A TALK ABOUT LIGHTNING. 297 
of its wire framework, was entirely consumed by lightning, although the lady 
hetself escaped serious injury. Another lady inadvertently thrust her arm’ out of 
a window during a thunder shower, and her gold bracelet was dissipated in vapor. 
Still another flash of lightning found a gentleman seated on the top of a stage 
coach and rifled his pocket of a valuable watch, leaving only a few links of the 
chain. The general fact which our heroine had in mind is, then, quite clear. 
Only her peculiar application of it serves very well to illustrate the crudity of pop- 
ular notions about lightning. Many people are so bewildered and dazzled by the 
flash, and so stunned by the explosion which follows, that they become unable 
either to appreciate the beauty of the display, or to reason correctly concern- 
ing its nature. Indeed, very few persons realize how varied are the phenomena 
presented by the lightning in its color, its form, and its effects, and still fewer 
understand in more than a vague, general way, the principles involved in the 
erection of conductors. Every summer the country is scoured by lightning-rod 
agents, each with some eccentric contrivance to sell, who not only take advantage 
of the popular ignorance, but even make it deeper still. Spiral rods, patent tips, 
novel insulators, and goodness knows what else, are carried from house to house 
and forced upon the attention of puzzled listeners with an assiduity worthy of 
better employment. In consequence, a great many of the rods put up are not 
only unsuitable and inefficient, but also much more costly than thoroughly good, 
substantial and adequate conductors even need to be. 
Lightning, by the best observers, has been divided into three kinds. First, 
there is the common zigzag line of light, sometimes as much as ten miles long, 
which seems to shoot from point to point with great velocity, and which lasts, it 
has been estimated, only about the thousandth part of asecond. Secondly, there 
is what is known as ‘‘sheet lightning,” in which vast masses of clouds are sud- 
denly illuminated, as if from behind, no line being seen. This flash is also of 
inconceivably short duration, and varies much in color. White, blue, purple, 
violet, and rose-color are common tints for it to have. With it may be classed 
the so-called ‘‘heat lightning” of hot summer nights, which is probably but the 
reflection of active lightning at a distance. It is worth noting in this connection 
that thunder is rarely heard more than ten miles away, so that the flashes are 
often visible when no sound can be detected. The roar of artillery, as at Water- 
loo, has been audible at a distance of over eighty miles from the scene of battle. 
The third kind is called ‘‘ globular lightning,’’ and is comparatively rare. It 
appears like a ball of bluish fire, rolling with relative slowness on or near the 
surface of the ground or of the sea. When it reaches certain obstacles the ball 
explodes with a loud noise and works much mischief. When two young ladies 
were killed by lightning on the Malvern Hills, England, in June, 1826, the dis- 
charge was described as a globe of fire which rolled slowly along the ground 
toward the building in which they had taken shelter. Such a globe has been 
known to remain in sight for at least ten seconds. Another remarkable case of 
this kind of lightning is mentioned by Mr. Chalmers, who saw it from on board 
a el 
