470 Professor Arthur Schuster [Feb. 22, 



in which this form appears is best described in the words of eye- 

 witnesses. 



Dr. A. Wartmann gives to the Physical Society of Geneva the 

 following account of what he saw : * — " At half-past six o'clock in the 

 evening I drove from Versoix to Genthoud. On the Malagny Road 

 I heard the coachman say he did not know where he was. His eyes 

 were so much fatigued by the frequent and intense lightning dis- 

 charges, that he was blinded, and could not, even in the intervals, 

 see the road, in spite of the good lanterns alongside. I stepped on to 

 the box and took the reins. We had barely passed the principal 

 gate of the grounds of Dr. Marcet, when I became conscious of a 

 bright and lasting luminosity behind me. Thinking it was a fire, I 

 turned round, and saw, at a distance of, roughly, 300 metres, a ball 

 of fire of about 40 cm. diameter. It travelled in our direction with 

 a velocity about equal to that of a bird of prey, and left no luminous 

 trail behind. Just as the ball had overtaken us, about 24 metres to 

 our right, it burst with a terrific noise, and it seemed to me as if lines 

 of fire started from it. We felt a violent shaking, and remained 

 blinded a few seconds. As soon as I regained power of distinguishing 

 objects, I saw that the horses had turned at a right angle to the 

 carriage, with their chests in the hedge, with drooping ears and all signs 

 of great terror. I returned on the following day to the place where 

 I had seen the ball explode, but could find no sign of any damage. 

 At a distance of 100 metres I found that a group of three trees, 

 bordering a wood, had their upper branches singed, but it is not 

 possible to say whether this was due to the discharge which I had 

 seen." 



The following is a translation of an account given by Mr. H. W. 

 Both :j — " During the thunderstorm of May 19, 1888, at about 6 p.m., 

 a flash of lightning took effect which seems to me remarkable from a 

 physiological point of view. The dealer Werner, from Ellerbruch, and 

 his son (16 years old), w r ith a one-horse conveyance containing rags, 

 were on the road which leads from here to the village of Ottensen, 

 about three miles away in a south-westerly direction. The father 

 had been left a little behind, and the son was occupied in giving 

 bread to the horses, when he found himself suddenly surrounded 

 by light, and noticed a fiery ball, about the size of his fist, move 

 towards him along the back of the horse. Then he lost conscious- 

 ness. He felt no concussion. The father, on approaching, saw the 

 horses' limbs still contracting, and at first he thought his son was 

 dead, but succeeded, after considerable efforts, in bringing him back 

 to life in about three-quarters of an hour. The horse was dead." 



Some curious statistics have been collected, especially in Germany, 

 as to the damage done by lightning flashes. That damage seems to 



* 'Arch, des Sri. Phys. et Nat.' (3) vol. xxi. 1889. The above account is trans- 

 lated from the ' Meteerologische Zeitschrift,' ] 889. 

 t ' Meteorologische Zeitschrift,' 1889, p. 231. 



