Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/621

 WHIP-TOM-KELLY eral hours after sunset, and then unheard till daybreak, when it again becomes vocal until the sun has fairly risen ; the first and third syl- lables are given with great emphasis. The eggs are laid about the middle of May on the bare ground or on dry leaves in the thickets which they frequent; they are two, much rounded, greenish white, with spots and blotches of bluish gray and light hrown ; both birds incu- bate, and the young are hatched in 14 days. WHIP-TOM-KELLY. See VIKEO. WHIRLWIND, a general term applicable to a large class of storms. (See CYCLONE, HURRI- CANE, and WATER SPOUT.) In all these storms, except an occasional tornado, the air circulates with considerable regularity around a central region of calms. In some tornadoes this whirl- ing movement is not so well marked as in others, which is explicable on the very plau- sible hypothesis that the axis of rotation is not invariably vertical, but is sometimes inclined or even horizontal, when the whirling mass of air rolls along like a barrel. In other torna- does in which the whirling movement seems to be almost entirely wanting, the winds may be considered as due to a direct inrush of cooler or drier and therefore denser air, displacing and uplifting that which had previously lain near the ground. The rapid movements of torna- does render it very difficult to obtain careful observations made simultaneously by observers on each side of the path, and of many of their features we are still in ignorance. Excellent special studies upon American tornadoes will be found in the works of Espy, Eedfield, Hare, Loomis, and Chapellsmith, and the general treatise of Eeye, Wirlelsturme (Hanover, 1872). See also the discussions in the Paris Comptes JRendw (1874-'5) between Faye, Peslin, and others, and the annual reports for 1873-'5 of the United States army weather bureau. In the water spout the whirling movement of the air is generally distinctly recognizable, but in the hurricane and typhoon this movement takes place on so grand a scale that it can only be demonstrated by collecting and plotting upon charts the observations made at widely separa- ted stations. In June, 1874, Prof. Ferrel com- municated to the philosophical society of Wash- ington the mathematical expression that obtains in all whirlwinds for the relation between the barometric gradient and the velocity and direc- tion of the wind, and his paper has been made the subject of further remarks by Hann in the journal of the Austrian meteorological society. In reference to the origin of hurricanes no more important observations could have been made than those recorded by Blanford in his memoir on the winds of northern India (Lon- don "Philosophical Transactions," 1874). This author gives in an appendix the results of his study of several hurricanes, which in substance are as follows : Cyclones are not produced be- tween parallel currents flowing in opposite directions ; a calm state of the atmosphere, or one in which the winds are light and variable WHISKEY 597 over the open sea, is a favorable condition and a second condition is a high or moderately high temperature. The consequence of this collocation will be the production and ascent of a large quantity of vapor, which will be condensed with the liberation of its latent heat over the place of its production. If this state of things last for some days, the slowly in- flowing winds acquire by the influence of the rotation of the earth a whirl, in consequence of which, as Mr. Ferrel has shown, the baro- metric depression must increase. The last step preceding and apparently determining the for- mation of a well defined cyclone in the bay of Bengal is, according to Blanford, the inrush of a saturated stormy current from the south- west or west-southwest. But this last feature may be peculiar to that locality, and those pre- viously enumerated seem to correspond best to the conditions generally observed in the for- mation of whirlwinds. WHISKEY (Gaelic, uisgue, water, whence us- quebaugh, water of life), a spirituous liquor distilled from grain, potatoes, or roots (as tur- nips or beets). Scotch and Irish whiskey is made from malt, and it is sometimes made from the same material in the United States, though more often from rye, corn, wheat, and potatoes. It is also made from oats, rice, and buckwheat. Whiskey is almost entirely pro- duced in the countries above named. Its man- ufacture is described in the article DISTILLA- TION. Whiskey is made of various degrees of strength ; when of pretty high percentage, 60 per cent, or upward, it is called highwines, or simply spirit; when purified by redistillation and of about 70 per cent, or more, it is often called Cologne spirit, and when stronger alco- hol. The term whiskey is usually restricted to the first distillation, which contains more or less fusel oil, although whiskey is often made by reducing alcohol and Cologne spirit and add- ing flavoring extracts. Its flavor varies with the kind of grain or other material from which it is manufactured, and depends upon some of the natural principles contained in them, as well as upon products which are the result of fermentation, the principal among which is fusel oil. In the United States and in Great Britain the tax on distilled spirits constitutes the most important source of internal revenue from manufactures. In the former country this tax was laid as early as 1791, and led to the "whiskey rebellion" in Pennsylvania. It was afterward abolished, but was renewed du- ring the war of 1812-'15, and again during the civil war. On July 1, 1862, congress fixed the rate at 20 cts. on each gallon of .distilled spirits manufactured; March 7, 1864, it was changed to 60 cts. ; June 30, 1864, $1 50; Dec. 22, 1864, $2; July 20, 1868, 50 cts.; June 6, 1872, 70 cts. ; March 3, 1875, 90 cts. The act of July 20, 1868, also levied a special tax of $4 a bar- rel, and $2 a day for every 20 bushels of grain used, and charged the distiller with the cost of gauging. The wages of storekeepers were