general name for any violent storm of wind; but which is commonly applied to those storms which happen in the warmer climates, and which greatly exceed the most violent storms known in this country. The ruin and desolation accompanying Hurricane ing a hurricane (says Dr Mosely) cannot be described. Like fire, its resistless force consumes every thing in its track, in the most terrible and rapid manner. It is generally preceded by an awful stillness of the elements, and a closeness and mistiness in the atmosphere, which makes the sun appear red, and the stars larger. But a dreadful reverse succeeding—The sky is suddenly overcast and wild—The sea rises at once from a profound calm into mountains—The wind rages and roars like the noise of cannon—The rain descends in deluges—A dismal obscurity envelopes the earth with darkness—The superior regions appear rent with lightning and thunder—The earth often does and always seems to tremble—Terror and consternation distract all nature—Birds are carried from the woods into the ocean; and those whose element is the sea, seek for refuge on land—The frightened animals in the field assemble together, and are almost suffocated by the impetuosity of the wind in searching for shelter; which, when found, serves them only for destruction—The roofs of houses are carried to vast distances from their walls, which are beat to the ground, burying their inhabitants under them—Large trees are torn up by the roots, and huge branches shivered off, and driven through the air in every direction, with immense velocity—Every tree and shrub that withstands the shock, is stripped of its boughs and foliage—Plants and grass are laid flat on the earth—Luxuriant spring is changed in a moment to dreary winter.—This direful tragedy ended, when it happens in a town, the devastation is surveyed with accumulated horror; the harbour is covered with wrecks of boats and vessels; and the shore has not a vestige of its former state remaining. Mounds of rubbish and rafters in one place, heaps of earth and trunks of trees in another, deep gullies from torrents of water, and the dead and dying bodies of men, women, and children, half buried, and scattered about, where streets but a few hours before were, present the miserable survivors with a shocking conclusion of a spectacle to be followed by famine, and when accompanied by an earthquake by mortal diseases.

These destructive phenomena are now thought to arise from electricity, though the manner in which it acts in this case is by no means known. It seems probable, indeed, that not only hurricanes, but even the most gentle gales of wind, are produced by the action of the electric fluid; for which see Wind, Whirlwind, &c. Meteorology Index.

Hurst, Hyrst, or Herst, are derived from the Saxon hyrst, i.e. a wood, or grove of trees. There are many places in Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire, which begin and end with this syllable; and the reason may be, because the great wood called Andreswald extended through those counties.

Hurst-Castle, a fortress of Hampshire in England, not far from Limington. It is seated on the extreme point of a neck of land which shoots into the sea, towards the isle of Wight, from which it is distant two miles.