372 Mr. C. Tomlinson on Lightning 



we know of the King's conduct in this matter is so much in 

 harmony with his character, that the truth of the anecdote is 

 at least probable, seeing that the President apparently acted 

 on the suggestion of the King, and resigned at the next 

 anniversary meeting of the Society, while the Fellows passed 

 a strong resolution in his favour. From a scientific point of 

 view he was certainly better qualified for the office of Presi- 

 dent than his courtly successor, Sir Joseph Banks* . Pringle 

 died in 1782, and Condorcet delivered his Eloge, which was 

 based on the Memoir by Dr. Kippis. 



I have ventured to revive this interesting episode in the 

 scientific history of the lightning-conductor from the fact that 

 even now it is a matter of discussion as to the best method 

 of protecting various structures, especially powder-magazines, 

 from the effects of lightning. The scientific journals and the 

 newspapers frequently contain accounts of what are called 

 the " vagaries/' and ei eccentricities," and " caprices " of 

 lightning, just as if the whole subject consisted of a series of 

 unsolved problems. Writers describe what they have seen 

 and then ask for explanations. Trees are struck and shattered, 

 and the bark and splinters scattered in all directions, and yet 

 the reporter in each case fancies that he sees something un- 

 usual. A recent writer in ( Nature/ in endeavouring to 

 account for such effects, has magnified the nitric-acid forma- 

 tion of the Cavendish experiment into the production of 

 nitro-glycerine. In other words, if a flash of lightning- 

 passing through the air produces the synthetic result N 2 5 , 

 is it not also capable of producing the compound known by 



* 



the complex formula C 3 H 5 (N0 3 ) 3 



* Cuvier, in his Eloge on Banks, says : — " The works which this man 

 leaves behind him occupy a few pages only : their importance is not 

 greatly superior to their extent; and yet his name will shine out with 

 lustre in the history of the Sciences." That is, during upwards of 

 forty years that he presided over the Royal Society, he promoted science 

 by his wealth, rank, and influence. Cuvier's Eloge was translated by me 

 in a work entitled ' Sir Joseph Banks and the .Royal Society,' published 

 by Parker in 1844. Banks long exercised considerable influence over the 

 election of Fellows. He was accustomed to regard two sets of men as 

 eligible for the Fellowship. In the first rank he placed working men of 

 Science; in the second men. of rank and wealth, who were likely to 

 patronise Science. When Dr. Vaughan, a fashionable physician, wished 

 to enter the Society, the President opposed him on the ground that he 

 was not a working man of Science. But some years later when he inhe- 

 rited a fortune and became Sir Henry Halford, Banks consented to his 

 admission as a patron of Science. Many of the older Fellows adopted 

 the same view ; and I heard it asserted on the occasion when the choice 

 of President rested between the Duke of Sussex and Sir John Herschel, 

 that the former should be preferred on account of his influence with the 

 Government in furthering the interests of the Society. 



