[Langford, Captain, "Captain Langford's Observations of his Own Experience upon Hurricanes, and their Prognosticks", Philosophical Transactions, 1698, Vol. 20, pages 407-16]
...
It is not unknown to all Men of Experience, that to the Southward of the Tropics there is constantly a Trade-Wind, or Easterly Wind, which goes from the North to the South-East all the Year about; except where there are Reversion of Breezes, and In-Letts near the Land; so that when this Hurricane, or rather Whirl-Wind, comes in Opposition to the constant Trade-Wind, then he pours down with that Force and Violence, that it exceeds all Storms of Wind in the World, and, as I have said before, nothing can withstand him; for he takes Trees away by the Roots, and those that are extraordinarily strong rooted, he twists them off in the Middle: That in the Hurricane in 1667, at Nevis, I saw the high Mountain that was all green with Trees, left in most places bare, and the Wood lying in such a Condition, with half Trees, or Stumps, or quarters, that one would think it almost incredible. Many other Stories of Truth I could relate...
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notes:
1. The 'Philosphical Transactions' are of the Royal Society of London
2. According to Piddington, this is the first published reference to whirl-winds. He writes:
The earliest published account we have of these storms being distinctly considered as whirlwinds is by a Captain Langford, in the "Philosophical Transactions" for 1698, in a paper on the West Indian hurricanes, which he calls "whirlwinds". He describes the veering of the wind,...
[internet: http://archive.org/details/philtrans01836024|]
Captain Langford's Observations of His Own Experience upon Huricanes, and Their Prognosticks. Communicated by Mr. Bonavert (January 1, 1753)
Author: Langford, C.; Bonavert, M.
Subject: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London; Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
Publisher: Royal Society of London
Language: English
Collection: philosophicaltransactions; additional_collections
notes:
PDF and text saved to \Chapter 09. The Lore of Storms\References\Captain Langford\.
[internet: http://rstl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/20/236-247.toc|]
Captain Langford and Mr. Bonavert
Captain Langford's Observations of His Own Experience upon Huricanes, and Their Prognosticks. Communicated by Mr. Bonavert
Phil. Trans. January 1, 1698 20 236-247 407-416; doi:10.1098/rstl.1698.0088
Full Text (PDF)
