532 WRITINGS OF JOSEPH HENRY. [1878 



feet of the mast was broken into larger and smaller frag- 

 ments, principally at right angles to the axis, and scattered 

 over the lawn in every direction. One piece — consisting of 

 an entire portion of the mast six feet long and nearly a foot 

 in diameter, was thrown ninety feet to the north, and another 

 piece of about the same dimensions was projected ninety-six 

 feet in an opposite direction. From the foot of the mast to 

 different points of the compass a number of furrows were 

 plowed in the earth. One of these was in the direction of 

 the house, along the side of which — marks of the discharge 

 were visible at intervals. These indicated the passage of a 

 part of the electrical discharge to a sewer on the farther side 

 of the house. Marks of the discharge were also observed on 

 the inner walls. 



The house was of wood, and the walls consisted of clap- 

 boards on the exterior, and lath and plaster within. The 

 effects on the inside were especially noticed at two points, 

 one of which was opposite an iron safe, and the other was a 

 portrait, the gilding of the frame of which was deflagrated. 



But perhaps the most singular effect was exhibited in an 

 interior room of about twelve feet square, around the cornice 

 of which, under the ceiling, was a narrow strip of gilt bead- 

 ing. Though this room was insulated from the outer wall, 

 the gilt throughout the whole circuit of the room was en- 

 tirely burned off, while the wall in the corner farthest from 

 the mast presented a blackened appearance, indicating that 

 the electricity had passed upward from the earth at this 

 point, and probably down again through the same channel. 



These effects are note-worthy on account of the immense 

 energy displayed in disintegrating the mast, and in the pro- 

 jection of the two large pieces of it in opposite directions. It 

 would appear from this, as well as in the case of trees struck 

 by lightning, that the greatest intensity of the force is in the 

 line of the direction of the discharge, the tenacity of the wood 

 being greatest in this line. 



I have heard of several cases in which the trunks of trees 

 of considerable size have been separated into two parts, as if 

 by violent repulsion in the line of the axis, and of one in- 



