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the barometer was only 0.93 inch; but it will also be noticed that the “Argyleshire” did not pass nearer to to the centre than 86 miles, and the lowest barometer reading was at 90 miles from the axis of the centre, and 45 miles from the actual boundary line of the calm space; it is, therefore, probable that her barometer might have fallen another inch before reaching the central axis, but this, of course, I have no means of knowing, except by comparison with the fall of the barometer during the Yokohama Typhoon, August 1872, in which the barometer fell 1.01 inches from the beginning to the axis of the centre, a distance of 5212 miles.
Next, we notice the Francis Henty’s Typhoon, and observe the barometer falling rapidly, showing a total depression of 2.51 inches. This was an exceedingly severe gale, and the fall of barometer went far below the average, the greatest fall recorded heretofore being 2.8 inches, and the average of excessive falls of the barometer recorded does not exceed 2 inches. 1.96 inches, I think, are the figures.
The diameter of this gale was 360 miles, and the calm space in the centre 60 miles.
Next, and last; we have the Yokohama Typhoon, which occurred on August 25th 1872.
The barometer, during this gale, was observed by myself every 15 minutes from the beginning to the end, and I have, therefore, no hesitation in saying that this curve is accurate and complete. The total fall of the barometer was 1.01 inches. The diameter was 105 miles, and the calm space in the centre, 15 miles.
In connection with the fall of the barometer, it will perhaps be proper to remark on Captain Quayle’s idea of the compressed air below blowing up the hatches and scuttles in the cabin, as stated in his letter. That this circumstance should not be attributed to the compression of the air, but just the opposite, to expansion of the air, may be explained in this way: When the ship entered the storm circle, with a high barometer, a quantity of air of the same density as the surrounding atmosphere was con-
