THE EEASON WHY. 139 



God thundereth marvellously with his voice : great things doeth he, which \re 

 cannot comprehend." JOB xxxvi. 



To keep aloof, as far as possible, from elevated structures ; and 

 regard the rain, though it might saturate our clothes, as a protec- 

 tion against the lightning stroke, for wet clothes would supply 

 so good a conductor, that a large amount of electricity would pass 

 over man's body, through wet garments, and he would be quite 

 unconscious of it. 



During a violent electric storm in the Shetland Islands, a fishing boat was 

 attacked by the electric fluid, which tore the mast to shivers. A fisherman was 

 sitting by the side of the mast at the time, but he felt no shock. Upon taking 

 out his watch, however, he found that the electric current had actually fused 

 his watch into a mass. In this case, it is more than probable that the man was 

 saved through the saturation of his clothes with rain. 



608. Do lightning conductors " attract" electricity ? 

 Not unless the electric current lies in their vicinity. 



609. Wliy have lightning conductors sometimes been found 

 ineffective ? 



Because they have been unskilfully constructed ; have been too 

 small in their dimensions, and have not been properly laid to 

 convey the electricity harmlessly away. 



610. W hat is the lest metal for a lightning conductor ? 

 Copper, the conducting power of which is Jive times greater 



than that of iron. 



611. Why should a large building have several conductors ? 

 Because the influence of a conductor over the electricity of the 



surrounding air does not extend to more than a radius of double the 

 height of the conductor above the building : for instance, a 

 conductor rising ten feet high above the building would influence 

 the electricity twenty feet all round the conductor. 



612. Why should conductors have at their base several 

 tranches penetrating the earth ? 



To facilitate the discharge of the accumulated electricity into 

 the earth. 



613. Why does electricity affect the shapes of clouds ? 

 Because electricity does not penetrate the masses of bodies, but 



affects generally their surfaces. Hence electricity exists in tho 



