MEMOIRS 



OF THE 



literary and iPfitlojsop&fcal Society of 

 JWatu&e»ttr* 



I. — On Lightning and Lightning Conductors. 

 By the late Mr. William Sturgeon. 



(Continued from Vol. IX. p. 79.) 



52. My own experience, which has been extensive in 

 electro-explorations of fogs, corresponds with that of all other 

 observers. I have found them invariably electro-positive; 

 and in many instances, especially in frosty mornings, the well- 

 known odoriferous character of electricity is so remarkably 

 well developed on the olfactories, that no electrician could 

 mistake it. 



53. Haze, also, which occurs during hot weather, and 

 floats higher in the air, and is more attenuated than fogs, 

 I have found to be still more pregnant with intense electro- 

 positive action. In some cases the discharges, through an 

 uninsulated wired kite string held in the hand, have been 

 so copious and rapid, during a haze, that it was impossible 

 to evade a multitude of shocks. They frequently occurred 

 in absolute torrents or vollies. 



54. Now, although there may be a difference in the magni- 

 tude of the particles constituting fog, haze, and thunder-cloud, 



