126 THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURE GUIDE 



under a conspicuously placed tree, but as a matter 

 of fact the majority of people struck by lightning 

 are struck in the open fields. But this risk is ab- 

 surdly small. Other risks, not lightning, seriously 

 concern life insurance companies. 



There is an old proverb which is supposed to 

 contain wisdom for those outdoors during a storm; 

 it says, "Avoid the oak, flee from the spruce, seek 

 the beech." This advice is obsolete. The beech 

 receives proportionally as many raps as any other 

 species. In the nature of things, it should be the 

 best conductor of the three species named. 



The incomplete European records concerning 

 lightning show that members of the poplar family, 

 aspen, and cottonwood, are the species more fre- 

 quently struck in that part of the world. It is quite 

 probable that an investigation would show that 

 these trees stand in the most inviting places or in soil 

 that renders them an easy or even alluring conduc- 

 tor for lightning in its zigzag journeys from sky into 

 earth. The most frequently struck species of tree 

 in any locality is probably the species most numer- 

 ous or in the most exposed places, or a combination 

 of local conditions make it the superior con- 

 ductor. 



In western Africa is a species more frequently 

 struck than all the other local trees. This the 

 natives speak of as being "hated by lightning." 

 In contrast to this expression is one which I have 

 heard the cowboys use. In certain small zones of 



