364 PHILOSOPHY OF STORMS. 







which it had taken up before, and which it had scattered 

 in its borders. A field of corn on the north west of the 

 park, felt the influence of the spout ; all the stalks nearest 

 to the passage of the meteor, had their ears scorched on the 

 side next the spout on the south east, while the side oppo- 

 site was left untouched and green. The hill on which the 

 castle is built, terminates abruptly towards the north east, 

 and the ravine below is filled with the waters of a pond. 

 Some willows were in the middle, and consequently served 

 as so many points of attraction. The spout did not prolong 

 itself immediately, to establish the communication which 

 had just been broken ; there was at first a discharge at a dis- 

 tance, producing a large flame, which appeared to fall from 

 the cone into the pond. This globe of fire was seen by 

 Madam Louvetand her daughter, who found herself near the 

 pond at this time. The young girl was hurried along about 

 ten metres without being able to resist the force ; at last she 

 stopped herself by clinging to the trunk of a tree on the 

 outside of its path. 



The electric discharge produced an effect which is well 

 known, and which we have often produced in our micro- 

 scopic experiments : that is, to kill the animals contained 

 in the liquid by electric discharges at a distance. This is 

 what happened at Chatenay. A great number of fishes 

 were killed by the discharge which took place at the mo- 

 ment when the communication was established between the 

 spout and the pond. The half of the trees which bordered 

 it were more or less broken, dried and split into splinters. 



After having remained a moment on the pond, the spout 

 advanced along a ditch full of water and bordered with 

 willows; it had lost its violence and its extent; it travelled 

 slowly, and traversed more slowly still a field situated beyond 

 the pond. In advancing across the field, the spout became 

 visibly more slender and more transparent ; in fine, at about 

 one thousand metres from Chatenay, near a clump of trees, 



