1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



405 



tra growth, and you are 

 tree. 



retting a fine-formed ' Franklin ; but some one more curious than the 

 I multitude made search for the cause of the disaster. 



of the tree depends upon a sound exterior from 

 top to roots, 



Mr. Editor, lest I should become tedious, I will 

 end my chapter, promising my farming friends a 

 few more verses, (with your permission) not inap- 

 plicxble to their profession. Yours truly. 



BrooUijn, N. Y., July 26, 1854. h. p. 



For the New England Farmer. 



LIGHTNING RODS. 



JIr. Farmer : — One of your correspondents in 

 quires about lightning conJuctors. 1 don't pro- 

 fess much knowledge upon the subject ; but my 

 writing may call forth tlie wisdom of others. 



In the first place, I must beg leave to diiFer from 

 you, Mr. Editor, in the admission, that buildings 

 may have been injured by lightning, when rods 

 were properly attached, (a.) I don't believe any 

 such thing. The electric fluid is governed by laws 

 as fixed and invariable as those which obtain in 

 gravitation. You may say that we are ignorant 

 of those laws. I admit that we know compara- 

 tively little of electricity, the variations of the 

 needle the aurora light, the connexion of elec- 

 tricity with light and heat, its agency in the 

 growth of vegetables and animals — and its agency 

 in the operations of mind. These we firmly believe 

 to exist ; but, of their modus operandi, we are left 

 still to conjecture. 



It by no means follows that because we know 

 eot everything, we can know nothing with cer- 

 tainty. Certain phenomena have been so often 

 observed to accompany certain conditions, as to 

 warrant the inference that the electric fluid is 

 governed by fixed laws. 



Now to deny the security of lightning rods ; — 

 Mr. Editor, I wonder you did not receive some 

 such spiritual manifestations as he who brought 

 the lightning from the skies, did, when he experi- 

 mented with the kite, — got smartly rapped over 

 the knuckles. 



That buildings have been injured, to which 

 conductors have been attached, and that frequent- 

 ly, can't be denied. Steamboilers sometimes 

 burst, though the capacity of iron, and the power 

 of steam arc known with certainty. But the 

 more f\xmiliar people become with steam, the few- 

 er, comparatively, are the accidents. So with elec- 

 tricity ; these disasters result from want of knowl- 

 edge, or carelessness. 



It will be found in all cases, I think, unless the 

 striking of Arndor Douglas' house was an excep- 

 tion, for I believe that lie who established the 

 laws of nature can suspend them, that the in 

 juries sustained are in consequence of some de- 

 fect in the material, position, length, or mode of 

 attachment of the conductor. 



The First Baptist Church in Worcester was 

 struck with lightning, some years ago, while the 

 Sablxxth school was in session, and several of the 

 children were seriously injured. There was a 

 conductor put up, as was supposed, in the most 

 approved manner. The doubting were made skep- 

 tics. Lightning-rod stock became a drug in the 

 market ; multitudes lost their confidence in Ben 



but terminated in solid, dry rock ! A hole had 

 been drilled some five feet into this rock, into 

 which the rod descended, and there terminated. 

 In a dry season, the rod was as completely isola- 

 ted, as if it had terminated in a globe of glass. 

 The fluid was taken from the clouds by the point, 

 conducted along the rods, till finding no natural 

 way of escape, it leaped through the walls of the 

 building, upon the stove-pipe in the basement, 

 along which it ran, to the no small annoyance of 

 the children then assembled, and escaped by vari- 

 ous conductors to the earth. 



Now I believe that in all cases of failures to 

 protect, it will be found, upon examination, that 

 the defect was not in the laws of electricity, but 

 that they were not observed. 



Let me suggest a few things to be observed. 

 1st. The conductor must extend to water. Ordi- 

 narily, the earth near the surface, is sufficiently 

 moist ; but in a dry time, the very time to look 

 out for thunder storms, the surface, and especial- 

 ly near the walls of a building becomes so dry as 

 to be a perfect non-conducter. In such a case the 

 conductor only serves to invite the fluid from the 

 clouds to the destruction of the building. That 

 portion of the rod which enters the earth, should 

 be copper, or some composition not easily oxidised. 

 Oxide of iron is 1)ut an imperfect conductor. 



2d. The attachments should all l)e carefully 

 cased with glass, or some other non-conductor. 

 Let the conductor, in its descent, pass through 

 half-a-dozen iron bolts, which entirely surround it, 

 and it would 1)o passing strange if much of the flu- 

 id should reach the ground. 



3d. Let the rod ascend to sufficient height 

 above the highest point of the building. 



I will not enter upon a discussion of the com- 

 parative merits of the two methods — the Frank- 

 iinian with one rod, or the modern with many. 

 Suffice it to say, I should feel safe wdth one rod 

 put up "according to the directions." And I have 

 yet to see any proof, that a building which is 

 bristled all over with silver-topped points, is any 

 nearer "thunder proof," than the former. 



The height of the point above the ridge, should 

 be half the distance from the base to the remotest 

 part of the ridge. On a barn of 40 feet, the rod 

 risino- in tlie centre, should ascend 10 feet. From 

 a rid'^G of 80 feet the point must be elevated 20 

 feet. 



On large buildings it is well to have two or 

 more points connected with a common conductor. 

 If there is a chimney rising above the ridge, un- 

 less the rod runs up beside it, its height must be 

 taken into account, in fixing the elevation of the 

 point. 



So firmly do I believe in the efficacy ot these 

 rods, when rightly adjusted, that i wonder any 

 should sufier a house "or barn or any building 

 containing valuables to remain long without one. 

 We live in an age of insurance and assurance 

 companies. I know of no company, whose policy 

 will guarantee so much protection for so small a 

 premium. _ • 



Personalities. — In a thunder gust avoid astand- 

 mo- posture,— the chimney, the window, the 



