^6 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 



the irresistible power of the subtle electric fluid in repelling" 

 and destroying: the cohesion of atoms of matter, for a band 

 of about the same diameter of the spot of entry, the stringy, 

 tough inner basswood bark down to the roots of the tree (or 

 nearly) had been "hetchelled"' into fibres as threadlike as those 



of hemp or flax, and enough of this substance had been in- 

 stantaneously manufactured to about fill an ordinary flour 

 barrel, and so soft and mosslike was the substance that por- 

 tions of the same were made use of by the poultry people of 

 the vicinity for "goose nests" in the "setting" season of the 

 anserines for years afterwards. 



The pionecis of tiie b'lsh htc^d an axiom that basswood 

 trees are more liable to be lightning struck than any other 

 forest monarchs. Can this be owing to their great size and 

 altitude? On our first settlement here about ninety acres of 

 our demesne was primitive forest, and among other varieties 

 of deciduous trees about fifty basswoods could be counted .ot 

 massive and mature growth, and the fact was notorious that 

 almost ever"^^ one of the number gave evidence of lightning 

 stroke, yet from whose effects they had recovered without 

 very serious injury. It may here be thought worthy of remark 

 that a maiority of these basswoods were of taller growth than 

 the maples and beaches by which they were generally sur- 

 rounded. 



A curious instance of the extraordinary nature and in- 



Itensity of the heat of some of the lightning flashes was fur- 

 nished near this spot a few years ago, when, during a July (I 

 think) thunder storm, a very large basswood tree, which had 

 been left to grow for many years amid cultivated grain crops, 

 was stricken by a powerful electric discharge from the clouds. 

 The tree was instantly set on fire and burned with such rapid- 

 ity and vigor that, notwithstanding its towering mass, its 

 crown of green foliage and its sap-repleted conditions, this 

 monument of the ancient woods was totally consumed in the 

 space of a few days' time, and speedily thereafter the plow 

 furrows were traced over the spot where the tree's noble pro- 

 portions had adorned the landscape for many a year. 



