Myles Custance to Faraday   5 July 1855¹

Conservative Club | St. James St. | July 5th 1855

Sir

Will you permit a stranger to intrude upon your politeness by requesting the favour of an answer to an enquiry which I wish to make as to the cause, or rather your opinion of the cause of the violent Gales of wind which prevailed for so long a time without any intermission until lately and which are still continued occasionally.

It occurred to me some time ago that the atmosphere must have undergone an extraordinary disturbance by the continued firing at Sebastopol. I attempted to make a rough calculation of the number of shots fired by the Artillery, Bombs, the explosion of ammunition waggons and mines together with the hundred of thousands of shots from small arms and also the great Guns on board the Ships continued daily for so long a time and very often during the greater part of the Night in addition. If you calculate the prodigious quantity of Gun powder thus expanded into gas a most prodigious disturbance of the atmosphere must of necessity I apprehend take place. I should not have intruded this letter upon your Notice had I not seen some time after this idea had struck me that a French Chymist whose name I cannot immediately recollect had declared himself to be of the same opinion[.]

It appears to me that the expansion of such a quantity of Gunpowder must be equivalent to adding an additional quantity of atmosphere to the Earth and that the addition of such a vast quantity must absorb a large amount of heat from the Natural atmosphere and thereby cause the wind to be so much colder than is usually the case at this period of the year. The “Times” Correspondent yesterday mentioned that in 2 days the Allies fired 23,960 shots from the Artillery alone independent of the number of shots fired from Sebastopol². It would very much gratify me to have your opinion on the subject in order that I may be corrected if I am wrong in my opinion but if right that I may have the opportunity of waving your letter in the faces of my friends and thereby stop that ridicule and laughter which generally accompany the expression of my opinion[.]

I remain Sir | Yours very obediently | Myles Custance

M. Faraday Esq