74 



• KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[July 25, 1884. 



Mr. Lightbody, who was standing inside his shop door on 

 the opposite side of the street, was almost knocked oil' his 

 feet against the side of the door. His workmen in the 

 bakehouse behind thovight the premises had been struck, 

 and the beam and scales were knocked against the wall. 

 The tailors in Mr. Park's workshop, which adjoins the 

 bank, felt stunned, and thought their skylight window had 

 been struck. Three independent witnesses standing in the 

 neighbourhood at the time state that they noticed a ball of 

 fire momentarily suspended over the bank. 



Lockerbie. — Several houses struck and their roofs 

 damaged. 



KUhirnie. — Two houses damaged ; the lightning passing 

 from the one to the other. 



Beith. — Intense darkness accompanied the storm, and 

 business had to be suspended for fully an hour, during 

 which time flash succeeded flash at intervals of four 

 minutes. 



Ardrossnn. — The most severe storm ever experienced. 

 The flashes of lightning were vei-y vivid, and the peals of 

 thunder sharp and loud. Hailstones, weighing over two 

 pennyweights, and measuring three-quarters of an inch in 

 circumference, were picked off the streets. 



Saltcoats. — Two houses struck, and their gas-pipes cut in 

 two. 



Kirkintilloch. — The lightning entered the room of a 

 house, passed along the attics and out by the chimney, 

 shattering the plaster and chimney top. 



Rothesay. — Valuable milch cow killed. 



Yale of Leven. — Darkness intense. The flashes of 

 lightning very vivid, and the peals of thunder, which were 

 loud, continued from ten to twenty seconds. 



Slonehouse. — Hailstones of large size, vivid lightning, 

 and a series of tremendous sharp, and prolonged peals of 

 thunder. Cow killed and a tree struck. 



Neinnilns. — Thunder peal followed thunder peal in rapid 

 succession, and sometimes three of them were heard at the 

 same time. Outside stair and belfiy of the Council 

 Chambers damaged. 



Loans. — Two cows and a bull killed. 



Sinclairtovn. — Dwelling-house struck, followed by an 

 explosion of gas ; damage not serious. Stack of hay set 

 on fire and completely destroyed. 



Kirkcaldy. — Ventilator at the top of malting kiln at 

 Gallatown struck, and one of the large beams supporting 

 the ventilating apparatus shattered, some of the splinters 

 being carried away a distance of about 200 yards. In a 

 private house a valuable picture was destroyed, and the 

 woodwork set on fire. 



Stardey. — A house was set on fire, and a portion of the 

 structure knocked down on two women, rendering them 

 insensible for a time. 



Slow. — Eight sheep instantaneously killed, and a ninth 

 had to be afterwards destroyed. 



Haivick. — The storm lasted for upwards of two hours, 

 and so dark was it that gas had to be lighted. The 

 lightning entered two houses and damaged a number of 

 articles. 



Girvan. — Several cattle killed. 



Bushy. — The lightning was most brilliant and vividly 

 coloured, blue in many instances. From three to four 

 flashes were seen before thunder heard. Three girls em- 

 ployed in Busby Mills fell into a state of fainting, and 

 remained in a trance for several hours. A cow grazing in 

 a field was killed, its hide being singed. A building in the 

 printworks was stripped of the lead and slates. 



Ayr. — The lightning very bright and the thunder almost 

 incessant. Several of the flashes were of a violet tinge. 

 Some little panic was created in Ayr woolworks by the 



girls getting frightened at the lightning gleaming on the 

 spindles. 



I^eith. — The lightning entered a house, ran round the 

 cornice of a room, teaiing it open. The window-curtains 

 were set on fire, the roof singed, and a number of articles 

 which were lying about damaged. The lightning escaped 

 through the window, scorched the framework, and smashed 

 several panes of glass. A gentleman sleeping in the room 

 had a very narrow escape, as the lightning in its course 

 went within a few feet of his head ; he was much shaken. 

 After leaving the house the lightning had, judging from a 

 quantity of plates dislodged, run down the outside of the 

 house and entered the earth. 



Edinburyh. — The Scotsman says : — " Just as the btorm 

 began, one of the telegraph clerks in the Scotsman ofiice had 

 a narrow escape from being injured by the lightning. 

 Word had come over his wire that the House of Commons 

 had been counted out at 2.30 a.m., and he rose from the 

 Morse instrument to carry the sheet into the adjoining sub- 

 editor's room. As he re-entered the telegraph room a 

 loud rei)ort like the discharge of a rifle was heard, and the 

 thick glass cover of the relay was blown several feet into 

 the air, and smashed one of the glass globes. The relay 

 was completely destroyed. 



DuiiiJ'riessliire. — Reports give accounts of considerable 

 destruction of farm stock. Mr. Phillips, Clarencefield, had 

 two fine bullocks killed, Mr. H. Baird, Blackford, had one 

 killed, and Mr. Aitken, a farmer in the parish of John- 

 stone, had sixteen sheep killed. While a lad was harrow- 

 ing turnips in a field the lightning struck the ground in 

 the next ridge, and covered him with earth, and a man 

 leading a horse bad a very narrow escape, he having just 

 passed when a large tree was struck and thrown across the 

 road. Heavy rain accompanied the storm. 



Arisaig. — Mr. Lewis Macdonald (28 years of age), crofter, 

 Ardnish, was on the hill above the croft, taking home the 

 cattle at about 4 p.m., on Friday last week, when he was 

 stioick with lightning and killed instantly. When found 

 it was discovered that there was a mark like a bullet hole 

 on the right side of the head above the ear, and from the 

 appearance of the body it is evident that the electric fltiid 

 struck his head first, and then passed through his body. 



Appin. — There were several extremely vivid flashes of 

 forked lightning passing straight down from a dense cloud 

 overhead to the earth. Four sheep were struck by lightning 

 and kOled ; and altogether the storm was one of the most 

 severe remembered for some years. 



Errata. — P. 57, col. 2, line 8 from bottom, " now tired," shoald 

 be " never tired. P. 60, letter 1340, line 1, " absence of home " 

 should be "absence from home." 



Eaixfall Eecoeds at Glasgow Obsekvatoet.— On the authority 

 of Professor Grant, F.E.S., some interesting rainfall records at 

 Glasgow Observatory have been made available for public use. 

 Their publication was suggested by the heavy rainfall at Glasgow 

 during the twenty-four hours ending at ten o'clock on the morning 

 of the 11th inst., which is said to have been the most excessive that 

 has occurred during the past twenty-two years. The downpour 

 was heralded by a smart shower which commenced abont 1 p.m. 

 on the preceding day (Thursday), and lasted but a few minutes, 

 when fair weather was again enjoyed for about an hour. A little 

 after 2 p.m. there was registered by the self-recording instrument 

 of the observatory, a drenching shower, which, although happily 

 shortlived, was remarkable for the rapidity with which it fell. At 

 4.15 p.m., the sky, which was destitute of sunshine for several 

 hours previous, again sent down rain in perfect torrents. During 

 the evening, 1 in. of rain fell in five hotrrs. During the twenty- 

 hours referred to, the rainfall amounted to 2'12 in., and during none 

 of the twenty-two years preceding 1884 did the rainfall at Glasgow 

 Observatory ever exceed 177 in. in the same period of time. That 

 was in the month of July, 18G6. — Engineexin^. 



