Sept. 26, 1884.] 



♦ KNOW^LEDGE 



259 



3. Abbe Richard relates that the proctor of the Seminary 

 of Troyes was returning upon horseback, when he was 

 struck by lightning. A brother, who was following him, 

 not having perceived it, thought he was asleep because he 

 saw him tottering. Upon trying to awaken him he was 

 found to be dead. 



4. Another and analogous case is likewise related in the 

 funereal annals of lightning. A priest was struck while 

 upon horseback, without the animal being injured. The 

 latter continued his accustomed route, and reached home 

 with the dead horseman, who still preserved his attitude. 

 The distance thus traversed was about two leagues. 



5. On May 9, 1781, at about three o'clock, the 

 lightning struck the door of the chapel of the Commandery 

 of St. John, near which a woman and three children had 

 taken refuge. The woman, who was seated in front, was 

 suffocated without changing attitude, as was also one of the 

 children. 



6. On August 14, 1793, a man, surprised by a storm in 

 the environs of Dover, took refuge with four horses in a 

 thicket. A thunderbolt having fallen, the four horses and 

 the man were killed, with the peculiarity that the latter 

 remained seated. 



7. On Sunday, July 11, 1819, the Church of Chateauneuf 

 (Lower Alps) was struck by lightning during divine service. 

 A large number of persons was struck (82 wounded and 9 

 killed). The peculiarity to be pointed out is, that all the 

 dogs that were in the church were found dead in the atti- 

 tudes that they previously had. 



8. At Vic-sur-Aisne in 1838, three soldiers, in the midst 

 of a violent storm, took shelter under a linden, when, by 

 the same stroke of lightning, all were instantaneously 

 killed. Moreover, all three remained standing in their 

 original position, just as if the electric fluid had not touched 

 them. Their clothing was intact. After the storm, some 

 passers by who saw them, having spoken to them without 



getting any answer, approached and touched them, when 

 they all fell into a heap of ashes. 



9. In the month of July, 184.5, four inhabitants of Heil/- 

 le-Maurupt, near Vitry-le-Fran(;ois, took refuge, three of 

 them under a poplar and one of them under a willow. 

 Soon afterward, the one who was under the willow, and 

 leaning against it, was struck by lightning. A bright 

 flame was issuing from his clothing, but he did not appear 

 to see it. " You are burning ! Don't you see that you 

 are burning ? " cried his cornpauions (see engraving). 

 Upon running to him they found he was a corpse. 



10. An animal forms the subject of this observation, 

 which was made after a winter storm, in January, near 

 Clermont. A goat was struck by lightning and imme- 

 diately killed. It was found standing upon its hind legs 

 still holding a green bianch in its mouth. 



11. A young woman, the wife of a miner of Ricamarie, 

 had gone to visit her family at Saint Romain-les-Athenx, 

 taking with her her four-months-old child. It was oii 

 July 16, 1866, and .she was alone in the house during a 

 storm. When her parents returned from the field, a sad 

 spectacle awaited them, for the young woman had been 

 killed by lightning. She was found on her knees in a 

 corner of the room, with her face concealed in her hands. 

 She bore no trace of a wound. The child, which was lying 

 on the bed in the room, had been but slightly touched by 

 the electric fluid. 



12. I have related the preceding observations in chrono- 

 logical order, but I terminate with one, nevertheless, that 

 should have come first. It is narrated by Quintus Curtius 

 (lib. viii., cap. iv.). Alexander the Great was traversing 

 Asia, and spreading ruin on his way. When he reached 

 the region now called Bokhara, his army was assailed by a 

 frightful cyclone. This terrible tempest carried off nearly 

 a thousand men — soldier.s, sutlers, or valets. It is said 

 that some of these were found leaning against the trunks 



