CHAPTERXXXXIII.Section 232.WHOEVER consults Antiquity,[54]or is acquainted with modern Mèteorism, will ascent to the Truth of the Facts there recited, viz. That the Storms ofdispersioncalledPrester-John, andOx-Eyeover Table Bay at the Cape of Good-Hope (not to mention those ofcollection, asWhirlwinds[55]andWaterspouts;)descendon Sea and Land from themiddleRegions of the Air, oftenperpendicularlydownwards: and then blow violently from a Center, to all Parts of the Compass at once: a necessary Consequence of their beatingforciblyupon the Land or Water.The Ancients maintained that the Origin, of Wind was a mereDepressionandPercussionfrom the Cold of the middleRegion: and it shoud be remarked that their Observations were made on theContinent, and inwarmClimates.Now what is seen to Excess in thehottestandcoldestClimates;[56]most probably takes Place, in a less Degree, in temperate ones.Therefore, on a Change of Weather, the upper Atmospheredescends: whether its Effects areCold, as in Winter;Warmth, as in Spring;WindorWet; at the proper Seasons of the Year.233. The Balloon, with which Dicker Junior ascended at Bristol, April 19, 1784, on awindyDay, proved the Truth of the Conjecture: for tho’ the Aironaut threw out most of his Ballast; yet after each Ascent and Recovery, he was repeatedly darteddownwardsevenwith the Ground.[57]234. A similar Event happened to Crosbie, in his Passage over the Sea from Dublin to England; for, tho’ he too discharged his Ballast, the Wind kept himdownandevenwith the Water.The Weather at that Time seems to have been an Εκνέφιας, Procella, Percussion, Squall, or Tornado, i. e. a Storm ofdepression, anddispersion.235. The Eknèfiai Winds come from cool Points on each Side the North.Bacon also observes that allboisterousWinds, as Procella, Typho, and Turbo, have the evident Direction of a Precipice, or Projectiondownwards, more than other Winds: they seem to rush down like a Torrent or Cascade: and are then reverberated or beat back from the Earth, in all Directions.Stubble, Corn, or Hay in the Meadows are raised, and spread around in the Form of anextended canopy, (inverted Cone,elliptic Solid, andhyperbolic Curve.) See“Bacon’s Historia Ventorum”, Pag. 43, ad Articulum 10.[58]236. If then it be allowed to reason from that Analogy which took Place in most of the Cases already mentioned; thegentlerDepression. of Balloons over Water inmilderWeather, may be owing to a Cause somewhat similar, tho’ not so evidently an immediate Object of the Senses, viz.an actual tho’ invisible Descent of Air upon the Water.237. Blanchard in his Passage over the Sea from Dover to Bologne in France, when near the Middle of the Channel, suffered an unexpected Depression, and at the same Time was nearlybecalmed.Acalmalso took Place on the Irish Sea: which must have prevented Crosbie from landing,—withoutWings, or somepropulsiveMachinery, connected with the Balloon.238. Lunardi rose from Liverpool when the Wind blewboisterously: yet wasbecalmedtwenty Minutes over thebroadTurn of the Mersey near Ince, when above the Level of the Wind: and, descending into the same Stream of Wind, was hurried along towards Beeston-Castle in Cheshire.
CHAPTERXXXXIII.
Section 232.WHOEVER consults Antiquity,[54]or is acquainted with modern Mèteorism, will ascent to the Truth of the Facts there recited, viz. That the Storms ofdispersioncalledPrester-John, andOx-Eyeover Table Bay at the Cape of Good-Hope (not to mention those ofcollection, asWhirlwinds[55]andWaterspouts;)descendon Sea and Land from themiddleRegions of the Air, oftenperpendicularlydownwards: and then blow violently from a Center, to all Parts of the Compass at once: a necessary Consequence of their beatingforciblyupon the Land or Water.
The Ancients maintained that the Origin, of Wind was a mereDepressionandPercussionfrom the Cold of the middleRegion: and it shoud be remarked that their Observations were made on theContinent, and inwarmClimates.
Now what is seen to Excess in thehottestandcoldestClimates;[56]most probably takes Place, in a less Degree, in temperate ones.
Therefore, on a Change of Weather, the upper Atmospheredescends: whether its Effects areCold, as in Winter;Warmth, as in Spring;WindorWet; at the proper Seasons of the Year.
233. The Balloon, with which Dicker Junior ascended at Bristol, April 19, 1784, on awindyDay, proved the Truth of the Conjecture: for tho’ the Aironaut threw out most of his Ballast; yet after each Ascent and Recovery, he was repeatedly darteddownwardsevenwith the Ground.[57]
234. A similar Event happened to Crosbie, in his Passage over the Sea from Dublin to England; for, tho’ he too discharged his Ballast, the Wind kept himdownandevenwith the Water.
The Weather at that Time seems to have been an Εκνέφιας, Procella, Percussion, Squall, or Tornado, i. e. a Storm ofdepression, anddispersion.
235. The Eknèfiai Winds come from cool Points on each Side the North.
Bacon also observes that allboisterousWinds, as Procella, Typho, and Turbo, have the evident Direction of a Precipice, or Projectiondownwards, more than other Winds: they seem to rush down like a Torrent or Cascade: and are then reverberated or beat back from the Earth, in all Directions.
Stubble, Corn, or Hay in the Meadows are raised, and spread around in the Form of anextended canopy, (inverted Cone,elliptic Solid, andhyperbolic Curve.) See“Bacon’s Historia Ventorum”, Pag. 43, ad Articulum 10.[58]
236. If then it be allowed to reason from that Analogy which took Place in most of the Cases already mentioned; thegentlerDepression. of Balloons over Water inmilderWeather, may be owing to a Cause somewhat similar, tho’ not so evidently an immediate Object of the Senses, viz.an actual tho’ invisible Descent of Air upon the Water.
237. Blanchard in his Passage over the Sea from Dover to Bologne in France, when near the Middle of the Channel, suffered an unexpected Depression, and at the same Time was nearlybecalmed.
Acalmalso took Place on the Irish Sea: which must have prevented Crosbie from landing,—withoutWings, or somepropulsiveMachinery, connected with the Balloon.
238. Lunardi rose from Liverpool when the Wind blewboisterously: yet wasbecalmedtwenty Minutes over thebroadTurn of the Mersey near Ince, when above the Level of the Wind: and, descending into the same Stream of Wind, was hurried along towards Beeston-Castle in Cheshire.