i2 4 THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURE GUIDE 



On scores of occasions during my years of camp- 

 ing over North America lightning appeared to see 

 how close to me it could strike without hitting me. 

 I once held the common and preconceived notion 

 that there were some species of trees that lightning 

 was pretty certain to strike, and other species 

 which it never struck. But lightning more than any 

 other natural agency that I know has a speedy and 

 one hundred per cent efficient way of eradicating 

 superstitions concerning itself. The only thing 

 certain about lightning is that there is nothing 

 certain about it. It cannot be anticipated. It 

 never encourages one to predict where it will strike 

 next. Its strategy is of a spectacular order and its 

 attacks are ever a successful surprise. 



Lightning strikes every known species of tree. 

 It not only strikes trees that stand on summits but 

 it comes down to those that lead lowly lives in 

 canons. There are conditions, however, which 

 cause a tree to be frequently struck. A tall tree 

 of any species is more likely to be rapped on the 

 head than its contemporary of conventional height; 

 a tree on a hill-top, being closer to the electrical 

 field, is more likely to be struck than the tree in a 

 ravine; a lone tree much more likely than one in a 

 grove; in fact, the tree in a position to intercept 

 most electrical discharges and to offer these dis- 

 charges the best local conductor into the earth is 

 the one most likely to be struck. 



In this connection it is said that trees rich in 



