Sbptembee 6, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



305 



invariably dawned clear and beautiful. Details 

 in distant valleys and on the horizon a hundred 

 miles away were clearly discernible. Not a 

 cloud could be seen above or below. About 

 eight o'clock in the morning a faint mist would 

 begin to make its appearance at numerous places 

 far below the station. This would slowly as- 

 cend until at last every object below was com- 

 pletely lost to view. By noon the mist, now 

 become a dense cloud, would reach the camp. 

 It would then be difficult to distinguish objects 

 only a few yards distant. Then the electric 

 performance began. A loud buzzing sovind per- 

 vaded the atmosphere. Everything was heav- 

 ily charged with electricity. From every pro- 

 jecting point, from the tops of tent poles, from 

 sharp pointed rocks, balls of electric fire shed an 

 uncanny light. These lights varied in size from 

 that of a small incandescent lamp to globes four 

 inches in diameter. We could draw electric 

 sparks from pieces of metal; from the walls of the 

 tents and from each other's bodies. Our hair 

 would stand on end and men's whiskers would 

 li-equently be aglow. At one time a ring of elec- 

 tric light encircled the rim of my hat like the 

 pictured halos of the old masters. Every one on 

 the summit would exjierience a tingling, prick- 

 ing sensation and occasionally quite a violent 

 shock. These feelings were very often decidedly 

 uncomfortable, but they could be prevented by 

 lying flat upon the ground. Animals upon the 

 summit frequently became so restless from their 

 electrified condition that it was necessary to let 

 them go down the mountain. 



These phenomena would continue for about 

 one hour. The nature of the manifestations 

 would then suddenly change and frequent dis 

 charges would occur. At once it would seem 

 that the concentrated fire of all the artillery of 

 heaven was poured upon Mt. Elbert. Light- 

 ning, thunder, hail and snow followed with 

 such fury that it often seemed that the station 

 must be abandoned to save the lives of the 

 party. The flashes of lightning were almost con- 

 tinuous and peal after peal of thunder crashed 

 around us like the roar of a ceaseless bombard- 

 ment of which we were the unwilling targets. 

 These fearful storms would invariably continue 

 until nine o'clock. at night. The phenomena of 

 balls of light, hair standing on end, etc., etc., 



ceased at once when lightning and thunder be- 

 gan. Such phenomena were to be seen only 

 when a cloud passed over the mountain's peak 

 without producing lightning. 



Although the party escaped surprisingly well, 

 considering the violence of the assaults, consid- 

 erable damage was done by the lightning. The 

 observatory and theodolite were struck twice, 

 the verticle circle twice, the azimuth mark once, 

 and a rock cairn near the summit once. 



The first damage done was on July 12th, at 

 eight o'clock in the evening, during a furious 

 hail storm. Simultaneous with a vivid and daz- 

 zling flash of lightning there came a crash of 

 thunder that shook the moiuitain top itself and 

 drove terror to every heart. 



For a short time after this tremendous discharge 

 not a sound was heard from any one. All were 

 certain that lightning had struck the camp, but 

 where was the damage done ? The storm was 

 still raging furiously and an examination was 

 impossible at the time. Word passed from tent 

 to tent assured us that all members of the party 

 had escaped. 



As usual, the following morning was clear 

 and bright, and our steps were at once turned to 

 the observatory and the damage done by the 

 lightning the night before quickly ascertained. 

 A small round hole about the size of a pea was 

 burned through the canvas roof of the observa- 

 tory. The lightning had struck the theodolite 

 on the end of the sunshade or dew-cap and had 

 melted a semicircular notch in its edge. Drops 

 of molten metal had spattered over the objective 

 and small bullet-shaped fragments of aluminum 

 were scattered around. The anterior lens of 

 the objective was badly cracked, probably from 

 the heat of the molten metal, as the remainder 

 of the objective was uninjured. The brick pier 

 which supported the iron stand of the instru- 

 ment had been partially torn to pieces and a 

 good sized hole had been burnt in the floor. An 

 examination of the theodolite showed that the 

 pivot's, the wyes and the foot screws were all 

 badly burnt. The damage was repaired as well 

 as the means at hand would permit, the rough 

 places on the bearing surfaces being smooted 

 with an oil stone. 



Having thus put the instrument into fair 

 working order, observations were resumed. 



