63 
-had refted, was likewife burnt. Two 
men, fpectators of the accident, ran 
immediately towards him upon fee- 
ing him fall; and as it rained hard, 
and a fimall lake had colleéted al- 
mott clofe to the fpot, the fire was 
‘very foon extinguifhed; but the 
effeéts of the fire on one-half of his 
body, and on his cloaths, were fuch 
as to fhew, that the whole burning 
was inftantaneous, not progreflive. 
Part of the eleétric matter pafled 
down a walking-ftick, which the 
‘nan held in his hand, iloping from 
him; and where the ftick reited on 
the ground, it made a perforation 
about 21 inches in.diameter, and 5 
inches deep. This hole I examin- 
ed foon afterwards, and found no- 
thing in it but the burnt roots of 
the grafs, All obfervation would 
probably have ended here, had not 
lord Aylesford determined to erect 
<a monument upon the fpot, not 
merely to commemorate the event, 
but with an infcription, to caution 
the unwary againft the danger of 
fheltering under a tree during a 
thunder - ftorm. In digging the 
foundation for this monument, the 
earth was difturbed at the perfora- 
tion before mentioned, and the foil 
appeared to be blackened to the 
depth of about ten inches. At this 
depth, a root of the tree prefented 
itfelf, which was quite black; but 
this blacknefs was only fuperficial, 
and did not extend’far along it. 
-About two inches deeper, the melted 
quartzofe matter began to appear, 
and continued in a floping direction 
to the depth of 18 inches. 
The fpecimens which accompany 
this paper, and for which I am in- 
debted to the attention of lord 
Aylesford, will demonftrate the in- 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1996. | 
tenfe heat which muf have exited 
to bring fuch materials into fufion. 
Nex. A quartz pebble, one cor- 
ner of which has been completely 
fufed. 
N° z. Sand, unmixed with cal- 
carcous matter, agglutinated by the 
heat. Within the hollow part of 
this mafs, the fufion has been fo 
perfect, that the melted quartzofe 
matter has run down the hollow, 
and affumed nearly a_ globular 
figure. 
Ne 3. Smaller hollow pieces, and 
one nearly flat, but all the flat ones 
have fome hollow part *. 
Mr. Watt fuggefted to me, that 
the hollows had been occafioned by 
the expanfion of moifture whilft the 
fufion exifted. 
I fhall conclude with obferving, 
that judging from the damage done 
to the oak tree, the ftroke was not 
very great; and that having now 
an inducement to dig where the 
earth has been perforated by light- 
ning, we may probably hereafter 
find foflil fubftances melted by it to 
a confiderably greater.extent. 
Account of a Child with a double 
Head; in a Letter from Everard 
Home, E/guire, F. R. S. to John 
Hunter, L/quire, F.R. S. Frim 
the fame. ts 
HE chijd was born in May, 
1783, of poor parents; the 
mother was thirty years old, and 
named Nooki; the father was called 
Hannai, a farmer at Mandalgent 
near Bardawan, in Bengal, and aged 
thirty-five. 
At the time of the child’s birth, 
the woman who aéted as midwife, © 
% Thefe Specimens were laid before the fociety when the paper was read. 
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terrified 
