72 



through the air for a distance of 16 feet to a gas meter in 

 the cellar of an adjoining cotton warehouse, where it fused 

 the lead pipe connections and ignited the gas. That the 

 discharge had really passed between the end of the wire 

 rope and the lead pipe connections, was abundantly evident 

 from the marks made on the chimney by the fusion and 

 volatilization of the end of the wire rope, and by the fusion 

 of the lead pipe. As the accident occurred in the daytime, 

 the fire was soon detected, and promptly extinguished. 



Another and equally instructive instance of the inductive 

 influence of gas pipes in determining the direction of the 

 lightning discharge occurred in the summer of 1SG3 at St. 

 Paul's Church, Kersal Moor, during divine service. To the 

 outside of the spire and tower of this church a copx-)er light- 

 ning conductor was fixed, the lower extremity of which was 

 extended under the soil for a distance of about 20 feet. 

 The lightning descended this conductor, but instead of 

 passing into the earth by the path provided for it, struck 

 through the side of the tower to a small gas pipe fixed to 

 the inner wall. The point at which the lightning left the 

 conductor was about 5 feet above the level of the ground, 

 and the thickness of the wall pierced was about 4 feet ; but 

 beyond the fracture of one of the outer stones of the wall, 

 and the shattering of the plaster near the gas pipe, the 

 building sustained no injury. 



That the direction of the electric discharge had, in this 

 case, been determined by the gas pipes which passed under 

 the floor of the church, was evident from the fact that the 

 watches of several members of the conp-reffation who were 

 seated in the vicinity of the gas mains, were so strongly 

 magnetized as to be rendered unserviceable. 



