MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND OBSERVATIONS. 819 
an easy explanation, by a comparison of the circumstances with 
the state of a Leyden jar (of which the rod of the conductor is 
pointed—the brass-ball having been screwed off), highly charged 
with either kind of electricity, and surrounded by a dry 
atmosphere. Dry air being a bad conductor, the electricity 
of the interior coating of the jar passes to the air by minute 
discharges, which give rise to a hissing sound similar to that 
which you describe. It is a well-known fact that drops of rain 
when they reach the surface of the earth are generally in a very 
different electrical condition to that of the surrounding air. I 
conceive that as soon as the covering of the umbrella had become 
moistened, this and its metallic ribs may be regarded as an elec- 
trical conductor, supported by an insulatory (dry wood) handle. 
The accumulation of electricity in such a conductor, when charged, 
is known to be greatest at the points. Regarding, therefore, the 
rain which wetted the umbrella (in the first-place), as possessing 
a definite electrical charge, it is evident that this charge would 
be so distributed that the accumulation would be much greater 
at the points of the ribs of the umbrella than elsewhere, and if 
the intensity became sufficiently great, discharges, minute and 
rapid, would take place from these points into the comparatively 
dry (asit frequently is in sudden and heavy showers) surrounding 
air, exactly as in the Leyden jar described. So soon, however, 
as the rain began to drop freely and rapidly from the ribs of the 
umbrella, the appearance of discharges would cease, as the fall 
of each drop to the ground would diminish the charge of the 
umbrella, to a greater degree than the fall of fresh drops upon it 
would increase the same.”—J. NV. Robinson, Carlisle, November 
24, 1862. 
Roman Remains and Coins found near Stockton-on-Tees.—On 
September 24th, 1860, when shooting in a stubble field, next to 
the Old Stockton Manor Mill, my eye was attracted to a small 
round, but dull, piece of metal, which, on taking up, I found to 
be a small sélver coin, of one of the Henry’s—probably the Fourth 
—of England. ‘The obverse represents the full face of the king, 
and the head bearing the crown, with the legend much worn, 
“ Henricus Rex Angliz.” ‘The reverse has a large cross, and 
