The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1897-11-05

trary effect, and were the means of
bringing down the storm on the vine
yards they were meant to protect. so
that, to be of any good, the paruyrclcs
would have to be erected two or three
miles to windward; this of course might
seriously interfere with somebody else.
In the storm previously mentioned
as occurring in Northern India, sto.ts
were picked up at Delhi wcio hing four
ounces, and others carefully measured
were found to be as much as two and
three-quarter inches in diameter.
Fairly large ones have been known to
fall in England, for Pepys in his diary
mentions some as large as walnuts
having fallen at Harwich in 1866; and
at Liverpool, in June, 1889, there was
a storm in which they were found to
range from seven-eighths of an inch to
an inch and three-quarters in diameter;
these also might be described rs being
rs large as walnuts.
The form which hailstones take va
ries a good deal, one of the most inter-
esting being oval or round, and formed
OF lay ers of ice alternately clear and
Opaque. They were of this kind in the
storm at Liverpool, and consisted of
four or five layers. But Professor
Olmsted of Yale College has counted
as many rs thirteen layers in some
large hailstones that fell in America Il
few years ago. His explanation of
their formation is very ingenious, and
has found much favor with meteorolo-
glsts. The air in the centre ola whirl-
wind is somewhat rarified, and, when a
current of air charged with vapor is
drawn into this space, it may he con-
densed into rain, or, at Il high eleva-
ton, into snow. Now. if the rain thus
formed is drawn up by an ascending
current into the snowy region, it will,
if kept there long enough, be froz-
en-, and then, if propelled outside
the whirlwind, fall to the ground.
But, in falling, the hailstones may be
caught up by another current and
again drawn into the whrling gyra-
tiOns of air, when the moisture con-
densed on them during their fall will
be frozen, thus forming another layer
of ice. This may be repeated several
times, and thus give rise to the onion
like formation which is characteristic
There is, however, another form that
large hailstones frequently take, which
is less easy of explanation; they have
4 nucleus Of dull-looking ice which is
covered with ice crystals, more or less
radiating from the centre, and some
times forming hexagonal prisms, which
give the hailstones sharp. Jagged out
lines. This formation has puzzled
many observers, but 4 beautiful ex-
pertinent of NJ. Dufour tends to throw
some light upon it. He suspended
some drops of water in a mixture ofal-
mond-oil and chloroform, which was of
such consistency that the water as
sumed a spherical shape, and remained
in the middle of the mixture without
a1y tendency to rise or sink. In this
condition it could be cooled down much
belowfreezing point without congealing;
but, when it received sharp electric
shock, or if piece of ice was brought
in contact with it, it instantly solidified,
and the spheroidal mass thus frozen re-
sembled hailstonc with nucleus of
opaque ice surrounded by crystals Of
ice radiating from tie centre. 1t is
noteworthy in respect to this expert
ment that hailstorms are almost inva-
riably accompanied by electrical dis
turbances in the atmosphere, and for Il
long time theories attempting to eN-
plain the formation OF hailstoncs have
been based Oh this fact: but of late
meteorologists have been inclined to
think that the thunder and lightning
are possibly rs mae! tn effect rs the
cause of hailstorms
Professor Rcinsch has related how
he examined some hailstones which ap-
peared to have bubble in the centre
of them; when allowed to melt, before
they had gone very far they burst, and
he found that the volum. occupied by
the air thus liberated was fifty times
greater than that which it occupied it
the haiIstone He did not attempt to
give an explanation of such Il remark
able occurrence.
The ordinary small hailstonrs are
not SO puzzliny, and the general tex
book definition of ''rozen rain" would
seem to be not very far out, fer an
Italian professor actually saw it being
formed one day. He was seated at a
window of Il house forming one side OF
L courtyard, and noticed the rain
streaming from Il roof Cn his right be
ing driven back and up in thick drops
by Il cold north wind. Suddenly a
south wind blew, and the drops of rain
tossed hithcr and thithcr were quickly
transformed into hailstoncs When
the south wind ceased the hailstones
also ceased: but when the winl blew
again, once more the hailstones became
visible. He states that this occurred
two or three times in ten minutes
However, it is doubtful if he true eX.
planation has heel vet found. Nnm-
J. !