The Hillsborough Recorder

From the Massachusetts Spy.

WATER SPOUTS

I have often wondered that mankind
should have gone on, from generation
to generation, in believing that water
spouts ascended to the clouds, instead
of descending from the cloud to the
ocean or earth. Every appearance in
the whole operation, from beginning to
the end, proves beyond a doubt, that
the water descends from the clouds to
the sea, or to the earth, if the clouds
happen to be over the land. How an
opinion, so completely at variance with
the well known laws of gravity, could
ever have been admitted by the scienti-
fic part of mankind, is quite unaccoun-
table. It is agreed by all who have seen
water spouts, that a small cloud first ap-
pears, that the cloud increases rapidly
in size and density, then begins to de-
scend at the centre of the cloud, and
finally shows the form of an inverted
cone, or funnel, with the small end
down. The water of the ocean, which
surrounds the spout, is also represented
as being in great agitation, such as boil-
ing, and the ascension of spray to a con-
siderable height. Now this is precisely
the shape and appearance that might be
expected, by the discharge of a column
of water from a cloud into the sea.

When the caloric, which prevents
the particles of vapor from uniting, is
attracted by a colder strata of atmos-
phere, or if any other cause, which
might prevent their union, be removed,
the particles of vapor will then be at-
tracted towards each other, and sudden-
ly form a cloud. This cloud will be-
come more and more dense, and as the
particles of drops of rain become heavy
er than the atmosphere, they will de-
scend, and while descending, will con-
tinue their attraction towards the cen-
tre of the column; and thus, by the time
they have reached the surface of the
ocean, they will have formed a solid
mass of water. This aqueous shaft
having descended from a great height,
its weight and velocity, (which are
equal to power) would cause it to
plunge into the ocean, with a tremea-
dous force, and cause all the agitation
and elevation of the surrounding waters,
which have so often been observed by
people at sea.

The same appearance, as above de-
scribed, can be produced upon a small
scale, by pouring water into water; but
let those who are not satisfied with this,
take a peep at the falls of Niagara,
where they may see a tolerable repre-
sentation of a water spout.

There can be no attractive power in
a cloud, that would be sufficient to raise
a column of water several thousand feet
in height, for if we could suppose a per-
fect vacuum to be produced between
the cloud and ocean, the water would, in
that case, only rise thirty two feet,
which is equal to the weight of the at-
mosphere. Water spouts rarely happen,
except in or near the tropical regions,
where the evaporation is great, and the
atmosphere saturated with aqueous va-
por. They may, however, occasionally
descend on mountains, which are situa-
ted in colder climates, because the tops
of mountains often come in contact, or
nearly so, with the clouds, and attract a
great quantity of vapor around them.

Even the philosophical Franklin ap-
pears to have acquiesced in the common
belief concerning water spouts, and at-
tempted to account for the elevation of
the water, by means of whirlwinds. That
whirlwinds sometimes act with great
force, is readily admitted, but their pow-
er is exerted horizontally and not per-
pendicularly.
Trees are sometimes
whistled off by whirlwinds, but who ever
heard of their being carried into or as
high as the clouds! If whirlwinds be
capable of raising water, (which weighs
sixty two and a half pounds to the cu-
bic foot) to the height of the clouds, I
see no reason why they should not
sometimes take up ships, for the wind
would have a much better hold on these,
than it would on water; but I presume no
vessel ever took such an aerial flight,
as was seen sailing in the clouds.

If water ascended from the ocean and
formed clouds, we should occasionally
have a drenching shower of real salt
water; and the fact of such a rain's nev-
er having happened, is sufficient of itself
to prove that the prevailing opinion on
this subject is altogether erroneous.

The rays of the sun often pass
through thin clouds, in consequence of
which, they are refracted, and appear
to the eye of the beholder in fine streams
or lines of diverging light, and in such
case, it is supposed by the uninformed,
that the sun is drawing water from the
earth to the clouds. And again, we of-
ten see great numbers of worms and
frogs (in some places called toads) on
the surface of the earth, during or im-
mediately after a rain, and these are
supposed to have been rained down
from the clouds, when in fact they have
only crawled out of their burrows, to
prevent being drowned by the water. --
Both these opinions are the offspring of
ignorance, and may be classed with as-
cending water spouts. -- Examinator.