1877.] I. J. Whitty — On a case of Death ly Lightning in a lline. 103 



seemed to come ont of the pillar of coal between the two who were killed. 

 They say they were not aware there was a thunderstorm going on. 



Mr. Whitty states that no mark of any kind could be observed on the 

 bodies, nor anywhere in the mine or on the tools lying about ; but that a 

 young sal tree standing as nearly as possible over the position of the acci- 

 dent was slightly damaged, and that in the ground at its base a hole, about 

 one inch in diameter, seemed to have been formed by the lightning. 



The little hill, or plateau, in which the mine is situated is one of a 

 small irregular group in the centre of the coal-field, about 200 feet high. 

 It is formed of the coal-measure sandstone. The drainage is thorough, and 

 the mine was quite dry. From the presence of tKe workmen, the sides of 

 the gallery and the air in it were probably damper than the rock. The 

 tree, or other vegetation on the hill is scanty. 



The accident occurred at about I'SO p. m. on the 31st January. There 

 had been no rain from 15th October to 12th January, when one inch of rain 

 fell. There were some intermediate showers, and 0*96 fell on the 31st, the 

 total for the month being 2 "42 inches. 



Mr. H. F. Blajs^fokd said that a lesson of great practical importance 

 might be learned from the very remarkable case communicated by Mr. 

 Whitty, viz., the very low conductivity of rock in situ, unless saturated 

 with water. Notwithstanding the enormous sectional area of the rock-con- 

 ductor presented by the mass of the hill, so low was its conductivity that 

 the discharge took place through the bodies of these unfortunate workmen, 

 in sufficient quantity to kill two of them and injure others. 'Now, looking 

 at the manner in which the great majority of the lightning rods attached 

 to houses in Calcutta terminate below, we can fully understand that they 

 must be useless or even worse than useless. There is one on a house occu- 

 pied by the Bengal Club, which terminates on the top of a post, and at the 

 very best, they generally leave about a foot of the lower end buried in 

 ground which is kept pretty dry by the drainage into the Calcutta sewers. 

 Such rods can offer no protection, and, as if to ensure their inutility, they 

 never range to a sufficient height to command more than a protected 

 radius of 3 or 4 feet. It is little wonder that we constantly read of houses 

 which are provided with lightning rods being struck by lightning, the rod 

 taking no part in the discharge. 



The Chaieman remarked that it not unfrequently hajjpened that per- 

 sons who had been killed by lightning manifested no outward sign of 

 injury. Such was the case in an instance that occurred on the Calcutta 

 maidan a short time since, where death had been instantaneous. Had it 

 not been for the circumstance that the man happened not to be alone and 

 that his companion though thrown down escaped with only temporary ner- 

 vous derangement, the cause of his death must have remained a matter of 



