ace a portion of the surface atmosphere. A portion of it is
impelled forward, aiding in the precedent elevation of the barometer, and
a portion is attracted backward, into the space from which a like portion
had been previously attracted by the passing storm cloud, forming the
easterly wind.

2d. The increased progress of the stormy portion of the counter-trade
occasions an accumulation in front of the storm, and an elevation of the
barometer, and tends also to increase the _depression_ under the spot from
which it moves. The latter is, to some extent, counteracted by the thin
sheets of surface wind which are drawn in under the stratus from the
sides. That which is drawn from the front in successive portions, fills
the space from which like portions had been drawn to the westward, and
left behind in a passive state by the passing storm. Thus, the surface
atmosphere of New England may pass under the entire width of a storm, as a
gale; moving now in puffs with great violence, as it passes beneath
irregular and intense portions of the cloud, and now moderately; and be
left, in a passive state, in Kentucky, occupying the space from which the
atmosphere had been previously drawn by the same storm, _in like manner_,
on to northern Texas.

3d. The nearer the stratus-cloud to the earth, the greater the
displacement of surface atmosphere, the lower the barometer, and,
ordinarily, the more violent the wind. First, because the same intensity,
which, by attraction, brings the trade near the earth, acts with greater
force upon the surface atmosphere; and, secondly, the storm winds, which
are often most rapid beneath the clouds and above the earth, are likely to
be felt with more violence at its surface, where the stratus cloud runs
low, especially at sea.

I desire to commend all these facts, in relation to the theory of Mr.
Redfield, to the careful attention and observation of those who, although
believers in the theory, are not wedded to it; and who have a sincere
desire to understand the phenomena which are continually, and thus far,
_mysteriously_, occurring within two or three miles of us, while our
knowledge of the distant worlds around us--the science of astronomy--seems
almost perfect.

I will return to a further and a careful consideration of the nature of
the reciprocal action between the earth and the counter-trade, and the
facts bearing upon the question, in another chapter. It is obvious that
received theories can n