Meteorological Report for the year 1828. TT 



age. The amount of rain that fell in July was the unex- 

 ampled quantity of llyV inches. This was accompanied 

 by many violent thunder-storms ; and the injury done by 

 lightning in different parts of United States, was much 

 greater than ordinary. In the course of this month, two 

 dwelling houses were struck by lightning, in the city, both 

 of which were furnished with lightning rods. Indeed, 

 one of them, (the Tontine Coffee house,) was supplied with 

 no less than four conductors. Still there was nothing in 

 either of these cases, to shake our confidence in the effica- 

 cy of lightning rods, when constructed and attached to 

 buildings, according to established rules. The case of the 

 Tontine, demonstrated the necessity of affording special pro- 

 tection to the kitchen chimney, since this is the only chim- 

 ney in which a fire is usually kept during summer ; and it is 

 well known that watery vapour, soot, and the various mixed 

 products of combustion are, to a certain extent, conduc- 

 tors of electricity, and expose the chimney from which they 

 are ascending to peculiar danger. In the present case, the 

 chimney to which the nearest conductor was attached, was 

 distant 34 feet, and therefore too remote to enable the rod 

 to protect the chimney at which the lightning descended, at- 

 tracted as it was by the cloud of smoke that was rising from 

 a large fire in the kitchen. With regard also to the other 

 house that was struck by lightning, although the electricity 

 first lighted upon the conductor, which seemed therefore 

 rather to have invited the destructive element to enter the 

 building, than to have acted the guardian, yet on examining 

 the rod, it was found to have been very badly constructed — 

 its different parts were loosely linked together, the whole 

 surface was much corroded, it was so nearly broken in one 

 place, as merely to hang by a thread, and it descended into 

 the ground, only about 18 inches. Accordingly, as soon 

 as the conductor had received the feeble charge of which 

 it was susceptible, the residue of the fluid ran off by way of 

 the large timbers, and through the cellar wall of the house, 

 and left traces of its violence, in the different apartments. 

 One of the most singular occurrences was, that a lady sit- 

 ting in a chamber, on the side of the house, opposite to 

 that where the lightning entered, had her shoe rent on her 

 foot, without sustaining the least injury to her person. The 

 month of August, was very hot, the thermometer having 

 twice reached 90 degrees, and the average maximum, be- 

 ing about 82 degrees. 



