370 WRITINGS OF JOSEPH HENRY. [1855- 



loud report, and saw his companion and the two horses 

 which he was driving fall to the ground. He immediately 

 ran to his assistance, but found him quite dead. The horses 

 were also killed, and appeared to have died without a struggle. 

 The hinder cartman had the horses and driver of the forward 

 cart full in view when they fell to the ground, but he saw 

 no flash or appearance of fire, and was sensible of no shock 

 or uncommon sensation. Each wheel was marked with a 

 bluish spot on the tire, as if the iron had been subjected at 

 that place to an intense heat, and directly under these spots 

 were two holes in the ground, from which the earth was re- 

 moved as if by an upward explosion. Flashes of lightning 

 had been seen and thunder heard by Mr. Brydone also, who 

 was in the vicinity at the time, but these were at the distance 

 of five or six miles, as shown by the time elapsed between 

 seeing the flash and hearing the thunder. There were no 

 marks however of the exit of the discharge upwards from 

 the body of the man or of the horses, or any effect which 

 could be attributed to a discharge immediately from the 

 cloud. The accident was seen by another person, from a 

 greater distance, who was also astounded by the loud report, 

 saw the horses and man fall to the ground, and perceived 

 the dust arise at the place, although he observed no lightning 

 or fire at the time, A shepherd in a neighboring field, during 

 the same storm, observed a lamb drop down dead, and felt at 

 the same time as if fire had passed over his face, although 

 the lightning and clap of thunder were at a great distance 

 from him. This happened a quarter of an hour before the 

 accident to the cartman, and not over three hundred yards 

 from the same spot. A woman making hay near the bank 

 of the river close by, fell suddenly to the ground, and ex- 

 claimed to her companions that she had received a violent 

 blow on her foot, and could not imagine whence it came. 



A scientific analysis of these phenomena is given by 

 Earl Stanhope, on principles similar to those of induc- 

 tion, which we shall translate into the precise language of 

 that theory. Let us suppose a cloud eight or ten miles in 

 length to be extended over the earth in the situation repre- 



