Stmospberic Electricity 79 



the tendency to equalize the potentials between 

 the clouds and the earth. Often one's hair 

 will stand on end, not from fright, but from 

 electricity passing down from the upper re- 

 gions to the earth. When the tension is very 

 great a loud hissing sound as of many musical 

 tones of not very good quality may be heard, 

 and a brush or fine-pointed radiation of elec- 

 tricity may be seen from every point, even 

 from your finger-ends. The thunder is not 

 usually so loud on high mountains for two 

 reasons one because the air is rare, but the 

 chief reason is that the mountain acts as a 

 great lightning-rod and gradually discharges 

 the cloud or atmosphere, for often the phe- 

 nomena may occur when the sky is clear. 



I remember being on top of what is called 

 the Mosquito Range, between Alma and Lead- 

 ville in Colorado, during the passage of a 

 thunder shower. There was no heavy thunder, 

 but a constant fusillade of snapping sounds, ac- 

 companied by flashes not very intense. I could 

 hocks, but not painfully. A part of 

 the time I was in the cloud and became for the 

 time being a veritable lightning-rod. After 

 the cloud passed it crawled down the mountain- 

 side as if clinging to it, all the time bombard- 

 Li witli little electric missiles. After the 

 cloud left the mountain and passed over 

 the valley I cmiM hear loud thunder, because 

 the charge would have to accumulate quite a 



