'^ 



236 



THE ILimOIS FAKMER. 



Afg. 



posed to have an influence, and it is related that 

 of three priests walking together when struck, 

 the one clad in si)k escaped, while the other two, 

 wearing linen and woolen, perished. 



We remember that in our native town during a 

 thunder storm, a discharge struck a shock of oats 

 in a field with such power as to consume every 

 sheaf on the spot, although within a few rods 

 were tall trees and other objects of considerable 

 altitude, and although , the shock was perfectly 

 dry, as was evident from its combustibility. 



In the same vicinity we have been credibly in- 

 formed, a man was standing during a thunder 

 shower, upon the stoop or piazza of his house, 

 when the dwelling was struck, and the fluid pass- 

 ing down the column against which he was lean- 

 ing, deserts the wood for his person, passed down 

 his side, teiring so tie of his clothing, and out 

 beneath his feet with such force as to burst ofi^ 

 the sole of a new, heavy shoe worn at the time. 

 The story is too well authenticated to be doubted. 

 Now, who can explain this phenomena? Why 

 w«e not the man killed ? Yet stranger still, it is 

 said that when the theater at Mantua was struck 

 in 1784, the electricity melted ear rings and watch 

 keys, withoiJt wounding, those who wore them. 



The precautions against lightning, which have 

 from time to time b>en proposed, are as numer- 

 ous a,-< soma of them are ridiculous. A highly 

 interesting paper on this subject, by Prof. Love- 

 ring, of Harvard, appeared in the American Al- 

 manac for 1856. The reader would, we think, 

 thank us for condensing and reproducing much of 

 the matter contained in the article. The super- 

 stitious and ignoiant notions of the ancients are 

 e?pecially amusing. The Romans thought seal 

 skins a defence. The Thracians shot arrows in 

 the air to threaten away the thunder. The Hy- 

 perboireans discharged at the cloud iron pointed 

 darts. Artaxerxes believed that two swords 

 planted in the ground dispersed the clouds. In 

 the time of Charlemagne, poles were used to dis- 

 enchant the storm; but, unfortanately to any 

 who trace to this the origin of the lightning rod, 

 they were not supposed to possess any efficacy 

 till bits of magical paper were, after due incan- 

 tations, properly fastened upon their summits. 



The lightning rod is by general consent the in- 

 vention of Franklin. Its value and utility are 

 well settled, some casuists in philosophy notwith- 

 standing. Lightning directs itself to the high- 

 est objects ; as a general rule prefers metals, 

 wood or other substances ; causes no injury 

 while passing through metal ; and it by this con- 

 ducted to the moist ground, expends itself harm- 

 lessly in the great reservoirs of the earth. An 

 elevated pointed rod by its powerful induction 

 diminishes the intensity of the lower part of the 

 cloud, and thus lessens the number of explosive 

 discharges to the earth ; while if a discharge does 

 take place, it will be attracted from a ci-rtain dis- 

 tance around the rod and be transmitted innox- 

 iously to the ground. The shape, construction, 

 material, mode of erection and particular action 

 of the rod, we shall discuss in another article 

 next week, when we shall be able to devote more 

 space to certain supposed improvements. 



The examination of scientific questions, and 

 the observation of natural phenomena, even of 



an ordinary kind, while they increase the sum of 

 our knowledge, tend also to quicken our percep- 

 tions and to enlarge our conceptirn of the infi- 

 nite wealth of the mental world, " all the hoard- 

 ed treasures of the primeval dynasties, all the 

 shapeless ore of its yet unexplored mines." — 

 Such investigations and such contemplations also 

 tend to increase our veneration of that eternal 

 One who governs the universe, who divides " a 

 water course for the overflowing of waters, and 

 a way for the lightning of thunder," who brings 

 forth Mazaroth in his season, and who guides 

 Arcturus with his sons. 



Oak Ridge Farm, 1861. Hampden. 



An ITnoflB.cial Look among the Farms 

 and Nurseries. 



Having been appointed a member of the com- 

 mittee to award premiums on farms and nurse- 

 ries, we shall take occasion in our visits to give 

 an unofficial account of what we see and hear. — 

 Of course, we shall make an oflBcial report to the 

 proper officer of the State Agricultural Society. 

 As a member of the committee it will become our 

 duty to make the awards, not because the person 

 excels in farming, but tu the best among the com- 

 petitors. Now, even the best of these may not 

 be above the mediocrity of farms ; they will of 

 course be graded first and second according to 

 their respective claims. In our unofficirl notes 

 we shall treat the subject liberally, set down 

 aught in malice or give any undue praise. Our 

 aim shall be to give a daily history of what we 

 see and hear, whether on premium farms or 

 other less ambitious premises. These notes will 

 form no part of our official report only as facts 

 incidental thereto, and the other members of the 

 committee will neither be consulted in regard to 

 them, nor in any manner responsible for either 

 the matter or the manner. If they are personal, 

 as of necessity they must be to a large extent, 

 all we have to say is that the persons competing 

 become public property, and thus advertise them- 

 selves as par excellence the best farmers and 

 nurserymen in the State. They of course cannot 

 complain if a true account shall be given of the 

 condition of their premises should they fall short 

 of good cultivators, for on the other hand if they 

 excel they will have the advantage of an exten- 

 sive free advertising of their skill- The object 

 of giving these premiums is to arouse public at- 

 tention, not only to the profit of farming, but to 

 make it a pleasant and desirable pursuit. Sys- 

 tem, convenience, ordpr, symmetry, a comming- 

 ling of the useful and the beautiful, are the lead- 

 ing features sought for. The society will be at 

 a large expense in making tliese examinations ; 



