248 On Diseases and Accidents of Farmers, 



Persons struck with lightning are to be stripped, and 

 have cold water dashed on their bodies, and sprinkled 

 in their face. Friction with coarse cloths are to be ap- 

 plied, every time after the use of the vvater.^ 



* It is singjular, that few farmers when thej build a house or 

 barn, will incur a little additional expense for a lightning rod to 

 preserve them from destruction : of those which are erected in 

 town or country, very few are properly constructed. For this 

 reason, the following directions by the author, are here inserted 

 from the Agric. Almanac of Philadelphia, for the year 1825. 



1. The rod should be made of iron, and it will be the better 

 for being round and smooth ; the several pieces composing it 

 must be neatly welded together, and the top formed into a 

 moderate point, and tinned to prevent rust, which destroys the 

 conducting power of iron. Where the tinning cannot be done, 

 coat the point with black lead, and as this will be washed oft' 

 in time, it must be renewed when necessary. It is still better 

 to make the point of the metal called platina, as that will not 

 rust, and requires no further attention when once fixed.* 



2. For a dwelling-house, the rod should run up the side or 

 end, so as to project four or five feet, at least, above the chim- 

 ney, because the heated and moist smoky vapour in the tunnel 

 of a chimney having, a fire on the hearth will act as a conduc- 

 tor to the electrical fluid. To shew the importance of this cau- 

 tion, it may be mentioned, that most of the accounts annually 

 published, state the circumstance of lightning passing down 

 chimnies into houses : and the chimney of a house at Purfleet in 

 Kngland was struck, although a rod was affixed to another part 

 of it. In a building without a chimney, the rod should be placed 

 on the west side in preference, because thunder storms com- 

 monly come from that quarter. 



3. The rod is to be fastenetl to the wall by iron clamps or 

 staples; and the lower end of the rod should enler a stream of 

 water, or the earth two or three feet ; then go six feet from the 

 wall, and then be bent downwards three or four ieti, to prevent 

 damage to the foundation. Where a house is about to be built, 

 the rod ought to be the first thing prepared, as it can be easily 

 inserted in the ground (when the cellar is dug) to a depth to 



* I h=:se [)()ims fire made anr' kt pt for sale by Isaiah Lukcns of Philadelphia. 



