202 



The Museum Gazette 



began at 50 minutes past 4 in the afternoon ; the ship was driven 

 before the storm, in a high sea, amid streams of vivid lightning, 

 deafening thunder, hail, and rain. At 5 o'clock an immense ball of 

 fire covered the main-topgallant mast, ran up the royal pole, and 

 exploded in the air, with a terrific concussion, covering all the sur- 

 rounding space with sparks of electric light, which were driven 

 rapidly to leeward by the wind. Fifteen minutes later an immense 

 mass of lightning struck the mainmast, attended by a violent gust 

 of wind ; and another heavy discharge fell on it a quarter of an hour 

 afterwards. From that time till 6 o'clock the ship was continually 

 encompassed by sharp forked lightning, accompanied by incessant 

 peals of thunder. Though actually enveloped in electricity, and 

 struck three times, neither the hull nor the rigging sustained the 

 slightest injury. 



" When the air is rarefied by heat, its coercive power is diminished, 

 so that the electricity escapes from the clouds in those lambent 

 diffuse flashes without thunder so frequent on warm summer evenings; 

 and when the atmosphere is highly charged with electricity, it not 

 unfrequently happens that electric light, in the form of a star is seen 

 on the topmasts and yard-arms of ships. In 1831 the French officers 

 at Algiers were surprised to see brushes of light on the heads of their 

 comrades, and at the points of their fingers when they held up their 

 hands. This phenomenon was well known to the ancients, who 

 reckoned it a lucky omen." 



ON TREES STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. 



Although we had on page 118 some pleasure in triumphing 

 by the production of statistics, over our esteemed correspon- 

 dent Mr. Harvie Brown (who suggested that the beech was 

 immune from lightning-strokes) we have still greater pleasure 

 in now admitting that we were all the time to a large extent 

 in accord with his opinion. Statistics are open to many 

 fallacies, and whilst those which we adduced must certainly 

 be allowed to prove that the beech is sometimes struck, they 

 probably exaggerated the frequency very much. As compared 

 with other trees the beech rarely suffers. The oak stands 

 far ahead of all other trees in its liability. Can this be ex- 

 plained ? A suggestion may perhaps be ventured. Oaks are 

 above all other trees liable to retain dead branches, and to 

 become more or less what is known as " stag-headed." In 

 beeches there is seldom or never any dead wood, in oaks it is 



