Of the conclusion arrived at by a committee of the Academy of Sciences of France, agreeably to which, tornados are caused by heat : while, agreeably to Peltier's report to the same body, certain insurers had been obliged to pay for a tornado as an electrical storm, also, abstracts from Peltier's report : moreover, quotations shewing the ignorance which existed in the Academy respecting the nature and causes of the meteor in question, prior to the publication ascribing it to a convective discharge of electricity : with objections to the opinions of Peltier and Espy / by Dr. Hare.
- Hare, Robert, 1781-1858.
- Date:
- 1852
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Of the conclusion arrived at by a committee of the Academy of Sciences of France, agreeably to which, tornados are caused by heat : while, agreeably to Peltier's report to the same body, certain insurers had been obliged to pay for a tornado as an electrical storm, also, abstracts from Peltier's report : moreover, quotations shewing the ignorance which existed in the Academy respecting the nature and causes of the meteor in question, prior to the publication ascribing it to a convective discharge of electricity : with objections to the opinions of Peltier and Espy / by Dr. Hare. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
![themselves, that Arago had been so much occupied that he could give I no attention to Espy’s application; that Pouillet, not agreeing with Babinet,f| left it to him exclusively to report upon the Espyan theory, and that | Babinet, (more distinguished for benevolence than meteorological know- ] ledge,) made his report in ignorance of my memoir, of Peltier’s report, or the judgment against the insurers. It foliow^s that the report obtained by the personal application of Espy, was the offspring of exparte representations, ignorance, and error; and that either great injustice was done the insurers, in making them pay for the tornado as an electrical storm, or to scientific truth in ascribing that meteor mainly to heat!!! It is remarkable that Arago, one of the most distinguished electricians in Europe, when requested to decide this question, did not conceive himself warranted in saying whether or not a tornado was an electrical storm. Had the damage been done by lightning, there would have been no doubt as to the nature of the cause; but as it was done by the meteor above mentioned, (called trombe in French,) Arago felt it necessary to send Peltier to examine the phenomena, in order to find out whether or not they were due to electricity. It had often been observed that electrical phenomena were attendant on such storms, and by some observers they had been ascribed to electricity; yet so vague and unsatisfactory had been • the evidence or arguments in favor of this view of the question, that they j seem to have made no impression on the minds of the sagacious, learned, it and ingenious members of the ‘‘Academie des Sciences.”* Such, at all events, is the only inference which can be reasonably r drawn, judging from the opinions expressed by those among them, who If were selected as eminently competent to decide. It is manifest that Arago had formed no opinion, or he would not have'j sent Peltier to investigate the phenomena, in order to determine the ques-J tion. As this philosopher, Pouillet, and Babinet,. were chosen as a com-J mittee to decide on Espy’s theory of tornados, it is to be presumed that^ they were considered as among those members who w’ere pre-eminently i qualified to judge, respecting meteorological theories. Let us then see | whether any of the other academicians were, more than Arago, impressed | with the idea that electricity w^as the main cause of tornados. I subjoin the opinions of Pouillet first. i ‘^How can this power, sometimes so prodigious, he created in the midst of the air? 4 This is a question to which, it must be admitted, science as yet cannot give a precise an- • swer. Of all the vague and hazardous conjectures which have been made respecting the 1 origin of this meteor, probably the least unreasonable is, that it is a ivhirlwind of ex-\ cessive intensity. But the discussion of this point seems premature. It is necessary to 4 multiply observations, and to compare with more precision all the attendant circumstances | of the phenomena.” Pouillet Elemens de Physique Experimental et de Meteorologie. \ * Among those who alleged them to be due to electricity, Beccaria is, perhaps, the most distinguished; but how little he understood the true nature of the meteor, is manifest from his crediting the allegation that they could be dissipated by the presentation of a sword from the deck of a vessel. Evidently no vessel could come within the electrified column with- out being dismantled, if not wrecked; and if situated outside of the electrified column, how could the electricity reach the sword? But should it be induced to leave its wonted vertical path, in order to pass olf by this weapon, how could the person presenting the sword survive an influence capable of rending the wood of trees into laths, as alleged by Peltier?](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22376689_0006.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
