Scientific Intelligence. 193 



2. Examination of Patent claims. — Since 1826, the application 

 for patents in Piedmont and Sardinia, have been referred to the Acad- 

 emy of Sciences at Turin, with the intention of negativing all those 

 founded in ignorance or knavery, and supporting only those which 

 are true improvements, and in their effects really advantageous to the 

 arts. Although the number of patents has been excessively dimin- 

 ished in consequence, yet it appears that the applications have in- 

 creased in an extraordinary degree. The academicians, though 

 much engaged in the year 1826, in examining claims, were poorly 

 rewarded by the occurrence of actual improvements : only two ma- 

 chines were brought forward which received their sanction. — Idem. 



O.French eggs and apples. — 63,109,618 hens' eggs, and 14,182 

 bushels of apples were imported from France into England, in the: 

 year 1827. — Idem. 



UNARRANGED MISCELLANIES, DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN. 



1 . Particulars of the striking of Lightning over a great surface,, 

 hut with little injury, communicated to Mr. JY. Clark of JVew Ha- 

 ven, by Mr. O. H. Bryant, clerk in the State Prison at Charles- 

 town, Mass. July ^\st, 1829. — ^Yesterday, we had a severe shock of 

 lightning at the prison. It rained in torrents, and a dense mass of 

 highly charged clouds spent their embosomed electricity on and 

 about us. I was looking out of my office window, to discover the 

 direction in which the clouds were moving, when a flash, accompa- 

 nied by a rustling noise like that of small shot thrown upon stifT 

 paper, and a feeling as if all the energy of my muscles was at 

 once withdrawn, and an almost insuperable inclination to fall back 

 on the floor, convinced me that I had been struck with light- 

 ning. But I only tottered back a few steps and recovered myself 

 immediately. On leaving my office to inquire what mischief had 

 been done, I learned of the officers, that almost all of them, as 

 well as many of the convicts, had been affected like myself. My 

 office is in the brick building directly south, and in front of the pri- 

 son, about tliree hundred and sixty feet from the north wall of the 

 prison yard. Between the office and the prison building, is a large 

 yard, perhaps one hundred and fift}' feet wide ; the length enclosed 

 by the wall is four hundred and eighty feet ; the width three hun- 

 dred and sixty feet. The prison has three conductors on it, about 

 equidistant from each other, say eighteen feet. The lightning passed 



Vol. XVIL— No. 1. 25 



