114 MR. H. WILDE ON THE INFLUENCE OF GAS- AND 



distance of lOO feet^ and was finally secured to an iron 

 bolt inserted in the chimney about lo feet from the 

 ground. During a thunderstorm which occurred soon 

 after the telegraph-wire was fixed^ the lightning descended 

 the wire rope^ and^ instead of discharging itself upon the 

 neighbouring lightning-conductor, darted through the air 

 for a distance of 1 6 feet to a gas-meter in the cellar of an 

 adjoining cotton warehouse,, where it fused the lead-pipe 

 connexions and ignited the gas. That the discharge had 

 really passed between the end of the wire rope and the 

 lead-pipe connexions was abundantly evident from the 

 marks made on the chimney by the fusion and volatilization 

 at the end of the wire rope and by the fusion of the lead 

 pipe. As the accident occurred in the daytime, the fire 

 was soon detected and promptly extinguished. 



Another and equally instructive instance of the inductive 

 influence of gas-pipes in determining the direction of the 

 lightning discharge occurred in the summer of 1863, at 

 St. PauFs Church, Kersal Moor, during divine service. 

 To the outside of the spire and tower of this church a 

 copper lightning-conductor was fixed, the lower extremity 

 of which was extended under the soil for a distance of 

 about 20 feet. The lightning descended this conductor, 

 but, instead of passing into the earth by the path provided 

 for it, struck through the side of the tower to a small gas- 

 pipe fixed to the inner wall. The point at which the light- 

 ning left the conductor was about 5 feet above the level of 

 the ground, and the thickness of the wall pierced was 

 about 4 feet ; but beyond the fracture of one of the outer 

 stones of the wall and the shattering of the plaster near 

 the gas-pipe, the building sustained no injury. 



That the direction of the electric discharge had in this 

 case been determined by the gas-pipes which passed under 

 the floor of the church, was evident from the fact that the 



