LIGHTNING 



coxnr 



powerful explosive fore, had been suddenly generated within them, 

 thu. e.uit**rnprovidl with lightning-conductor* have had their 

 Jteeple. and towir* destroyed, and heavy atone* projected in all 

 dincoofx. to a di*tano* of sevrrsl hundred yard*, while timber and 



mramiDf ttwrt are torn int.. shmU. M if from lira operation of 

 owwful mutual f.-rc., which Arago u disposed to attribute to high- 

 presetm steam, generated to the intense bmt uf the discharge acting 

 on th* aap ul the wood. The mast* of ship* hare in like manner been 

 reduced to fragment* in a moment. Thus, the lot ol the Kadmty, 

 truck bjr liffhtning in December, IMg.reoords the following effbcU : 

 The top lUt and royal-mait. M fret long, weighing nearly 8 ct, 

 entirely .luam-^ml in-in the ship, with the exception of the end f tho 

 royal-mast. The en was covered, with chipi and splinters, snil " ill" 

 waUr alongside looked M if it had received all the refuM of a cur- 

 psatcr s (hop." Out of tm.-nty.ii immenM iron hoop*, which were 

 clasped or driven round the mainmast, thirteen were broken asunder, 

 and cam* rattling down on the deck with a horrid dang; the ravages of 

 the di-charg- oonld be traced through M feet. The lightning had 

 enured the very heart of the mart, which it charred, and at the point 

 where the lightning eaoaped was a hole many incbet deep. Cases of 

 thu kind are v-ry numerous, and are all marked by somewhat similar 

 isTstla. where the lightning has to encounter a mixed system of good 

 and bad conductors, such a* the wood and metal work of a chip, or the 

 tone and metal work of a church-steeple. The lightning will pick 

 out theee nu*sn* of metal M *o many p..int- in the liiu- ..( least resist- 

 ance, and in ardor to get at them, will rend and disperse bndly con- 

 ducting material* ; in abort, by its K-haviour, it no clearly pointed out 

 the remedy to be adopted, namely, that of furnishing a suflici.-nt !y 

 capacious line of conduction from the highest point* of the ship or 

 building to the earth, that we can ouly wonder at the blindnen of 

 architect* and engineer* in not adopting the remedy : hut most of all 

 are we surprised at the opposition which survived until quit* recently 

 at the proportion to supply every ship in her Majesty's Navy with the 

 fixed system of conductor* which will be more particularly noticed in 

 the next article. 



A very common result of an explosive discharge of lightning, espe- 

 cially in a ship not furnUhed with proper conductors, is to disturb, 

 weaken, or destroy the magnetism of the compass-needle, or to reverse 

 its pole*, to render msssia of iron and steel strongly magnetic, even 

 to the steel parts of mathematical instrument* and the springs of 

 watchea and chronometers. Cases of this kind arc constantly occur- 

 ring, and we need hardly point out the danger to a ship out at sea, with 

 an impaired compass and chronometer. [LOCAL ATTRACTION.] 



The action of lightning i* every year fatal to man and beast, as well 

 a* destructive to property. H. Boudin, in an elaborate work on the 

 subject, ha* shown that from the year 1835 to 1852, as many as 1308 

 persons had been killed by lightning in France, which gives an average 

 of six persons every month, and this statement does not include those 

 struck by lightning, but not lulled. Out of an annual numlwr of !:i. 

 the largeat number of deaths is in June, in which there are -J-J, ami in 

 August 19 ; no deaths from this cause occur during November ami the 

 three following months. The number of persons killed every year by 

 lightning U stated on an average to be, 22 for Kngland, LTNi'for the 

 1 State*, and V-tiJ for Sweden. The mortality from lightning 

 among the lower animals appears to be more extensive than among 

 human beings, probably from their being congregated together in 

 larger number*. Thus we read of 2000 sheep being killed by a single 

 flash of lightning. This occurred in Ethiopia, and is given on the 

 authority ( U. D'Abbadie. At Sacoo, in the kingdom of Naples, in 

 August, 1858, the lightning killed 120 sheep, out of a flock of 140. 

 Neither the shepherd nor the shepherd-hoy was hurt, but .1 kill which 

 the latter held in hi* arm* wa* killed. COMB of this kind are not 

 uncommon, in which the shepherd and the hunteman have been spared, 

 while the sheep, the dogs, and the horses have been struck. 



Accident* from lightning are more frequent on elevated places than 

 in the plains, and in a village or tbe open country than in the i-i 

 city. Some of the most disastrous accident* from lightning have pro- 

 cswkd from the explosion* of magazine* of gunpowder. Urge | 

 * have been destroyed from this cause, such as Brescia, i< 

 Malaga, in 17SO; Luxembourg, in 1807; Mavarin, in Ils2!; Uoucin, 

 hi Spain, in 1843 : and many other place* down to our own time. The 

 damage to (hipping we bare already referred to. But we may just 

 glance at a parliamentary paper, belonging to the session of the House of 



- : ill :: - N 



damaged by lightning between the years 17DO and 1840. These cue* 

 techd* 106 skip, ol :the line, 70 frigates, 80 sloops and brigs, 2 sch 

 7 cutters, 6 sheer hulks, 6 ships in ordinary, 6 steamers, 2 of which 

 were of iron, so that every variety of veMel has been attacked by 

 lightning In then oases there were damaged or destroyed 185 lower 

 moots, of which 184 belonged to i frigates ; not less than 



10 were completely ruined ; 180 topmasU were ruined or damaged 

 150 topsails* masta dertroyed, including of course Urge quantities 

 of rigging, aaift, and other stores. In about one-eighth of theso oases 

 the *hi| were set on fire by the lightning, either in tbe mart* or in 

 the sail*, or rigging, and in some CMS* the ship* were severely damaged 

 in the bull Uf morse the men on board did not slwayTescape. 

 Nearly \0 aaaraen wire killed, and upwards of S60 dangerously hurt. 



I'rvtection from lightning ha. occupied the attention* person, in 



all age*, and ha. led to many superstitious practices. The ancients 

 believed that lightning never struck deeper into the earth than iiv.< 

 feet, *o that caverns were favourite place* of resoit n.ler 



storm*. A grotto containing a reservoir of water has also been 

 favourite place of retreat. The Romans fancied that seal's skin was 



preservative against lightning, and tenU were constructed of this 

 material aa a retreat for person* during a storm. In the revenues, the 

 shepherds to this day wear the skins of snake* hi their haU as a pro- 

 atrvative against lightning. Tho ringing of church-bells during a storm 

 is a custom still practised in Roman Catholic countries, under tl> 



of dispersing the storm : indend, this is one of the functions assigned 

 to the bell in its baptism. Tbe kindling of large fires in the open air, 

 and the firing of cannon, may also be reckoned among the puny 

 which ignorance sometime-* directs against one of the grandest powers 

 of nature. It has been supposed that certain tree* are never struck by 

 lightning, and the question is even debated at the present day, as to 

 what tree* are mort liable to be struck. It is also a favourite opinion 

 that persons in bed have nothing to fear from lightning, and this is to 

 a great extent true, although there are esses of persons having been 

 killed by lightning while jn bod. Glass being a non-conductor, 

 ianoranUy supposed that it would repel lightning, and it was customary 

 to place a thick ball of gin.--* on thu projecting points of building*, 

 ships, and lighthouses. The spire of Christ Church. I )< meaoter, thus 

 furnihed, was destroyed by lightning in November, 183G. 

 constructed wholly of glass have been made for the use of timid per- 

 sona during a thunder storm; a useless precaution, since there are 

 cases of glass windows being struck by lightning and the glass reduced 



When lightning strikes persons it particularly attacks any metal 

 which they may be wearing at the time. In July, 1868, a peasant 

 woman near Auxonne in France, returning with her husband from thu 

 fields, was struck dv.nl by lightning ; her hair was singed, and part of a 

 silver comb melted ; the husband escaped with only a alight shook. 

 There are many such cases, where the bracelet, the wire of a ! 

 the watch. &<-.. have been struck, and even fused without Ices of life. 

 Men aii' I animals in a line, as soldiers in a regiment or horsv- 

 stable, are liable t" r near thu extremities of the line rather 



than in the centre. There are cases on record of the first and last 

 horse, or the first and last children sitting on a bench, having been 

 killed, while tho intermediate individuals escaped. It is difficult to 

 account for cases like these, but probably there are variations in the 

 state of the skin ta to moisture or dryneas, articles worn about the 

 person, the kind of dress, Ac., all very difficult to trace, but which 

 may have Borne effect in determining the course of the discharge. 

 Franklin advises timid persons, occupying houses which are unpi > 

 by lightning conductors, to avoid tho neighbourhood of (In 

 during a storm, because the soot U a conductor of electricity. Abw to 

 keep as far away as possible from metals, mirrors, ami uil.inl articles. 

 The best place is in the middle of the room, provided there is no lamp 

 hanging from the ceiling. A person is less exposed by avoiding con- 

 tact with the walls and the floor, and hence the safest of a 1 

 is to go into a hammock suspended by silken cords in the 

 large room. If this cannot be done, it is advisable to place tx 

 the person and the floor some badly conducting substance, such aa a 

 mattress. In short, the position of safety is that in which tho body 

 cannot assist as a conductor to the passage of the lightning. 



\Vii.it is called the rrturn ttrokt, ia when the electricity of a 

 strikes the earth, and then bounds up again to another cloud. 

 are many other minute phenomena connected with lightning which 

 are deserving the notice of the student. The subject is tnatnl witli 

 great minuteness in Arago's notice ' Bur le Tonnerre, 1 published in the 



Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes,' Paris, 1837. Sir W. Snow 

 Harris has also a work ' On the nature of Thunderstorms,' !S4!i. I '> 

 l.i Rive's large work on Electricity also treats on the subject: but 

 ]>erhaps the moet accessible book specially devoted to the phenomena 

 of thunderstorms, is by C. Tomlin^on, i ntitled ' The Thundei.-i 



an account of the pn>i>crtic8 of Lightning, and of Atmosphrr: 

 tricity in various ports of the World,' published in 1859. 



For some notice of the accom]iaiiimciit of lightning, see Tiu'XDKii. 



LIGHTNING CONDUCTOR, is a bar of metal, I bars 



of metal, attached in a particular manner to a building or a ship, 

 and extending from below the level of the ground, or from the .-.hip's 

 metallic sheathing, to a point or pointx - ,,i.ov>- the highest 



part* of the roof, or of the steeple, i' tin- building have - i, . or the 

 chip's masts, in order to secure the edifice from f lightning : 



tin- u]']H-r extremity of the rod or bar should terminate in H point. 



i the time when the idcnti' 



established, a great deal of misapprehension ha* existed, and continued 

 even to our own day, as to the proper function of a lightning conductor. 

 We have seen it stated- by persona calling themselves architects and 

 engineers, as well as by persons hold ., i.il rank, that lightning 



conductors do more harm than good : that they invite the lightning to 

 tho building or ship ; that they are a " "<l'" fTrrn*i>, and so on 

 hence we see new churches built every year * )>. ut m-htnii 

 ductors, and every year we read of steeples being kn. .. ;,. -I .|..v. 

 churches damaged, or set on fire by lightning ; merchant phip.i are also 

 sent to sea without conductors, and are sometimes lost or disabled as a 

 consequence of tbe neglect. 



