43 



ATMOSPIIEUIC ELECTniClTV 



I had ail oi)[)(iit unity of observing in our line the eflects 

 ot" the tliiiiulcr showers of the 2 1st of May. Being alone, I 

 eoiild not pay that attention to the several phenomena 

 whieli I desired. We had a very sensitive compass which 

 we used as a galvanometer. The oscillations of the needle 

 were followed hy a report of distant thunder. As the 

 shower was tifteen or twenty miles distant, several seconds 

 elapsed between the deviation of the needle and the re- 

 port. The instruments were not "cut out" at first so that I 

 ol)tained simultaneously with the oscillation of the needle, 

 the click of the armature. I could now time the oscilla- 

 tions of the barometer. These I found to correspond to 

 the oscillations of the needle in time and amount with the 

 intensity of the current. I did not continue these experi- 

 ments long from fear of injury to the insti'ument, and 

 possibly injury to myself. 



The next day there Avas a succession of showers, with 

 one at noon on the summit continuins; an hour, durinsf 

 which time the depot was struck five times. Early in the 

 morning, I had taken the precaution to connect the rails by 

 an iron bar, and this I think saved the building from dam- 

 age. It is said that, since the road was comi)leted, scarcely 

 a day passes, when there are not electrical discharges 

 on the mountain, but that man}' of these seek the track, as 

 the best conductor, following it to some point near the 

 river at the terminus. Ju view of the terrible results 

 attending mtmntain thunder storms, to those so unfortu- 

 nate as to encounter them, of which we have accounts of 

 large parties perishing together by a single discharge of 

 electric fire, we might be surprised to learu that no harm 

 was ever done buildings or persons on Mount Washington, 

 althouii^h the hotel has more than once been struck. Is 



