HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



281 



clared that a fireball bad passed through the kitchen 

 and exploded there. I could not trace the whole 

 course of the lightning within the Rectory, but found 

 it had passed along the bell-wire, blackening the 

 walls where it passed through, and had gone 

 out below the front door, partially displacing a 

 piece or two of stone in the stone steps. On pro- 

 ceeding to the Church, the course of the lightning 

 there was easily traced. After striking the flagstaff 

 it had passed down inside the tower to a point a 

 little above the nave. A small window had been 

 blocked up exactly above the ridge of the roof; 

 through this it had made its exit, the bricks, mortar, 

 and stones being cast very obliquely into the church- 

 yard without injuring the roof of the nave. From 

 this point the electric fluid had appareutly passed 

 along externally where the tower and roof of the 

 nave meet, and had then torn off the slates in its 

 progress to the iron water-trough, 'along which it 

 then passed. At the north-east end of the nave was 

 a buttress ; and, at a lower level, along the eaves of 

 the chancel, ran another iron water-trough, the 

 head of the buttress partially intervening. This top 

 of the buttress was entirely torn away, the pieces of 

 stone being scattered around and in some cases cast 

 to long distances. The lightning in its course then 

 passed along this second water-trough, doing no 

 damage except loosening the joints and blowing off 

 the copper elbows, and passed down the up- 

 right iron tube to the earth. It did not enter the 

 earth, however, at this point, for it ploughed a 

 shallow horizontal furrow along the ground in the 

 direction of some iron palisading round a tomb, aud 

 came out on a level with the upper surface of a 

 gravel walk, where all trace of it was lost. At the 

 same time that, the Church and Rectory were struck 

 the Windmill was struck also. The miller was looking 

 out of awindow in the opposite direction from the 

 Church when he was struck aud ;for a time lost all 

 consciousness : he was so injured as to be unable to 

 do any work for six weeks afterwards. The shock 

 was severely felt all round the Church and Rectory. 

 A man who was in the stable at the Rectory was so 

 stunned that he had to be led home, but in a short 

 time quite recovered and felt no further ill effects. 

 Another man who was in his garden near the Church 

 told me he was turned quite round. He says the 

 rush of the stones and mortar from the church- 

 tower was a wonderful sight, and that the dust and 

 smoke caused by it was so dense that he thought the 

 Church was on fire. The miller saw nothing of the 

 lightning, nor did I see it. This I attribute to the 

 shock we received. The most remarkable feature of 

 this account seems to be, that the Church, Rectory, 

 and Windmill were all struck by the same flash of 

 lightning. Of this there could be no doubt, as there 

 was only one discharge anywhere near. Previously 

 to this I had not noticed that it was a thunder- 

 cloud at all, and I only observed one flash after- 

 wards, which was evidently at some distance. 

 Bearing on this point, I have it from a very intel- 

 ligent man, that at the time mentioned he was at a 

 distance of half a mile or more, and saw a flash 

 of lightning descend, which separated when at a 

 distance of about 50 yards from the earth, into 

 three streams. One stream descended straight on 

 the Church, the other two, he should judge, went in 

 about the directions of the Rectory aud Windmill. 

 He told me also he had often watched thunder- 

 storms, but he had never seen so vivid a flash. The 

 same remark was made by several persons who were 

 at much greater distances. Another remarkable 

 point is the number of persons who felt a shock. 



A friend of mine suggests that this was caused by 

 the "return shock." Being highly electrified by 

 the induction of the cloud overhead, we were dis- 

 charged to the nearest good conductor— in my case, 

 to the iron railings. One more point to which I 

 would call attention is the extraordinary direction in 

 which the stones, &c., were cast from the tower. 

 None of thein could have made a greater angle with 

 the face of the tower than from 10° to 15° ; they 

 were cast in the direction the lightning was passing, 

 or very'nearly parallel with the face of the tower. 

 As I know nothing of the theory of electricity, I 

 cannot give_ explanations, but 1 have taken con- 

 siderable pains to get at the facts. — E.N.Bloomfield. 



Crickets. — I have lately been studying the 

 Acheta domestica ; and with reference to the sound 

 made by this insect, although I am unable to show 

 how this is produced, I know that it is not made by 

 rubbing the legs against the elytra, or against each 

 other, as some assert, as I have watched the insect 

 closely when it has been " chirping," and have been 

 unable to detect the slightest movement in any part 

 of its body. That the legs did not move in anyway 

 I am certain. If there was any motion of the elytra, 

 it was so very slight that 1 could not perceive it. 

 On the wings there is a formation very much resem- 

 bling a ladder, runuing from the base of the wing 

 to the apex. Some observers, I believe, hold that 

 the sound is produced by rubbing this ladder-like 

 portion of the wing against the under side of the 

 elytron. This, however, I think could not be. 

 Firstly, because the wing being longer than the 

 elytron, is folded in such a way as to leave only a 

 part of the ladder (as it were) in contact with the 

 elytron, part being folded under. If (as everything 

 in nature is formed for a special purpose of its own) 

 this ladder had been intended to produce the "song 

 of the cricket," it is natural to suppose that it 

 would be placed in a manner the most advantageous 

 for the performance of that purpose, whereas part 

 being folded under, and not in contact with the 

 elytron, that part would be useless, which is not 

 natural. Further, the construction of the ladder is 

 such that it would only be able to produce sound 

 by being drawn against the elytron vertically. This 

 is impossible, as, if the wings can be moved at all 

 when closed, and covered by the elytra, this cannot 

 move any way but laterally. Clearly then, I think, 

 this particular formation cannot be for such a pur- 

 pose. Secondly, the structure of the wing is so 

 slight and gauzy, that 1 do not consider that it 

 could possibly bear the friction. Thus I arrive at 

 the conclusion that the sound of the Achetas is not 

 produced by external means. And in support of 

 this view I would refer any one interested in the 

 subject to the formation of the tongue, which is 

 water-lined as it were (like bank-notes). These 

 lines, I imagine, being parallel ridges, and thus 

 emineutly calculated, in my opinion, to give a 

 thrilling and vibrating tone to any sound issuing 

 from the mouth of the insect. I shall be glad to 

 correspond with any of "ours" on this subject, and 

 between us we may, perhaps, arrive at some con- 

 clusion satisfactory to ourselves at least. — F. E. 

 Fletcher. 



Banded Beauty.— In answer to " W. E. S.'s " 

 query, which appeared in your September number, 

 regarding the Banded Beauty (Ngssia zonaria), 1 

 find in " Westwood's British Moths" that "the 

 larva feeds on Achillea millefolia, and other herba- 

 ceous plants. The perfect inject is found in Feb- 



