2d. As to all those People who were in Houses, I cannot allow them to be competent Judges, for as no House was so strong as not to move and shake with the force of the Wind, so it must be impossible for them to distinguish whither that motion came from above or below: As to those in Ships, they will not pretend to be competent Judges in this case, and I think the People within doors as improper to decide, for what might not that motion they felt in their Houses, from the Wind do, that an Earthquake could do. We found it rockt the strongest Buildings, and in several places made the Bells in the Steeples strike, loosen'd the Foundations of the Houses, and in some below them quite down, but still if it had been an Earthquake, it must have been felt in every house, and every place; and whereas in those Streets of London, where the Houses stand thick and well Built, they could not be so shaken with the Wind as in opener places; yet there the other would have equally been felt, and better distinguisht; and this particularly by the Watch, who stood on the Ground, under shelter of publick Buildings, as in St. Paul's Church, the Exchange Gates, the Gates of the City, and such like; wherefore, as I am not for handing to Posterity any matter of Fact upon ill Evidence, so I cannot transmit what has its Foundation only in the Amazements of the People.
'Tis true, that there was an Earthquake felt in the North East parts of the Kingdoms, about a Month afterwards, of which several Letters here inserted make mention, and one very particularly from Hull; but that there was any such thing as an Earthquake during the Storm, I cannot agree.
Another remarkable thing I have observ'd, and have several Letters to show of the Water which fell in the Storm, being brackish, and at Cranbrook in Kent, which is at least 16 Miles from the Sea, and above 25 from any Part of the Sea to windward, from whence the Wind could bring any moisture, for it could not be suppos'd to fly against the Wind; the Grass was so salt, the Cattel would not eat for several Days, from whence the ignorant People suggested another Miracle, viz. that it rain'd salt Water.
The answer to this, I leave to two Letters printed in the Philosophical Transactions; as follows,
Part of a Letter from Mr. Denham to the Royal Society,
SIR,
I have just now, since my writing, receiv'd an account from a Clergy-man, an Intelligent Person at Lewes in Sussex, not only that the Storm made great desolations thereabouts, but also an odd Phænomenon occasioned by it, viz. 'That a Physician travelling soon after the Storm to Tisehyrst, about 20 Miles from Lewes, and as far from the Sea, as he rode he pluckt some tops of Hedges, and chawing them found them Salt. Some Ladies of Lewes hearing this, tasted some Grapes that were still on the Vines, and they also had the same relish. The Grass on the Downs in his Parish was so salt, that the Sheep in the Morning would not feed till hunger compelled them, and afterwards drank like Fishes, as the Shepherds report. This he attributeth to Saline Particles driven from the Sea.—He heareth also, that People about Portsmouth were much annoyed with sulphurous Fumes, complaining they were most suffocated therewith'.
V. Part of a Letter from Mr. Anthony van Lauwenhoek, F.R.S. giving his Observations on the late Storm.
Delft, Jan. 8. 1704. N.S.
SIR,
I affirmed in my Letter of the 3d of November last past, that Water may be so dash'd and beaten against the Banks and Dikes by a strong Wind, and divided into such small Particles, as to be carried far up into the Land.
Upon the 8th of December, 1703. N.S. We had a dreadful Storm from the South West, insomuch, that the Water mingled with small parts of Chalk and Stone, was so dasht against the Glass-windows, that many of them were darkned therewith, and the lower Windows of my House, which are made of very fine Glass, and always kept well scower'd, and were not open'd till 8-a-Clock that Morning, notwithstanding that they look to the North East, and consequently stood from the Wind; and moreover, were guarded from the Rain by a kind of Shelf or Pent-house over them; were yet so cover'd with the Particles of the Water which the Whirl-wind cast against them, that in less than half an hour they were deprived of most of their transparency, and, forasmuch as these Particles of Water were not quite exhaled, I concluded that it must be Sea-water, which the said Storm had not only dasht against our Windows, but spread also over the whole Country.
That I might be satisfied herein, I blow'd two small Glasses, such as I thought most proper to make my Observations with, concerning the Particles of Water that adhered to my Windows.
Pressing these Glasses gently against my Windows, that were covered with the suppos'd Particles of Sea-water, my Glasses were tinged with a few of the said Particles.
These Glasses, with the Water I had thus collected on them, I placed at about half a Foot distance from the Candle, I view'd them by my Microscope, reck'ning, that by the warmth of the Candle, and my Face together, the Particles of the said Water would be put into such a motion, that they would exhale for the most part, and the Salts that were in 'em would be expos'd naked to the sight, and so it happened; for in a little time a great many Salt Particles did, as it were, come out of the Water, having the Figure of our common Salt, but very small, because the Water was little, from whence those small Particles proceeded; and where the Water had lain very thin upon the Glass, there were indeed a great number of Salt Particles, but so exceeding fine, that they almost escaped the Sight through a very good Microscope.
From whence I concluded, that these Glass windows could not be brought to their former Lustre, but by washing them with a great deal of Water; for if the Air were very clear, and the Weather dry, the watry Particles would soon exhale, but the Salts would cleave fast to the Glass, which said Salts would be again dissolv'd in moist Weather, and sit like a Dew or Mist upon the Windows.
And accordingly my People found it when they came to wash the afore-mentioned lower Windows of my House: but as to the upper Windows, where the Rain had beat against them, there was little or no Salt to be found sticking upon that Glass.
Now, if we consider, what a quantity of Sea-water is spread all over the Country by such a terrible Storm, and consequently, how greatly impregnated the Air is with the same; we ought not to wonder, that such a quantity of Water, being moved with so great a force, should do so much mischief to Chimneys, tops of Houses, &c. not to mention the Damages at Sea.
During the said Storm, and about 8-a-Clock in the Morning, I cast my Eye upon my Barometer, and observ'd, that I had never seen the Quick-silver so low; but half an hour after the Quick-silver began to rise, tho' the Storm was not at all abated, at least to any appearance; from whence I concluded, and said it to those that were about me, that the Storm would not last long; and so it happened.
There are some that affirm, that the scattering of this Salt-water by the Storm will do a great deal of harm to the Fruits of the Earth; but for my part I am of a quite different Opinion, for I believe that a little Salt spread over the surface of the Earth, especially where it is heavy Clay-ground, does render it exceeding Fruitful; and so it would be, if the Sand out of the Sea were made use of to the same purpose.
These Letters are too well, and too judiciously Written to need any comment of mine; 'tis plain, the watry Particles taken up from the Sprye of the Sea into the Air, might by the impetuosity of the Winds be carried a great way, and if it had been much farther, it would have been no Miracle in my account; and this is the reason, why I have not related these Things, among the extraordinary Articles of the Storm.
That the Air was full of Meteors, and fiery Vapours, and that the extraordinary Motion occasion'd the firing more of them than usual, a small stock of Philosophy will make very rational; and of these we have various Accounts, more in some places than in others, and I am apt to believe these were the Lightnings we have been told of; for I am of Opinion, that there was really no Lightning, such as we call so in the common Acceptation of it; for the Clouds that flew with so much Violence through the Air, were not, as to my Observation, such as usually are fraighted with Thunder and Lightning, the Hurries nature was then in, do not consist with the System of Thunder, which is Air pent in between the Clouds; and as for the Clouds that were seen here flying in the Air, they were by the fury of the Winds so seperated, and in such small Bodies, that there was no room for a Collection suitable, and necessary to the Case we speak of.