Lightning as connected with Trees. 129 



The ancients believed, that lightning never fell upon the 

 laurel. But never is not the proper expression; for I find, 

 in M. Poinsinet-de-Sivry's Notes, to his Translation of Pliny, 

 that Sinnertus, Vicomercatus, and Philip James Sachs, report 

 the destruction of these shrubs by lightning. Mr Maxwell 

 ranges the beech among the trees which are respected by light- 

 ning. A pamphlet, which M. H^ricart lately distributed to 

 the members of L? Academic des Sciences^ states, that an aged 

 beech, which had been preserved in the year 1835, among some 

 old trees which had been cut down in the middle of the forest 

 of Villers-Cotterets, was struck with lightning, and nearly de- 

 molished, in the month of July of the same year. Theoretical 

 considerations had induced a belief, that resinous trees were not 

 liable to injury from lightning. We have just seen, however, 

 that Mr Maxwell places the pine among those which are most 

 frequently struck. In the pamphlet of M. de Thury, I have 

 found enumerated, among the trees injured by lightning, the 

 following: — -A pine, at Samt-Martin-de-Thury^ in August 

 1834; a fir-tree, at Saint Jean-de-Day (Manche), in June 

 1836; a cherry-tree, Sit Anthilly^ in August 1834; an acacia, 

 at Saint-Jean-le-Pauvre-de-Thury, in September 1814 ; an elm, 

 at Moiselles, in June 1823 ; and oaks and poplars in abun- 

 dance. 



Individuals are often struck with lightning in a free and 

 open country. Many facts, however, attest that the danger is 

 still greater under trees. Hence Dr Winthorpe concludes, 

 from this twofold remark, that to escape the effect of the meteor, 

 when surprised in the country, nothing better can be done, 

 than to place one's self at a little distance from some tall tree ; 

 by a little distance, understanding between sixteen and forty 

 feet. A station still more favourable would be found in a spot 

 which would satisfy those conditions, in regard to two or more 

 neighbouring trees. Franklin added the weight of his opinion 

 to the utility of those directions. Henley, who also con- 

 ceived that they were based both on theory and experience, 

 modified them only thus far, that when there was only a single 

 tree, individuals should be recommended to place themselves in 

 relation to its trunk from sixteen to twenty feet beyond a 



VOL. XXVI. NO. LI.— JANUARY 1839- I 



