242 Effects of Lightning. 



There was a bruise at the corner of his left eye and another on 

 the back of his right hand, but these he thinks were not made by 

 the hghtning. The clothes which he had on at the time were 

 entirely of cotton and were uninjured. The room was immedi- 



ately filled with a very strong smell of sulphur. There was a 



small hole made m the back right-hand corner of the flag-bot- 

 tomed chair in which Mr. Draper sat. No other person in the 

 'room was in the least injured by this stroke. 



It appears that a part of the fluid passed down the tree situated 

 at that end of the house. The first visible effect of the lightning 

 on this tree is on one of the limbs about twelve feet from the 

 ground^ where a little bark is torn off; from that spot to the 

 trunk, occasional marks of its progress are visible ; on the trunk 

 of the tree, there is a seam split in the bark about four feet in 

 length. Mr. Draper's right foot was very much swollen on the next 

 day, when I saw it ; he attributes this to his first shock. These I 

 believe are the principal details relative to the first shock. 



As soon as Mr. Draper's boots were off and he had somewhat 

 recovered the use of his limbs, he was assisted by those present 

 into the kitchen, Mr. Barney being on his left side and his wife 



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and daughter on his right. As soon as lie was seated in a chair 



(about four feet from the post p (fig. 1,) in the kitchen, the second 

 flash came and prostrated all four of them. This flash struck the 

 house on the roof, close to the edge and directly over the rafter at 

 A^, fig. 2, where there were four iron hooks hanging ; from these 

 it passed down the stud A^ E, on which was hanging a long iron 

 rod ; thence it went to an iron pan which rested on the beam, 

 leaning against the side of the house; from the pan it ran along 

 the beam in the direction E F, fig. 2, till it came to the post F G, 

 (jr>, fig. Ij) down which it went, tearing off the casing on both 

 sides, breaking to atoms a mirror which hung on the post, split- 

 ting the post, which was of white oak, its entire length, tearing 

 off the laths on both sides of the post on the inside of the house 

 and the clapboards on the outside; it then passed into the floor, 

 after which but few marks of its progress are to be seen. There 

 are a few places over-head in the kitchen where the plastering is 

 torn from over the nail-heads. A few splinters are torn from the 

 floor of the entry which leads out of the kitchen, and some out 

 of the kitchen floorj near to the door of the entry. 



The effect of the stroke upon Mr. Draper's daughter, although 

 she is a lady about 45 years of age and in very feeble health, was 

 but slight ; and being merely stunned she soon recovered, Mr. 

 Draper was also stunned, and more so than at his first shock ; bqt 

 he thinks he received no additional injury. 



The effect upon Mrs. Draper and Mr. Barney was more severe. 

 A portion of the fluid passed from the post p^ fig. 1, to Mr. Bar- 

 ney, (he being nearest the post and distant about four feet J strik- 



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