114 Danger from Lightning, 



disdain to enter into any discussion upon the subject ; but facts 

 should, and will prevail over the most imposing authorities. 

 "When Mqffei, now about a century ago, resolved to publish his 

 ideas upon ascending thunder-bolts, based upon a local pheno- 

 menon he had observed at the Castle of Fosdinovo, he had the 

 precaution, more prudent in this respect than Galileo to de- 

 monstrate that he could reconcile his views with the passages in 

 the Holy Scriptures, in which notice is taken oi Jire Jailing 

 from heaven on Sodom and Gomorrha, and of lightning de- 

 scending from the clouds, &c. Fortunately, in the present 

 day, the most celebrated scientific theories, though to some in- 

 dividuals objects of a religious veneration, do not require the 

 same kind of reserve. Every one may now examine them, and 

 may criticise and debate concerning them, and requires only to 

 stop where the field of observation and experiment is veiled from 

 his path. 



UPON THE DANGERS WHICH ARISE FROM LIGHTNING, AND UPON THE 

 MEANS WHICH AT DIFFERENT TIMES HAVE BEEN USED FOR PRO- 

 TECTION, MORE ESPECIALLY CONDUCTORS. 



Are the dangers which arise from lightning so considerable as to 

 merit consideration ? 



Is the danger of being struck with lightning so great, that we 

 ought reasonably to attach importance to the means of guarding 

 against it .^ This question has different aspects, and it may be 

 regarded in reference to individuals, to dwellings, and to ships. 



In the centre of the great towns of Europe, mankind, it would 

 at first glance appear, are but httie exposed. Lichtenberg says 

 that he had satisfied himself that during half a century^ Jive 

 men only were seriously struck with lightning in the town of Got- 

 tingen ; of these five, three only died. It is stated, with regard 

 to Halle, that a single individual had been killed by lightning 

 in the interval between the years 1609 and 1825, that is to say 

 in more than two centuries. At Paris, where tables concerning 

 the metropolitan welfare are kept with such regularity, the chief 

 officer of the Statistics of the Prefecture assured me that during 

 a great number of years not a single death had been notified as 

 produced by lightning. Notwithstanding this, however, there 

 were not wanting instances during the same period, and in the 



