THUNDER. STORMS, 77 
« were the next moment ready to make a ftill greater dif- 
“ charge, and his apparatus continued to be as much af- 
“ fected as ever. The clouds muft confequently have re- 
“© cerved at one place the moment that a di/charge was 
“* made from them in another.” 
Signior Beccaria accounts for this vaft exhibition of 
electric fire from a thunder cloud, by fuppofing that fome 
parts of the earth may become more highly charged with 
the electric fluid than others, and that great quantities of 
it do fometimes rufh out of particular parts, and rife through 
the air into the higher regions of the atmofphere ; other 
parts of the earth becoming cafually deftitute of their na-~ 
tural quantity of the fluid at the fame time, and ready-to 
receive it: That a chain of clouds nearly contiguous, or 
a fingle cloud extending from one of thefe regions to an- 
other, in an oppofite ftate, might ferve as a conductor or 
conductors to reftore the eletric equilibrium between them,. 
which would equally caufe thunder and lightening in both 
regions, and throughout the intermediate clouds*. Here 
doctor Prieffley juftly obferves, that ** the greateft dificul- 
“ ty attending this theory of the origin of thunder ftorms 
“ relates to the collection and in/ulation of ele&tric matter 
“ within the body of theearth.”” With regard to the co/- 
lection, the doétor obferves that his author “ has nothing 
“¢ particularly to fay :’? Nor indeed without a previous zn- 
Jfalation of thofe parts of the earth which may be concern- 
ed in the produGtion of the phenomena, can any. fuch co/- 
leétion take place. Now if we confider that in order to 
have two regions of the earth thus infulated, and of fufli- 
cient dimenfions, one to fupply, and the other to receive 
the quantities of electric fire difcharged during one thun- 
der itorm of any extent and continuance, the parts infu- 
lated muft be not fuperficial regions, but muft reach to a 
confiderable depth; and we muft fuppofe, with dodtor 
Prieftley, “ that the electric matter which forms and ani- 
* mates the thunder cloud, iffues from places far below 
“the 
* Ibid, 
