Dr. Hare on Lightning Rods. 325 



it to an electrometer, necessarily insulated : under these^ cir- 

 cumstances, the head of the pofessor being about a foot from 

 the conductor, he became a part of the channel of commu- 

 nication with the earth. Had the apparatus been surround- 

 ed by a cage of wire, and this duly connected with a me- 

 tallic rod, soldered to a sheet of metal buried in the earth, 

 Richman might have made his observations with perfect secu- 

 rity. That, with due precaution, experiments, analogous to 

 his, are not productive of injury to the operator, is rendered 

 evident by the subjoined quotation from Singer's Electricity. 



I must premise, that the apparatus, by means of which the 

 phenomena alluded to were produced, consisted of a wire a 

 mile long, supported and insulated, upon very high poles, 

 and terminating in the house of the electrician, Andrew 

 Crosse, Esq. 



" The approach of a charged cloud, produces sometimes 

 positive, and at others negative signs, at first : but, whatever 

 be the original character, the effect gradually increases to a 

 certain extent, then decreases, and disappears, and is follow- 

 ed by the appearance of the opposite signs, which gradually 

 extend beyond the former maximum, then decrease, termin- 

 ate, and are again followed by the original electricity. These 

 alternations are sometimes numerous, and are more or less 

 rapid on different occasions, they usually increase in intensity 

 at each repetition, and at last a full dense stream of sparks, 

 issues from the atmospherical conductor to the receiving 

 ball,* stopping at intervals, but returning with redoubled 

 force. In this state a strong current of air proceeds from 

 the wire and its connected apparatus ; and none but a spec- 

 tator can conceive the awful, though sublime, effect, of such 

 phenomena. At every flash of lightning, an explosive stream, 

 accompanied by a peculiar noise, passes between the balls 

 of the apparatus, and enlightens, most brilliantly, every sur- 

 rounding object, whilst these effects are heightened by the 

 successive peals of thunder, and by the consciousness of so 

 near an approach to its cause." 



" During the display of electric power, so awful to an ordi- 

 nary observer, the electrician sits quietly in front of the ap- 

 paratus, conducts the lightning in any required direction, 

 and employs it to fuse wires, decompose fluids, or fire inflam- 



* That is, a ball communicating with the earth, by an adequate metallic con- 

 ductor. 



