410 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[July 22, 



From the Connecticut Journal. 



the buildings on which they are erected. Many 

 buildings 15 or 20 feet in I'ength, have only a 

 rod at one end, rising not more than 6 or 8 feet 

 ;;bove the building ; and many buildings, with 

 i' chimnies 15 or 20 feet distant, have only a rod 

 rising 4 or 5 feet above one chimney. Itsliould 

 be carefully borne in mind that such rods do not 

 secure the remote parts of a building, and that 

 the trifling expense of adding a few feet to the 

 height of the rod ought not to be placed in com- 

 petition with the hazard of lives and property. 

 To protect two chimnies of equal height with 

 one rod, the height of the rod above the chim- 

 ney on which it is raised should be equal to hall 

 the distance between the tvvocbimnles — for ex- 

 ample, two chimnies 20 feet distant from each 

 other, would be protected by a rod elevated !U 

 feet above one of the chimnies. This conclu- 

 sion is readily drawn from the above rule, as 

 given by DrV. ; and the same rule shows that, 

 for the security of a building, we can rarely de- 

 pend upon a rod of ordinary height on a neigh- 

 bouring building. 



Accidents frequently happening from the des- 

 truction of the lower portion of the conductor 

 by riist, the following remarks arc important : 



" Iron, in immediate contact with moist earth, 

 ?oon becomes- covered with rust, and in time is 

 destroyed : to prevent this, the conductor should 

 he placed in a (rough filled with charcoal, in the 

 following manner. i^lavJng made a trench Jn 

 the grounil about two feet deep, a row of brick 

 is laid on the broad side, and covered by anolh 



LIGHTNIKG RODS. 

 In (he recently published number of Profes- 

 sor Silliman's Journal of Science vol. IX. No. 11. 



we notice a valuable paper on lightning rod,-, 



by Dr J. Van Rensselaer, of New York, which 



it is hoped will be eminently useful in calling 



public attention to this important subject. The 



paper commences with the following remark: 

 " We hear so frequently of the destruction of 



lives and properly by the effect of lightning, 



that it surprising morn eRectual measures are 



not taken to guard against its power. In a coim- 



try where the discovery was made, we should 



naturally expect to find it in extensive use ; and 



yet England and France are both more zealous 



than the government of the United Slates in 



bringing to perfection the science of Franklin." 

 After referring to several authors who have 



written on this subject, and remarking briefly 



on the properties of the electrick fluid, Dr V. 



proceeds to give directions for the construction 



and arrangement of lightning rods : 



" It is proved by the experiments of MM. de 



Romas and Charles, that the higher the rod is 



elevated in the air, other circumstances being 



equal, the more its efficacy will be increased. — 



It is announceil that the most idvantageous form 

 for the extremity is that of a very sharp cone. 



In this country it is usual to lave three points 

 diverging — in Europe, on the continent particu- 

 larly, only one is used, placed perpendicularly. 

 " How (ar the sphere of aciion of the rod ex- 

 tends has not been accurately determined ; but 

 it is known that some buildings have been struck 

 even when they had rods attached to them. — 

 This however has always taken place at a dis- 

 tance from the conductor." 



" A lightning rod," continues DrV. " consists 

 of two parts, the stem which project* nbove (he 

 roof into the air, and the conductor which des- 

 cends from (he stem to the ground." 



Following the French authors, Dr V, gives 

 very precise rules for forming (lie extremity of 

 the stem, lor which the Journal of Science may 

 be coniulled, but we think sjch extreme pre- 

 cision iu this particular altogether unnecessary. 

 A rod of iron terminated either by one or three 

 sharp points of the same mclal, covered with 

 silver or gold leaf, to prevent rust and conse- 

 quent bluntness, it is presumed wiH answer ev- 

 ery purpose. 



The following rules- for llie height of the rod 

 deserve the most carclnl attention. 



" It is allowed from experiment, that the stem 

 of a lightning rod effectually defends a circle of 

 which it is the centre, and whose r:'.dius is 

 twice its own height. According to this rule, a 

 building sixty feet square requires only a stem 

 fifteen or eighteen feet, raised in the centra of 

 the roof. A building of one hundred nnd twen- 

 ty feet, by the same rule, would require a stem 

 of thirty feet, and such is oltan used ; but it is 



better, instead of one stem of (hat length, to j laboring [leople are the most liable to injurie- 

 have two pt tilleen or eighteen feet, one being] from drinking colil water, when the almospheric 

 erected thirty feet from one end of the building I temperature Is very high, and a majority of 

 the other at the same distance I'rom the other i those who have died, have been either grossly 

 enJ, and consequently eixly feet from each other, i intemperate, or were strongly inclined to it. 

 Tlie same rule should bo followed lor a;iy larg-i There is a mistaken notion pervading (he labor- 



nor any practice more pernicious. The less 

 spirit a man drinks, the better it is for him, un- 

 der all circumstances. A constant use I'l liquors, 

 of a stimulating nature, deranges, by a slow but 

 certain train of operations, all the animal 

 functions, and places the nervous and circulating 

 Systems in that peculiar condaior;, that any ex- 

 traordinary excitement has a constant tendency 

 to explode the powers of life in an instant. Such 

 we believe, was the stale of those who have 

 been (he victims to an immoderate use of cold 

 water : they have carried on the excitement, 

 by a steady and habitual course of tippling, till 

 sudden change in the secretory organs, by a 

 raught of water several degrees below the 

 temperature of their own bodies, produces an 

 mstantaneous apoplexy, or induces the most ag- 

 gravated spasms in the stomach and boivels, 

 'whwh quickly terminate thelii'e of the unhappy 

 ictim. 



Those physicians who have had (he most ex- 

 erience with these cases, if called in seasona- 

 ly, have found (hat free blood-letting, and eme- 

 tics which operate quickly and powerfully, are 

 [the most certain means of overcoming the apo- 

 ^ilectic symptoms, and restoring the natural hea-t 

 of the body. Oftentimes, however, the jiatient 

 i\dh down and breathes his last before any one 

 s aware of his being indispo?od, and the [)utre- 

 "active proce.^s follows with as niuch rapidity as 

 in those who have been struck wilh ligbluing — 

 which shows, most conclusively, dial liie/visii*- 

 sila of the muscular tibre is annibilalpil. and a.l 



r.crK>ii> pow- 



er row placed on the edge; a stratum of char.ji'ope, therefore, of reaching ll, 

 coal is then strewed over the bottom of the i"-''i '* '"^f^ver lost: 



bricks, about two inches thick, on which the Such are often the results of md:ilging in in- 

 condoc(or is laid, and (he trough then filled with it'-^mperance, which exposes the mdividi.al to in- 

 more charcoal, and bv a row of bricks laid on N'i»li'n''""5 ''ealh, by simply quencbinghis ihir»t 

 the lop. Iron, (hus buried in charcoal, will suf- "•'>'' li'''' P«''e, luMgoratuig element— ir.v.-cr, 

 fer no change in thirty vears. which the God oi nature has .so anumlanlly sup- 



plied for his necessities and use. 



It is necessary that the lightning should be 

 conducted no! only to the ground, but to moist 

 grou>id. Dr V. recommends to lead the conduc- 

 tor, if convenient, into a well at least two foel 

 below water mark ; if (his is not convenient, it 

 should be carried into the dampest spot near ths 

 buildinj. 



Our remarks liavc been crnfined to (he adapt- 

 ing of lightning rod- to ordinary buildings. For 

 much minute, though valuable information on 

 the same subject, and for rules in regard to rods 

 for ships, churches, k-c. we would recommend 

 the entire paper of Dr Van Rensselaer to the 

 attentiou of the publick. 11. 



From the Boston .Vcdical InlelUgencer. 



DF.kTH BY DRINKING COLD WATER. 



'J'he number of deaths in this city, the last 

 week, imputed to a too tree use of cold water, 

 are exceedingly melancholly. We are fully per- 

 suaded that eomething more than cold water, 

 however, has an agency in these sudden and of- 

 ten frt(al afleclions of the sanguineous system. 

 So far as our own observations have extended, 



er or smaller bnildin , 



According to this rule a very 



large propor 



ing |>art of (he communily, (hat if the weather 

 s excessively warm, it is necessary to take the 



tion of the rods in this country will not secure : more spirit. Nothing can be more eironeous, 



N. B. Since writing (he forgoing arlii U . on 

 Tuesday last, we have not only had ampla np- 

 portanities of wilnessirg the ctj'ects of drink ino- 

 cold water when the Imdy was overheated, but 

 have taken pains to consult our professional 

 neighbors on the mode of Ireatment which has 

 with them been found the most successful ; and 

 we are happy to find that their o|)inion, in rela- 

 tion to copious bleedings, corresponds precisely 

 wilh our own. The labor of the physicians on 

 Wednesday, and some part ot Tue.»day, is almost 

 incredible. One physician reports hi ty-fi. ureases 

 which came under his care, in (he course of 

 those two days, and many odiers were quite as 

 much overwhelmed with business. As disor- 

 der seemed exclusively confined to that pariic- 

 nlar class of cilizens, before mentioned, ni-duy of 

 whom were Irish emigrants, and who were with- 

 out the means of paying lor medical services, 

 we believe (here has not been an instance where 

 any compensation has been demanded. — .\ntimo- 

 nial wine ha.s been thought, by some, the most 

 preferable emetic, where vomition was evident- 

 ly necessary, ami this could always ba determin- 

 ed by the racking pains in the slooiach and bow- 

 els. 



HEALTH IN TOWN AND COUNTRY. 



By comparing the bill of mortality, for sev- 

 eral years past, in the New-England Slates, it 

 has been ascertained (hat.more jiersons in pro- 

 portion die in sea-ports, in a given time, of acute 

 diseases, than in the country ; but, the numbar 



