screen ourselves behind fences and trees, or to advance obliquely. It was impossible to stand firm in a place exposed to the full force of the wind. While abroad, we found it necessary to keep moving about, and in passing from one place to another, we inclined our bodies toward the wind, as if we were ascending a steep hill. It was with great difficulty that we could hear each other speak at the distance of two or three yards. The pressure of the wind was like that of a rapid current of water, and we moved about almost as awkwardly as those do who attempt to wade in a strong tide. The effects of this storm in many places were very terrible; much damage was done to the shipping in most of the harbours from New York to Eastport. Many vessels went ashore and bilged, many were stoved to pieces against the wharfs and against each other. But the shifting of the wind prevented an excessive tide in most places. The sea had risen unusually high in Boston harbour two hours before the calendar time of high water. But the direction of the wind at this time tended to counteract the tide, and thus secured our principal seaports from that awful calamity which threatened them. Considerable losses * The town of Providence in Rhode Island was particularly exposed to the effects of this storm. The wind blew directly up the river on which it is built, unbroken by the cape or Long Island, and in sweeping over such however were sustained by the wind alone; many old buildings, and such as were slightly built or particularly exposed, were blown down; great numbers were unroofed or otherwise injured; few entirely escaped. The greatest destruction took place among trees. Our orchards and forests exhibited a scene of desolation, which has never been witnessed before to such an extent in this country. The roads in many places were rendered impassable, not only through woods, but in the more cultivated towns, where they happened to be lined with trees. Many of the streets in Boston and the neighbouring towns were strewed with the ornaments of our finest gardens and fruityards. A considerable proportion of the large and beautiful trees in Boston mall*, and in the public walk near the grainery burying-ground, several of which measured from eight to twelve feet in circumference, were torn up by the roots and prostrated. Apple-trees, being separated at a considerable distance from each other, were overturned in great numbers. It was computed at the time, that no less than 5,000 were blown down in the town of Dorchester alone. I have not been able to find the centre or the limits of this tempest. It was very violent at places separated by a considerable interval from each other, while the intermediate region suffered much less. Its course through forests in some instances was marked almost as definitely, as where the trees have been cut down for a road. In these cases, it appears to have been a moving vortex, and not the rushing forward of the great body of the atmosphere. Yet there seems to be no part of the coast of New England which escaped its fury. Toward the interior it an extent of water it accumulated a dreadful and most destructive tide upon this flourishing place. Vessels were actually driven over the wharfs and through the streets. A great number of stores and dwelling-houses were destroyed with their contents, and several lives were lost. The loss of property was estimated at several millions of dollars. The great calamity which befel this town, was rather owing to the extraordinary tide which rose twelve or fourteen feet above the usual mark of high water, than to the greater violence of the tempest in this place. * It is worthy of remark, that in the several rows of trees constituting the mall, the leeward range suffered the most. raged with less violence, and in Vermont and the western parts of New Hampshire, I am told that it was not noticed as particularly remarkable. Yet still further west on the St. Lawrence, the wind was so high as to render it extremely dangerous to be out in boats on the river. And what is still more remarkable, the storm began to grow violent at this place about the same time that it commenced near the Atlantic, and subsided about the same time. There is something worthy of particular attention in the direction of the wind, at the several places where the storm prevailed. On the 22d, the wind appears to have been pretty generally from the N. E. The storm commenced, as is usual, to the leeward. But when the wind shifted from N. E. to E. and S. along the coast of New England, it veered round in the opposite direction at New York, and at an earlier period. It reached its greatest height at this latter place about nine o'clock on the morning of the 23d, when it was from the N. W. Whereas, at Boston, it became most violent about two hours later, and blew from the opposite quarter of the heavens. At Montreal the direction of the wind was the same as at New York, but did not attain its greatest height so soon by several hours. The wind gradually subsided in the afternoon of the 23d, and before night the sky bore its usual appearance. It was observed soon after, that a singular effect had been produced upon the leaves of vegetables near the sea-coast; their vitality was destroyed, and they exhibited an appearance similar to that which is produced by a frost, except that they retained more of their original colour, and in some instances they assumed a darker hue. This was ascribed to the spray from the salt water, which was known to have extended many miles into the country from the circumstance of window-glass being covered with a thin coat of salt. The barometer descended very fast during the morning of the 23rd, and when the wind was highest had fallen about half an inch. It began to rise as the wind abated, and recovered its former elevation, about 29.90, by the time the air was restored to its usual tranquillity. It is thought that there is no account of such a storm as this to be found in the history of this part of the country. We have had hurricanes that have laid waste whatever came in their way, but they have been very limited. There was a remarkable storm of wind and rain on the 9th of October 1804, which in some respects resembled that above described. It destroyed a number of houses, overthrew trees, chimneys and fences, but it was much less violent and less destructive. A very remarkable gale occurred in some parts of North Carolina on the 3d of September 1815, twenty days before the one which is so often referred to amongst us. It was preceded by a storm of several days with the wind from the N. E. The wind shifted on the 3d to the N. and W., increasing in violence. It began to subside as it approached the S. W. The tide rose in some places from ten to fourteen feet above high-water mark. The loss sustained at Wilmington and other places was similar to that which was experienced here on the 23d. The roads were impassable for several days on account of the fall of trees, and much damage was done to the crops of corn and tobacco. ART. XIV. Some experimental Observations on the Passage of Gases through Tubes. By M. Faraday, Chemical Assistant in the Royal Institution. In the third volume of this Journal, at page 354, I have noticed briefly some curious effects which take place when gases are passed through tubes by low pressures. They consist in an apparent inversion of the velocities; those which traverse quickest when the pressure is high, moving more tardily as it is diminished until they are among those which require the longest time in passing the tube; thus with equal high pressures equal volumes of hydrogen gas and olefiant gas passed through the same tube in the following times :-Hydrogen in 57" Olefiant gas in 135".5 but equal volumes of each passed through the same tube at equal low pressures in the following times : Hydrogen 8′ 15′′ Olefiant gas 8′ 11′′. Again, equal volumes of carbonic oxide and carbonic acid |