THE EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING. 



79 



road at the moment of the explosion, and at no other part. The hair was 

 singed on the legs and under the bellies of the horses, and by a careful exam- 

 ination of the marks left in the dust of the road where they fell, it was appa- 

 rent that they must have been struck suddenly stone dead, so that no life re- 

 mained when they touched the ground. Had there been any convulsive strug- 

 gle, the marks would have been visible. The body of the driver was scorched 

 in different places, and his dress, shirt, and particularly his hat, were reduced 

 to rags. A strong odor proceeded from them. 



All the witnesses of this occurrence agreed, that no luminous appearance 

 whatever attended it. The driver of the second wagon was conversing with 

 his comrade, and was looking toward him at the moment he was struck down, 

 being at about twenty yards behind him, but saw no light. A shepherd stand- 

 ing in an adjacent field, told Mr. Brydone that he had his eye on the wagon 

 at the very instant of the explosion, but he saw no light. He saw a vortex of 

 dust arise at the place of the explosion, but unaccompanied by any luminous 

 appearance. Finally, Mr. Brydone himself at the moment of the event was 

 standing at an open window, with a watch in his hand, explaining to the per- 

 sons around him the method of calculating the distance of the lightning, by ob- 

 serving the interval between the flash and the thunder, and he heard the ex- 

 plosion, but perceived no light. 



The explanation of these effects which naturally presents itself to a mind 

 conversant with the laws established by experiment on artificial electricity is 

 that the natural electricities of some subterraneous conductors are decomposed 

 by the inductive action of the atmosphere, or by other causes, and that the flu- 

 id thus liberated and accumulated immediately under the non-conducting crust 

 which forms the surface breaks through that crust, and passes to the nearest 

 external conductor. Hence the fusion of the tires of the wheels by electricity 

 issuing from holes immediately under them. 



The absence of light in the electric emanations which proceed from the 

 ground is not general. The following statements coming from an authority not 

 to be questioned will illustrate this : — 



On the 10th of September, 1713, MafFei relates, that having been delayed 

 for some time near the chateau of Fosdinovo, in the territory of Massacanara, 

 he took shelter from a storm in the chateau, where, with the Marquis de Malas- 

 pina, he was received by the mistress of the house in a room situate on the 

 ground floor. There they saw suddenly appear on the surface of the ground |i 

 a vivid flame, having a light partly white and partly azure. This flame was 

 much agitated, but had no progressive motion. After gradually acquiring a 

 considerable volume, it suddenly disappeared. At the instant of its disappear- 

 ance Maffei felt in his shoulder, proceeding from his back upward, a peculiar 

 tickling sensation (un chatouillement particulier) ; plaster detached from the 

 ceiling of the room fell upon his head, and in fine, he heard an explosion dif- 

 ferent, however, from the sound of thunder. 



In a letter addressed to Apostolo Zeno, Maffei states that, on the 26th of 

 July, 1731, lightning struck at Casalaone, accompanied by thunder as loud as 

 a cannonade, the principal tower, tore away the escutcheon bearing the 

 arms of the town, destroying the stone mouldings, and did other damage. This 

 occurrence was preceded by the appearance of a great flame at a little distance 

 from the ground. 



The following statement is on the authority of the abbe Richaud : — 



" On the 2d July, 1750, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, being in the church of 

 St. Michel, at Dijon, during a storm I saw appear suddenly between the first 

 two pillars of the principal nave a red flame, which was suspended in the air 

 at the height of three feet from the floor. This flame then gradually augment- 



