6 BULLETIN 139^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



burning rapidly to the very roots, kindled the mountain, which had 

 thenceforth continued on fire. The neighboring forests were wholly 

 consumed by the conflagration. At this time the fire seemed to 

 have retired into the center of the mountain, where it raged with 

 prodigious violence, occasionally bursting forth through the wide 

 fissures * * *. 



"The view of the volcano (?) during a stormy night was sublime 



* * * " IB 



All forests have been touched by fire at some time in their history. 

 There is also an unequal distribution of lightning over the earth, and 

 some localities show great prevalence of electrical discharges. In the 

 Santa Rita Mountains in Arizona 30 to 50 per cent of trees^ were 

 struck and many show firing.'^ Around Forestdale ruin on the 

 White Mountain Apache Reservation in Arizona the writer observed 

 an unusual number of trees which had been killed by lightning. 



Lightning is a most prohfic cause of ignition in nature. Since the 

 establishment of forest reserves in the United States it has been 

 found that lightning is a source of great damage to the timbered 

 areas. In 1925, 60 per cent of the fires in the national forests origi- 

 nated from lightning. An observer saw nine different fires started 

 by storm lightning in half an hour.^' 



Lightning fires are a common experience in many parts of the 

 of the world, and are the subject of many customs and observances 

 noted in another section. It is believed that lightning was more 

 prevalent in the glacial period than now.^^ 



Lightning is thought to have furnished one of the sources from 

 which ancient man derived fire, and there is much in the suggestion. 

 An examination of the myths and customs connected with fire from 

 lightning shows that such fire was utilized for cult purposes (p. 144). 



Chance ignitions in nature are sometimes caused in an unusual 

 way. It was observed that many fires were started by falling boul- 

 ders dislodged by an earthquake which occurred in Arizona in 1887.^* 



Col. R. G. Woodthorpe, investigating the cause of jungle fires, 

 writes: "I asked Captain Raike's Burmese servant how these fires 

 originated. He said, 'At this time of the year the ground is covered 

 with dead leaves and dry grass; rocks roll from above onto others 

 below and strike sparks, which set light to the inflammable dry vege- 

 tation.' We were inclined to pooh-pooh this explanation, but further 

 questioning of other entirely independent witnesses alwa3's elicited 

 the same reply." ^" 



16 Peter Simon Pallas. St. John, Lives of Celebrated Travellers, New York, 1835, vol. 3, p. 77. 



J«J. C. Blemmer. The Plant World, vol. 13, February, 1910, pp. 42-44. 



"R. H. D. Boerker. Our National Forests, New York, 1918, pp. 124-125. 



"Information by Dr. W J McQee. 



'•George Ooodfellow, U. S. Geological Survey, reported in Popular Science News, June, 1888. 



so Explorations in Burma, Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc, April, 1889, vol, 11, p. 210. 



