The History of the Academy, anno 1727, mentions a land water-spout which appeared at Capestan, near Beziers; it descended from a cloud like a black pillar, which diminished by degrees, and at length terminated in a point upon the surface of the earth. It obeyed the wind which blew from west to south-west. It was accompanied with a very thick smoke, and made a similar noise to that of a troubled sea. It tore up and carried away trees to the distance of forty or fifty feet, marking its way by a large track, on which three carriages might have passed each other. There appeared another pillar of the same kind, but which soon joined the first; and after the whole had disappeared, a great quantity of hail fell on the earth. This kind of water-spout appears to be still different from the other two: it is not mentioned to have contained water; and it seems, by what I have related, and by the explanation given thereof by M. Andoque, to the academy, that this water-spout was only a whirlwind, rendered visible by the dust and condensed vapours which it contained. In the same history, anno 1741, a water-spout is spoken of, seen on the lake of Geneva; the upper part was inclined to a very black cloud, and the lower, which was narrower, terminated a little above the water. This phenomenon remained only a few minutes, and, at the moment it was dissipated, a thick vapour was perceived at the part where it first appeared; the waters of the lake boiled and seemed to make an effort to rise up. The air was very calm during the whole time; and when it disappeared neither wind nor rain ensued. "After all we are acquainted with," says the historian of the academy, "concerning water-spouts, is not this another proof that they are not formed by the conflict of the winds, but almost always produced by volcanos or subterraneous vapours, from which we know the bottom of the sea is not exempt? Whirlwinds and hurricanes, which we commonly thought to be the cause of these appearances, may possibly be only the effect, or an accidental event thereof." ARTICLE XVI. OF VOLCANOS AND EARTHQUAKES.